Rancho Mirage, CA

The annual celebration of St. Patrick’s Day is this Friday, March 17th. The holiday has been observed since around the 9th or 10th century by the Irish to celebrate the anniversary of the death of St. Patrick.  Since then, America has taken on the holiday with St. Patrick’s Day parades as early as the year 1601, according to records. Today, in the Coachella Valley, one establishment to enjoy the St. Patrick’s Day cheer while gobbling down delicious Irish fare is O’Caine’s Irish Pub in Rancho Mirage. This quality, well maintained restaurant and bar, is celebrating 4 years in business.

O’Caine’s Irish Pub serves a variety of libations from traditional beer selections, to a variety of wines, scotch, and Irish whiskeys. Their food menu is both traditional and current with an interesting spin. Take their Irish Nachos for instance. This hearty dish is plentiful and mouth watering consisting of chicken, beef, or corned beef, beer cheese sauce, chips, sour cream, guacamole, and whisky-pickled jalapeno slices. It’s not for the faint of heart. Or try their Dublin Stuffed Avocado for a healthier option. This dish is prepared by taking a fresh avocado filled with a generous portion of curried Coronation Chicken salad sitting atop of a fresh bed of lettuce with tomato slices, hard boiled egg, pickles and onion.

If you want more traditional Irish fare, try O’Caine’s Irish Short Ribs, Shepherd’s Pie, or Corned Beef and Cabbage.

O’Caine’s in Rancho Mirage also has live music Thursday through Sunday with their event calendar posted online. On St Patrick’s day, there will be live music essentially all day. Paddy’s Pig will be performing from 11am – 3pm and Craic Haus will be performing from 4pm – Close.

(Live music on Sunday March 12th by Coyah)

The Irish Pub has an in house Gift Shop where you can purchase Throws, Tapestries, Pillows, Galway Crystal, and Irish Tea, Scones, and other imported treats.

From their own words, here is the story of how the family named their Irish Pub, O’Caine’s:

“Thirty-one years after the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, John O’Caine made his way to the New World from the town of Dungiven, County Derry in Northern Ireland.

Original ship manifests show that he arrived in 1651. He is listed on the official “Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia’s Northern Neck Counties Registry.” He lived and worked as a farmer in Charles County, Maryland. 

John was one of the last clansmen of the O’Cahan Clan that ruled the Dungiven region during the 12th through 17th centuries…one of the most influential clans in Ulster and highly respected throughout Ireland.

Most historians give credit to his grandfather, Bard Rory O’Cahan, for being the original author of the melody known today as “O Danny Boy” – a dirge he composed as a tribute to the passing of the last of the O’Cahan Chiefs, Cooey-na-Gall O’Cahan.“

Respectively, we are the 8th generation great grand daughter and the 9th generation great grandson of John O’Caine. We name our pub in his honor and we think he’d be proud.“

Brenda Johnson & Mark Pierce

Mother & Son Proprietors

O’Caine’s Irish Pub is located at 36101 Bob Hope Drive. They can be found online here.