iEVERYONE enjoys a good excuse for a good drink and a knees-up - and none more so than the crew at O'Neill's Irish bar.

The latest good excuse comes on Monday, when the Bradshawgate pub pays homage to the female equivalent of St Patrick, St Bridget.

St Bridget's Day is marked on February 1 with feasting on traditional 'boxty' pancakes. A boxty is a griddled potato cake served with vegetables in a creamy sauce.

Bridget is also reputed to have been the best mead and ale maker in Ireland - hence the excellent excuse to drink to her health.

O'Neill's manager Mark Canny said: "Bridget's day coincides with the Celtic spring festival of Imbolc, and she brings a welcome ray of sunshine into an otherwise grim part of the year."

The St Bridget's celebrations are an early taster of THE big event to come later in the spring - St Patrick's Day.

Is YOUR pub planning special events to mark St Patrick's Day, St David's, St George's or St Andrew's? Or maybe, like the House Without A Name, which celebrates Trafalgar Day, your local holds special events on another significant anniversary.Make sure we know about the events well in advance so we can feature them in Cheers.

Phone 361277, fax 365068 or write to Cheers, Bolton Evening News, Newspaper House, Churchgate, Bolton, BL1 1DE.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.