Among our many unique traits, Mobilians like to debate the color green. Nevergreens, Forevergreens and everyone in between has an opinion on whether it should be a part of our Mardi Gras celebrations. But for just a few days in mid-March, the debate stops, and the color takes over with a vengeance, not for Mardi Gras but for St. Patrick’s Day. The wearing of green is mandatory (lest you get pinched) as Mobilians honor the holiday with an annual Mass at The Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, The Friendly Sons parading down the streets and the Crichton Leprechaun coming up in conversation more often than usual.
Amidst all of this is the Callaghan’s Irish Social Club street party. While Callaghan’s also holds an event on the actual holiday (and their Tuesday night Irish music session keeps the Irish spirit alive throughout the year), the street party on the Saturday closest to St. Patrick’s Day is the main attraction that draws hundreds of people to the bar and grill.
“Back in the day, when my dad was coming here in the 60s and 70s, the Callaghan’s street party was the only party in town for St. Patrick’s Day,” says Callaghan’s owner John “JT” Thompson. “And it was a big deal.”
This year, as Callaghan’s celebrates its 80th anniversary, the party feels like an even bigger deal. While the exact start date is unknown, it’s hard to imagine Callaghan’s without it. Starting around mid-morning, a sea of green fills the street as people begin to crowd at Callaghan’s for the festivities. Attendees show up in festive garb, wearing hats, wigs, kilts, spangles, suits, sunglasses and more, all in various shades of green. There’s music, food, beer and a few hundred of your closest friends, all elements of a successful Irish gathering. It’s the only day of the year that the Irish social club serves corned beef, cabbage and green beer. This is the biggest St. Patrick’s Day celebration on the Gulf Coast, and it has only expanded over time.
“It has just grown and grown and grown,” says Thompson. The party draws people from all walks of life, with some guests being particularly memorable. “About three years ago, the first two guys in the door were old Irish priests in their black and wearing their white collars,” says Thompson. “That was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.”
Like Callaghan’s itself, the event also has its fair share of regulars. Chip Herrington, who lives on Marine Street two doors down from Callaghan’s, is one of them. “I’ve been here since 1999, and Callaghan’s has been a regular spot for me ever since,” he says. “It doesn’t hurt that I am of Irish descent and I dig an Irish pub.” He says the Saturday St. Patrick’s street party has grown exponentially since he moved to the neighborhood, even topping 1,000 attendees some years. “I hear the Celtic bands and the local live music start up from my backyard,” says Herrington. “When that happens, I know it’s time to go put on my kilt and get gussied up for the St. Patrick’s party.”
John Baker, a Callaghan’s devotee who has lived just four doors down from the bar for 30 years, says the party is an occasion the whole neighborhood looks forward to. “The party is almost in our backyard,” he says. “We can sit on our porch and watch everything go down.” His favorite part is the music. Given Callaghan’s legendary role in the local music scene, the musical acts at the party are always a huge draw, and musicians are loyal to the event, often coming back to perform multiple times.
This year’s headliner, Blackwater Brass, has played a few times. According to Thompson, The Red Clay Strays played the street party five years in a row. This is a common Callaghan’s pipeline: more than a few acts Thompson has hosted have since gone on to become household names.
“People who played here 10 years ago, like Charlie Crockett or Tyler Childers, are now big,” says Thompson. “It’s mind-boggling.” When the music kicks up at the party, there are always plenty of people there to listen, rain or shine. One year, when St. Paul and the Broken Bones were playing, there was particularly bad weather, says Thompson, remembering the monsoon-like conditions. He says that the band played under the tent and, despite the storm, 400 people stood in ankle-deep water to watch them perform. “People are dedicated. Once they’re there, they’re there,” he says.
Baker remembers another year when the band was playing the party, he let them set up their RV in his driveway. “Not many houses in the neighborhood have driveways,” he says. “There were quite a few musicians, and they ended up being cramped in the RV, so we opened up our house to them to get showered, changed and cleaned up. We made our house a green room for them and they let us get right up close to the stage. We had a great time, and they autographed a poster for us. It was one of the best times.”
While the official musical talent is booked far in advance, impromptu acts occasionally add to the mix through sheer luck. “One year, I think an Alabama state trooper had died, and a group of bagpipers — I want to say they were all policemen from New Jersey or Philadelphia, and they have a bagpipe society — all flew down to play the bagpipes at his funeral,” says Thompson. The funeral just so happened to be the day of Callaghan’s St. Patrick’s Day street party. “At about nine o’clock at night, we just hear this huge bagpipe sound coming down the street from Washington Square,” he says. “It was about 20 massive men in kilts playing the bagpipes. There were people in tears as they played ‘Amazing Grace.’ It was crazy.”
Among the several unplanned moments throughout the years is one that turned into a highlight of the event and a tradition that everyone looks forward to: the iconic group picture. “We started that probably 20 years ago,” says Thompson. “I was paying a Press-Register photographer just to walk around and take photos that we would post on Facebook. And I said, ‘We need to do a big one.’ So, he got this big ladder, and the band announced it and he took a group photo. It was off-the-cuff then, but now, everybody knows at 5 p.m., we take the picture. It’s almost the biggest thing of the whole day, people trying to get in that picture.”
A few of the group photos over the years are displayed on a wall in Callaghan’s. “One year, we had taken the street photo earlier and everybody was listening to St. Paul and the Broken Bones and couldn’t believe what a good time we were all having,” says Herrington. “And then when the photo came out on Facebook, I was dead center — and the photo for all the world looked as if it was my party, man! I felt like I was on top of the world! All my friends said, ‘Man, you know how to throw a party!’”
Baker and other neighbors use the occasion to host their own get-togethers within the party. He remembers years of hosting friends and family to visit the house, go to Callaghan’s and come back to hang out in the driveway. “One year, we put a leprechaun up in the oak tree in front of our house, and people came by and took selfies with it,” he says. “It was a big hit.”
For those with Irish heritage, the party is a reminder and celebration of a part of themselves. “I’ve always known I was Irish, but before I moved to the neighborhood, I didn’t really celebrate it. I mean, a lot of people are Irish!” says Herrington. “But being close to Callaghan’s and the events that are centered around the St. Patrick’s Day holiday made me feel like it was a bigger deal than I had thought in the past.” He says that, apart from Callaghan’s, the Oakleigh Garden District celebrates St. Patrick’s Day with decorations and Irish flags on their porches. “It’s a bit like Mardi Gras for one more day,” he says. “People go all out, and because I have that as part of my heritage, and because this wonderful institution is so close, I’ve come to identify more as Irish than I did previously.”
This year, Callaghan’s 80th anniversary only highlights the appreciation for and importance of the St. Patrick’s party. “It’s kind of hard to fathom that a place could be open 80 years in this day and age,” says Thompson. “It’s crazy to me.” Both on St. Patrick’s Day and the other 364 days a year, the patrons of Callaghan’s are thankful for the impact it’s had, whether they’re wearing green or not. “There have been people who moved to this neighborhood because of Callaghan’s,” says Herrington. A musician on the side, he has a deep appreciation for the institution, both for its neighborhood charm and for the music it fosters. “It’s our unofficial town hall. It’s our own version of ‘Cheers,’ but better. It’s the kind of magic you don’t have to elaborate on, because when people walk in, they immediately get it.”
Callaghan’s Irish Social Club St. Patrick’s Day 2026
St. Patrick’s Day Street Party
Saturday, March 14 // 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.
11 a.m. Traditional Irish Music
1 p.m. Petty for Your Thoughts (Tom Petty tribute band)
3 p.m. Johnny Hayes & The Love Seats
5 p.m. Blackwater Brass
St. Patrick’s Day
Tuesday, March 17
12 p.m. Traditional Irish Music
2 p.m. The Modern Eldorados
5 p.m. Disco Lemonade
Callaghan’s Irish Social Club • 916 Charleston St. callaghansirishsocialclub.com
