I decided to take a short vacation to Chicago the week of March 15 to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day.  As I am half Irish I always wanted to experience the day long celebration hosted by the city of Chicago.

My question to the board is what bars/pubs should I put on my list of places to visit?  Any other thoughts on "must see" or "must do" events for the day will be appreciated as well.  

PS My hotel is located in the Near North Side so any place within stumbling distance of this area would be a prized location as I figure taxis may get scarce as the evening wears on.  Although I am somewhat out of practice I am still a fairly fit stumbler so we are talking about 1.5-2.0 miles or so.  Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Try looking up;

www.kiplog.com/irishmap/ for a listing of the best Irish Pubs on the Northside.

Also make sure you get a view of the Chicago River, after they die it green.

The site you linked to in your posting helped me immensely.  While I found several sites that reviewed Irish Pubs none of them organized them along geographic lines. I now plan to start in the morning in the Lakeview area and then work my way south throughout the day.  By late afternoon or early evening I should end up in the River North area. I've already picked out 5-6 Irish establishments to stop along the way so barring bad weather it should be a great day.

I really appreciate your help.  I see by your site your a western suburbs oriented person so our paths are not likely to cross during my trip.  However, if you find yourself downtown during the week please let me know.  At a minimum I would like to buy you a lunch or a drink or two to thank you for your kind assistance.