I know what you mean, i do prefer them too, but i can apply that to local Portuguese bars/pubs.
The "Irish" Pubs we have here are in major cities, and they don't have much that atmosphere you talk, because they are not traditional here, they are something "outside", so you see a lot of tourists there, and foreign people living here go there a lot of times to see football maches from UK.
So they tend to be noisy.