The 2022 Great Irish Hooley at Raglan Road Offers Solid Labor Day Weekend Entertainment (Photos)

Hi everyone!

The 2022 Great Irish Hooley is now in full swing at Raglan Road Irish Pub in Disney Springs! The event runs from September 2nd – 5th, 2022 and Raglan Road calls it “Central Florida’s only authentic Irish and roots music festival”. Of course, there is a terrific menu of food and drinks to order, including a special Hooley brew called De Fesht, which is a limited release collaboration between The Tank Brewing in Miami and Raglan Road. We were invited to a preview of the event yesterday just as it kicked off. Here is a look at our experience!

There is a sign outside of Raglan Road announcing The Great Irish Hooley.

Banners also surround the restaurant and pub.

The stages were ready for music and dancing when we arrived.

First, we’ll check out a few of the food and drink items. This is the special menu we received as part of our media dining group.

You can see that the items we tried were mostly the ones labeled “New” on the menu in the “It’s All to Savor” section. And the one thing about Raglan Road’s menu – there is a very nice selection, something for everyone.

Cans of De Fesht beer were lined up. If you dine inside Raglan Road during the Great Irish Hooley, this special traditional style Märzen is on tap. At Cookes of Dublin – the counter service location next door – it is sold in a can. We were told the beer may be available for much of September.

Here is a look at one of the cans. The beer is a good reason in itself to visit during The Great Irish Hooley, something unique that won’t be there for long.

We were also brought “It’s a Hell of a Hooley!”, which is a cocktail make from Minke Irish vodka, muddled raspberries, lemon sour, rosemary syrup, Fees Brothers Foam and Wycliff champagne. I love raspberry, and this is an extremely refreshing drink.

We were first brought out the Dalkey Duo, with Dalkey mustard beer battered Cheshire heritage pork sausages, Dalkey mustard mayonnaise & buffalo apple sauce. This was a surprise hit! I don’t eat sausage, but thought this was chicken at first and was surprised at the mild taste. It was hot, juicy and a number of others in the room made mention of this dish in particular.

Four popular items from the “It’s All to Savor” section of the menu make up the Board of Beauty. The board includes an Irish Egg, the Bacon and Cabbage roll, Bang Bang’s chicken and Beef in Bed “all on one beautiful board to share”. (Serves two)

Jeff enjoyed the Irish Egg, which is a Guinness and onion sausage crusted egg with Bushmills bacon jam and wholegrain mustard aioli. He especially liked the bacon jam.

Here is a look inside.

Bang Bang’s Chicken is a buttermilk marinated fried chicken with a spicy bang bang mayonnaise. We’ve had this before, and it’s a tasty prelude to a meal.

Of what I tried from the board, the standout is the Beef in Bed with smoked pulled beef shortrib on buttermilk cheddar bread, roasted corn, smoked onion puree and crispy fried shallots. The smoked flavor of the shortrib is very memorable and just delicious. The cheddar bread didn’t have a heavy cheddar flavor, it reminded me of having meat on cornbread.

Jeff tried the Salmon Run, which features roasted Atlantic salmon filet on Raglan signature potato cake, roasted broccolini, spinach white wine butter sauce and confit tomato. This would be a dish he’d order on his own.

Raglan Road offers a popular weekend brunch. We were told that the most popular item is It’s Okay to Drool, with their famous Bread & Butter pudding, French toast style with vanilla mascarpone, mixed berries, macadamia nut crunch and crispy maple glazed bacon. We were given a sample of the dish and it would be a yummy start to a morning. If you’ve had the Ger’s Bread & Butter Pudding (a longtime favorite dessert of mine at Raglan Road), then you will have an idea of what it tastes like.

We were also shown the Me Ma’s Best Chicken, which looks delicious. It features roasted Bell and Evans chicken breast with a chicken, spinach, wild mushrooms and leek pie in roast chicken jus, topped with herb stuffing crumble with champ mashed potato.

Some of the entertainment visited our room in the back of the restaurant. Raglan Road is known for its excellent entertainment including the Raglan Road Irish Dancers. Bookmark the Raglan Road website to keep up with the latest.

The stage in the main area of the restaurant was busy with dancing and music.

Raglan Road Irish Pub was built in Ireland and dismantled, before being brought to what was then Downtown Disney (now Disney Springs). The restaurant opened back in 2005, so it’s nearing 20 years. Raglan Road has four antique bars, each more than 130 years old as of 2005 and imported from Ireland.

The entertainment was continuous, with One for the Foxes taking to the stage.

Raglan Road Irish Pub is located in The Landing area of Disney Springs, and reservations are recommended. There is outdoor seating as well if you are looking for it. I highly recommend visiting for The Great Irish Hooley or anytime!