A competition to find the Best Irish Pub in the World outside of Ireland has already drawn over 800 entries. And it’s not just the US – the traditional home for this business – which is entering, the organisers, the Irish Times, reports that pubs in Peru, Mongolia, the Philippines, China, Australia and even Uganda have all had their names put forward by patrons who frequent their licensed premises.

The race is on to find the world's best Irish Pub outside of Ireland

The race is on to find the world’s best Irish Pub outside of Ireland Image by Sylvar / CC BY 2.0

The newspaper reveals that the Ugandan pub ‘Bubbles O’Leary’s’ was in fact dismantled in Drogheda, Co Louth and transported and re-assembled in Kampala, making it am authentic Irish pub abroad. The Irish Times note that Healy Mac’s in Kuala Lumpur and The Rising Sun in Laos are ones they have their eyes on as well as they seek to connect with the Generation Emigration of Irish people abroad.

In all 36 countries have entered the competition and not unexpectedly, the US is in poll position with almost 330 nominations. What is surprising is that Austria slots into second place with 89, while Germany has 65 the Netherlands has 56, and Australia 42. Canada has had 34 nominations while a mere three nominations came in for pubs in New Zealand. The organisers didn’t post a UK number but it should be substantial by the time they come to sift through all the potential winning nominees. There are an estimated 7,000 Irish pubs globally but the standards differ in terms of both quality and authenticity.