From animal testicles to ghostly apparitions - there are some pretty strange Irish bars out, as this list shows.

Bad Irish, Boise, Idaho

What could be more wrong with than getting served a pint of Guinness by a barmaid in a low cut top and a Catholic schoolgirl’s uniform?

Well, quite a lot of things, in all likelihood – but still, drinking in Bad Irish, an Irish bar in Boise, Idaho, that caters for those of us who have a Catholic schoolgirl fetish and enjoy a Guinness, should surely be grounds for excommunication.

The operator, John Ronchetti, has told his local paper that the bar is “Irish drinking meets American party bar.”

"I know people would say, 'Aren't there enough Irish bars in this town?” Ronchetti, who has Irish roots, has said. (And with a name like Ronchetti, that should be obvious.) “But there's not another one like this."

Sounds like reasonably clean fun – maybe a little too clean, in fact.

“They'll add to the place, but they're not the entertainment themselves,” Ronchetti said. "Which, I guess, depends on perception."

Which means that there is to be no gyrating wildly on the bar from the “Bad Girls”, or jumping on top of the bar for a little strip tease to the Angelus.

The Dog’s Bollix, San Francisco

Bollix, as we explained in our short dictionary of Irishisms, is a slang term for a man’s testicles in Britain and Ireland. “The Dogs Bollix”, somehow, is an expression that has come to mean “very good.” (We have no idea why.)

Example:  “That was a great game of soccer you just played, Declan,” said Declan’s friend, John. “You truly are the dog’s bollix.”

But The Dog’s Bollix is also the name of an Irish bar in San Francisco that has since closed down. From what we can gather, it was once quite the popular hangout.

The Dog’s Bollix is also the name of an Irish bar in Auckland, New Zealand. The Auckland venue describes itself as the “city’s premier music venue” and says that it serves “outstanding pub food.” Whether canine testicles are included on the menu, we cannot be sure.

Slainte Irish Pub, Houston, Texas


Ladies beware: Legend has it that the ghost of a murdered homeless woman appears to female employees at this downtown Houston joint.

According to a very unreliable source, his Irish memory wrecked by years of alcohol abuse, a homeless woman was raped and murdered in the same building as the bar many years ago.

Today, her spirit roams in the pub.

Legend has it that a silhouette of a brunette woman can still be seen behind the textured glass – that’s near the Golden Tee game in the back of the pub, if we want to be exact.

But on the plus side, the bar’s Web site says it was voted Houston’s Best Irish Pub and Best Singles in 2004.

McGuire's Irish Brewery in Pensacola, Florida

Should you find yourself in McGuire’s broke, unsure of where your next beer is coming from, try to resist the urge from stripping a few dollars of the ceiling: there you’ll find $550,000 worth of dollar bills.

In 1977 McGuire’s began as a small neighborhood pub in a shopping center. When Molly McGuire, the bar’s owner, made her first one dollar tip, she stuck it to the ceiling for good luck. Friends of the pub added to the collection and it soon became tradition.

And before many years had passed, those dollars amounted to $550,000. (How long it took to count all those is unclear.) The bar’s Web site that those dollar bill “have been signed by Irishmen of all nationalities.”

Pinhead Susan's, Schenectady, New York

The story goes that there was once graffiti daubed on the train track wall near where the pub currently stands that read: “"Susan is a pinhead." This stayed here for almost 15 years, before being removed. Shortly afterwards, another bit of graffiti appeared on the walls, saying, “Susan remains a pinhead.”

And so when this Irish pub and restaurant opened in 2000, “Pinhead Susan’s” was the obvious choice.