What is Louisville's 'Irish Triangle'? Visit 3 iconic Highlands bars

The Irish Triangle may sound like a fictional, far-away land, but, luckily for Louisvillians, this magical corner of the Highlands is very real.

The little section of Baxter Avenue includes three Irish bars that opened a few years apart in the 1990s and are so close together that their addresses are just a few digits off. The triad of pubs known for perfect pours of Guinness, plates of fish and chips, and maybe a few swear words while the game is on, have outlasted plenty of other nearby establishments to create a built-in miniature bar crawl fit for St. Patrick’s Day or any other celebration.

Here’s how it might go: If you start at Molly Malone's Irish Pub, 933 Baxter Ave., then you’re just 62 feet from Flanagan's Ale House at 934 Baxter Ave. After that, you just have to manage the trek of 318 feet to O'Shea's Irish Pub, 956 Baxter Ave.

“You can get a different Irish experience within three bars, like five feet away from each other,” Josh Schmidt, bar manager at O’Shea’s, told the Courier Journal. “I like to say, it's St. Patrick's Day every day here.”

O'Shea's, which opened in 1994 and has other locations in downtown Louisville and in Jeffersonville, Indiana, is owned by two brothers, named Mike and Tim, and is the oldest of the trio on the triangle. Inside, you'll find tons of artifacts from the family's past as well as string lights, paintings depicting regulars and a few gnomes dressed in green. Alongside its "world famous Irish coffee," popular dishes include Guinness beer cheese, two styles of fish and chips (either crispy O'Shea's style or European-style and beer battered), and a Reuben sandwich made with house-brined corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and a house-made sauce all on rye bread.

Schmidt says it's a good thing to be near other Irish bars.

"They got their vibe and we got ours," he said.

From where Donal Ryan, a co-owner of Molly Malone's, who is originally from Ireland, is sitting, "The Irish Triangle" is made up of neighborhood friends.

Molly Malone's, 933 Baxter Ave., is known for serving Guinness alongside other Irish beers and whiskey.

"We all feed off each other and we all have for years," Ryan told the Courier Journal. "Everyone compliments each other to make this a cool destination."

He opened the place in 1997 as an authentic Irish pub, full of rich wood, bottles of Jameson, decorative nods to his homeland and stained glass features. As of early March, he was busy scribbling the special menu for his 27th annual St. Patrick's Day at Molly Malone's.

“It's a great time of the year to celebrate our Irish heritage,” Ryan said. “Lots of people are ready to come out after a long, cold winter. And it's an exciting start to the spring.”

Across the street at Flanagan's, you'll find another bar that opened just two years after Molly Malone's in 1997. Current owners Jim Borgmann and his son, Drew, took over in 2020 and the duo revamped the food menu in early March. Under the "Irish fare" category, you'll of course find fish and chips, including two 8-ounce cod filets, served beer battered or cracker breaded, with French fries, coleslaw and house-made tartar sauce.

Flanagan's Ale House, 934 Baxter Ave., is a longtime fixture of the Highlands and sits across the street from Molly Malone's.

At Flanagan's, vibes circle from low key to lively depending on a rotating schedule of weekly events, from live music to trivia to Thursday pints nights where patrons get to "steal the glass" related to the chosen brew. The weekly occasion is accompanied by eccentric hand-drawn chalk art displayed behind the bar. And of course, things turn up around certain sporting events. Just like its comrades, Flanagan's has its own quirky corner of the triangle.

“We work really well together," Drew Borgmann told the Courier Journal. "We each have our own kind of specific crowd. But it brings people to the area, which is the whole purpose."

We featured Molly Malone's Irish Pub & Restaurant, Flanagan's Ale House and O'Shea's in the latest installment of our series, "Best Thing I Ate This Week." You can follow along by visiting Instagram.com/courierjournal.

Reach food and dining reporter Amanda Hancock at [email protected].