O'Connell St sits on Calle de Espoz y Mina, a couple of minutes on foot from Puerta del Sol, on a street thick with pubs and terraces. It is an Irish-themed sports pub built for a crowd that wants the match and a pint within a short walk of the centre.
Madrid's official tourism site, esmadrid.com, names O'Connell among the classic Irish pubs that pull sports fans, especially for Six Nations rugby. The location does a lot of the work. Few central rooms put this many screens this close to the city's busiest square.
The room is the familiar Irish-pub layout, dark wood and brass, with screens angled so the football reaches the bar and the booths alike. TripAdvisor reviewers describe a steady, friendly room rather than a rowdy one, which suits an afternoon match better than a late club night.
What to drink is a pint of stout or a cold lager, both in the 5 to 6 euro range, poured by staff used to a match-day rush. The kitchen keeps to pub standards, so a burger or a plate of wings is the order if the game runs long. This is a beer-first room, and it knows it.
On the sport, the screens carry a mix of soccer, rugby, American football and basketball, so a visiting fan can usually find a fixture. The pub leans into the big rugby weekends, when the Six Nations crowd arrives early and the room fills well before kickoff.
Who is it for. Travellers staying near Sol who want a guaranteed screen without a trek, rugby fans during the Six Nations, and groups who want a central, late, low-fuss place to watch a match. Skip it if you want something quiet or local. The street outside is one of the busiest in the city.
Best time to go is early on a match day, since the doors open at 11am and the screens run through the afternoon. Friday and Saturday stretch to 3:30am, so a late kickoff or an NFL night holds well past midnight, though weekend evenings draw a heavy tourist crowd.
The street is the context. Espoz y Mina runs from Sol toward the Barrio de las Letras, lined with Irish pubs and terraces, so O'Connell trades on footfall as much as fixtures. That makes it a reliable fallback when a match is on and you have not booked anywhere.
The crowd skews international. Tour groups, exchange students and visiting fans fill the room on a big night, which suits the high-energy rugby weekends but means a quiet local pint is not the order here. Reviewers on TripAdvisor note the friendly service holds up even at the busiest moments.
Getting here needs no planning. The pub is two or three minutes from the Sol interchange, where Metro lines 1, 2 and 3 meet, so it is the easiest central room to reach for a spur-of-the-moment match. That access is half the appeal.
One practical note. On a Six Nations Saturday the room fills well before kickoff, so arrive with a clear half hour in hand. A claimed seat with a sightline to a screen is worth more than a later pint in the crush at the door.
For the rest of the central options, our best sports bars in Madrid guide sets O'Connell beside the other Irish rooms, and the Madrid bar guide maps the streets around Sol. Match-day visitors should read our guide to watching the game in Madrid, and the global sports bars collection helps compare cities.
Sources: esmadrid.com, Tourism Madrid sports-bars guide; TripAdvisor Madrid reviews; Yelp Madrid listing; O'Connell St Facebook page.
