St Patrick’s Day hopes for Belfast bartenders McGarry and Muldoon in New York

Jack McGarry and Sean Muldoon went from tending bars in Belfast to running one of the most well-known Irish pubs in the world.

After honing their skills in Belfast city centre pubs, the pair packed up their stuff and moved to New York in 2010.

The Dead Rabbit was voted best bar in the world in 2015, but it hasn’t been without its challenges.

Just as it was preparing to open, the bar was flooded when Hurricane Sandy arrived in New York in October 2012.

The bar also had to temporarily close in 2017 because of a fire in the building and again in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

This St Patrick’s Day marks the first with no restrictions in New York since the coronavirus pandemic.

Jack McGarry said: “During the pandemic the business nose-dived and I thought it could be the end of the bar, it was seriously dark days.

“But thankfully we were able to weather it and we’re super excited to have an all singing, all dancing St Patrick’s Day, a great bookend to the craziness of the past couple of years.”

Video journalist: Niall McCracken