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Top 10 St. Patrick's Day destinations

A watering hole that has served Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, the first pub to serve Guinness outside Dublin, and the longest running pub in Australia make up some of the top 10 oldest pubs outside Ireland, in a list compiled ahead of St. Patrick's Day.

In budget airfare website Cheapflights.com's list of top oldest pubs outside Ireland, spots spanning Paris, New York, Sydney, Shanghai and Latvia were singled out for preserving the sacred Irish tradition of tipping back a pint (or three) of beer and becoming landmarks for both Irish expats and locals alike.

Topping their list is The Tipperary, which has been a Fleet Street institution in London since 1700, and was the first to sell bottled and draught Guinness beer outside Dublin.

Here are the top 10 oldest Irish pubs outside Ireland, according to Cheapflights.com:

The Tipperary, London
66 Fleet Street

McSorley's Old Ale House, New York
15 East Seventh St.

In the 159 years it's been operating, the ale house has served an illustrious clientele that includes Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and American poet and playwright e.e. Cummings.

Patrick's of Pratt Street, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
934 W. Pratt St.

Not only is this the oldest Irish pub in the US, having opened in 1863, it's also been owned and operated by the same family since 1847. As scandalous as it was, however, the pub used to make it a tradition to close on St. Patrick's Day, as they didn't like to see the Irish "making fools of themselves on a Holy Day." This year, the pub will open.

Le Vieux Dublin Pub & Restaurant, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
636 rue Cathcart

As one of the founding ethnic groups to help build the city of Montreal in the 19th century, the Irish left an indelible mark on the city, including a string of Irish watering holes like Le Vieux Dublin Pub, the oldest in the city. Since 1824, Montreal has also been hosting a yearly St. Patrick's Day parade.

The Mercantile Hotel, The Rocks, Sydney, Australia
25 George St.

Located in an area of town known as "Little Ireland," or The Rocks, The Mercantile Hotel was deemed Irish enough for the band U2 who used the venue for a press conference in 1989 in support of their "Rattle & Hum" tour.

Rounding out the top 10 oldest Irish pubs around the world are:

Rosie's Irish Pub, New Plymouth, New Zealand
160-162 Devon St. E

O'Malley's, Shanghai, China
42 Tao Jiang Rd.

Paddy Whelan's, Riga, Latvia
Grecinieku Street 4, Old Riga

Fiddler's Elbow, Rome, Italy
Via dell Olmata 43, 00184

Kitty O'Shea's, Paris, France
10 Rue des Capucines

Lonely Planet's list of top Irish pubs around the world, meanwhile, is decidedly more international, with adresses that span Mongolia, Ghana, Chile, Iceland and South Korea. Check out their version at http://bit.ly/YdrtNj.