Cork has been crowned the country’s most Irish city ahead of St Patrick’s Day, with Galway and Waterford completing the top three, according to new research.
The study analysed factors such as St Patrick’s Day parade attendance, GAA club numbers, Irish language speakers, pub and restaurant density, and searches for classic Irish dishes.
While Dublin has the largest population, it turns out size isn’t everything when it comes to having the strongest Irish spirit and the Rebel County is the clear winner.
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The findings of research by HelloFresh Ireland gave Cork a score of 51 compared to the capital’s 32, topping the charts with the highest concentration of GAA clubs at 166 and the second highest percentage of Irish speakers at 44.8%.
Just three points behind in second came Galway, with the highest percentage of Irish speakers in the country at 50%, while also ranking third for GAA club concentration with 84 and third for Irish restaurants per capita, earning an overall culture score of 49.
In third place is Waterford, ranking high for Irish speakers and the total number of Irish dish searches per person.
Looking at the other end of the table, Drogheda ranked last with the lowest number of Irish speakers at 31.8% and second lowest restaurants and pubs per person.
Second bottom is Dublin. Despite having the largest population by far, the capital was let down by the second lowest percentage of Irish speakers and a surprisingly thin spread of pubs and restaurants when adjusted for headcount.
When it came to searches for Irish classics like colcannon, boxty and Irish stew, Drogheda came out on top once the figures were calculated on a per person basis, suggesting the Boyne side town has the biggest appetite for traditional Irish cooking at home.
Brand & Marketing Communication Manager at HelloFresh Ireland, Annita Forte, said: ‘In 2024, we analysed the most Irish cities outside of Ireland with Boston coming out on top and thought it was only fair to turn our attention closer to home and see how our own cities stack up against each other to finally crown Ireland's most Irish city.’
