Doncaster revealed as one of England’s best spots for St. Patrick’s Day pints

Throughout the UK and Ireland, British and Irish folk alike will be celebrating the occasion with free flowing pints of Guinness in the nearest Irish pub. But which English location is best equipped to handle the St. Patrick’s Day shenanigans that will ensue across this weekend?

Ahead of St. Patrick’s Day, research carried out by The Winners Enclosure has revealed the best places in England for Irish pubs and cheap pints of Guinness. This involved calculating the percentage of bars in each given city centre which fell into the ‘Irish pub’ category, as well comparing the cost of a Guinness pint at Wetherspoon and Greene King pubs in each location.

The end results revealed more than a few surprises with neither London nor Liverpool breaching the top ten. In fact, it was Doncaster which came out as the number three spot for St. Patrick’s Day pints.

Rank | Location | Avg. Guinness pint price | % of Irish pubs | Total score /20

1. | Sunderland | £3.62 | 3.1% | 17.4

2. | Coventry | £4.07 | 10.8% | 16.9

3. | Doncaster | £3.89 | 2.4 per cent | 14.8

4. | Stoke-on-Trent | £4.02 | 2.4 per cent | 14.1

5. | Middlesbrough | £4.07 | 2.5 per cent | 14

6. | Birkenhead | £3.88 | 2 per cent | 13.9

7. | Bradford | £3.95 | 1.7 per cent | 12.7

8. | Leicester | £4.34 | 3.4 per cent | 12.7

9. | Luton | £4.36 | 1 per cent | 12.6

10. | Blackpool | £4.57 | 4.1 per cent | 11.5

Sunderland was revealed as the best place in England to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, scoring 17.4 out of 20. This was mainly due to the cheap pints of Guinness in Sunderland, at £3.62 on average - they are the cheapest Guinness pints in England. Sunderland can also claim 3.1 per cent of its bars as Irish pubs.

Coventry ranked second overall with a score of 16.9 out of 20. The biggest factor here was the high percentage of Irish pubs in Coventry, with 10.8 per cent of all Coventry’s pubs falling into this category. There’s plenty of options for Guinness, and the average price in Coventry is not too bad either at £4.07.

Doncaster placed third with a total score of 14.8. The Yorkshire city is also home to a very cheap pint of Guinness, at just £3.89 on average. Elsewhere, a respectable 2.4 per cent of Doncaster’s bars are Irish pubs.

Stoke claimed fourth place with a total score of 14.1. Like Doncaster, Stoke can also claim 2.4% of its bars as Irish pubs. However, Stoke’s average pint of Guinness costs slightly more than Doncaster at £4.02.

Middlesbrough completed the top five with a total score of 14. There can be no complaints with the average price (£4.07) of a pint of Guinness on Teeside, nor the percentage of Irish pubs (2.5 per cent) in the town.

Some entrants in the top ten secured their spots due to cheap Guinness pints, such as sixth placed Birkenhead, where pints of the black stuff cost £3.88 on average.

Other top ten locations got there due to the high percentage of Irish pubs. Tenth placed Blackpool is an example of this, with 4.1 per cent of the town’s bars falling into the Irish pub category.

Elsewhere in the top ten, Bradford, Leicester and Luton all featured as great places to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this weekend.