Where to celebrate St. Patrick's Day on Cape Cod: 5 restaurants serving Irish food, music

With Sunday being the traditional day for brunch and St. Patrick’s Day falling on a Sunday this year, it’s not surprising that Cape Cod’s newest holiday celebration is a brunch.

But you might be surprised to hear that the meal is on wheels.

The first St. Patrick’s Day Brunch Train leaves Hyannis at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, March 17, in what Cape Cod Central Railroad plans to make an annual trip.

“Don’t forget to wear your best dress in green in case the leprechauns are close by,” according to the railroad’s website. “We wouldn’t want to see you get pinched!!”

Brunch includes an appetizer, entrée and dessert, served while the train travels 2½ hours from Hyannis to the Cape Cod Canal and back. Prices are $64.99-$94.99 depending on seating location and $49.99 or $69.99 for ages 3 to 12, with a children’s menu.

Holiday entrees include Irish Benedict, traditional shepherd’s pie, Irish cod fishcakes, as well as corned beef and cabbage, with a full cash bar available.

Guests are asked to arrive 45 minutes before departure, with boarding starting 30 minutes before the prompt 11:30 a.m. departure. For more information, visit capetrain.com/.

Here are four more places to get an Irish meal on Cape Cod. Wherever you decide to go, be sure to call about the availability of corned beef and cabbage. Purists will tell you it is an Irish-American tradition started in New York City, not Ireland, by immigrants.

Liam Maguire's: nearly a century on same spot in Falmouth

Liam Maguire’s Irish Pub and Restaurant, 273 Main St., Falmouth, offers a side of history with each Irish specialty served. The spot started out nearly a century ago as Bowman’s Bakery and Confection and then, in 1948, became Townhouse Restaurant for nearly five decades. In 1994, Liam and Deborah Maguire established the pub where Liam, who hailed from Castlederg in County Tyrone, held court nightly with his stories of traveling Europe. The restaurant’s namesake died in 2021 but regulars still come by to eat and raise a glass.

Liam Maguire’s has Irish dishes, including steak and Guinness stew, year-round but is also adding corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day and a full day of live entertainment, from Irish step dancing to pipes.

“At Liam Maguire's Irish Pub and Restaurant, we've strived not only to serve up fantastic grub and the best live entertainment for the fine folks of Falmouth but also to recreate the cozy ambiance of the pubs back home in Ireland,” according to the website.

Fiddles, twinkling lights, feel like home at O'Shea's Olde Inne, West Dennis

A New England pub in the Irish tradition on Main Street in West Dennis looks like someone’s house, and the hospitality inside will make you feel like you are in the embrace of friends. You may sit shoulder to shoulder with the Irish musicians under a canopy of twinkling white lights, with a half-circle of children dancing nearby.

O’Shea’s offers Irish food year-round, including Irish lamb stew, corned beef Reuben, shepherd’s pie and the homey bangers and mash.

O’Shea’s is closed on Wednesdays, but the restaurant’s calendar shows live music every other day in March, including four acts beginning with Sean Brennan scheduled for March 17.

The Auld Triangle is new Irish pub in British Beer Co. space in Hyannis

The newest kid on the block in Hyannis is The Auld Triangle, an Irish pub started by Des Keogh. If that name sounds familiar, it is because Keogh has been organizing the Cape Cod St. Patrick's Day Parade for years.

Settled into 412 Main St. in downtown Hyannis, the former site of British Beer Company, The Auld Triangle is named for the heavy old triangle beaten to waken prisoners in Mountjoy Jail in Dublin. Visit the theauldtriange.com to learn more, check out the music calendar and hear Tommy Fleming sing “The Auld Triangle." Looking for something easily held for takeout? Try the New England-style pasty, which includes a New England Thanksgiving dinner baked inside an Irish pasty dough.

Irish for the night at Bucatino Restaurant & Wine Bar, North Falmouth

Someone get the staff at Bucatino Restaurant & Wine Bar in North Falmouth some of those buttons that say “Everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day!” The traditionally Italian restaurant is hosting a St. Patrick’s Day celebration from 3 to 6 p.m. March 17. Chef Dan Delancey’s menu includes corned beef and cabbage, Guinness stew, beer-battered fried fish and, this sounds interesting, Reuben fritters. Are we talking corned beef and Swiss in deep-fried fritter dough? County Cork meets Cape Cod!

Gwenn Friss is the editor of CapeWeek and covers entertainment, restaurants and the arts. Contact her at gfriss@capecodonline.com. Follow her or X, formerly Twitter: @dailyrecipeCCT.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: 5 Irish or not-so-Irish Cape Cod restaurants mark St. Patrick's Day