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Ireland
I stayed around Baggot Street a few weeks ago. A great location, there are great pubs and restaurants and it's just a few minutes' walk from Trinity College.
I can recommend Dohney & Nesbitts pub, a very traditional pub and great fun and then across the street is Toner Pub, different crowd, but again traditional. Stayed in Baggot Court Townhouse and then for a change moved to Fitzwilliam Square and stayed at Fitzwilliam Townhouse, great places to stay, Georgian buildings and, most of all, good value.
www.baggotcourt.com
www.visitdublin.com (see bars)
www.fitzwilliamtownhouse.com
www.bangcafe.ie
A fairly swanky but quintessentially Dublin suburb close to the city centre, a great place for a pint away from the God-awful Dublin plastic paddy pubs.
Get the
LUAS southbound for 3 stops, get off at Ranelagh then walk up the high street and pop in one of the ten or so pubs.
Temple Bar is where every drunken eejit and plastered hen/stag party will end up. Avoid it like the plague on St Patrick's, last year the place ran with piss and vomit. Horror.
Instead go to Camden Street, still city centre, which is full of decent bars, most have live music and DJs organized for the night and where I'll be, in Anseo.
Camden Street
Although under renovation, this hostel is an excellent place to stay in the centre of town.
The rooms for two offer ensuite facilities and are impeccably clean if basic.
If a couple of chairs were provided they would be even better!
The price might seem expensive for some (70 euros a night for two if booked over the net) but try to find better at a seven minutes walk from the Spire.
There is a kitchen and a minimalist breakfast is included if you want to share it with the school groups.
There is a Thai restaurant across the street and the pub on the corner's public bar (Molloy's) will take you straight back to pre-tourism Dublin - especially at the 11am rush.
A couple of caffs just round the corner on Talbot St offer all-day breakfasts at a very good prices if you can face the cholesterol, yum.
Talbot Place.
The Smallest Pub in Dublin (officially known as the Dawson Lounge) can be found on Dawson Street, just past Grafton Street in the City Centre.
Go there at around 8 o'clock so you can guarantee yourself a place and avoid the herds of late-night workers coming for happy hour afterwards (they even have backrests on the walls to accommodate those without seats). Though really small (the area of the whole pub must be around ten metres squared), the pub is very cozy and serves the best Guinness I ever tasted, for a reasonable bargain of €3.80.
Definitely a good option, especially if you're with a big group of friends and feel like starting the night out with some drinks and good laughter.
Dawson Lounge, Dawson Street
Telephone: (+ 353) 1 671 0311
Email: dawsonlounge@thomasread.ie
www.dawsonlounge.ie/
Mon - Thurs 12.30 to 11.30
Fri-Sat 12.30-12.30 Sunday 4-11.00
FOOD Mon-sat 12-4.30
The Chester Beatty Library.
Dublin Castle,
Dublin 2,
Ireland
Tel: (+353 1) 407 0750
Fax: (+353 1) 407 0760
Email: info@cbl.ie
www.cbl.ie/
Great bar with live music nights.
Quite large but never seems empty no matter how few people are there.
Drinks promotions and friendly staff.
Capel Street
Large bar popular with the after work crowd. Free in most of the time but do charge after ten on some nights.
Cocktail lounge upstairs looks like a brothel. Fun and rowdy in a kind of office party way. Expensive.
By harcourt luas stop
Student-type bar near the premier art college in Ireland. Good drinks promotions and music nights with djs in the bar and in the basement. Small, atmospheric, cheap and friendly.
Thomas Street
Bar, where students with less style than they think go to dance themselves silly upstairs to a, frankly, very good indie disco, or just drink and talk downstairs in the basement or in one of the two ground floor bars.
It's a great spot but there are too many wannabe hipsters running around. Still a laugh though.
Near Pearse Street Garda station.
Cramped, noisy, with a seat resembling the proverbial gold-dust most evenings, this is where literary hardmen like Brendan Behan and Patrick Kavanagh came to nurse a pint and their talents. Not to be entered lightly, although you’ll probably leave that way.
Address: 3 Harry Street, Dublin 2.
Telephone: (353-1) 6794395
It may not quite live up to the name, but there is something regal about The Palace. Maybe it’s the high, vaunted ceilings. Or perhaps the tiled floors lend it that touch of royal class. It could be its impeccable breeding, dating as it does back to Victorian times, and once the haunt of Yeats, Behan, Kavanagh and other illuminati of Irish literature. But probably it’s the presence of all those pretenders, perched on their thrones, issuing one edict after another.
Address: 21 Fleet Street, Dublin 2.
Telephone: (353-1) 6779290
Mentioned more than once by Joyce, it is a true Dublin literary pub. That said, it hardly looks the same as it did in the great man’s time – the decor a bit reminiscent of a 70s cruise ship disco. But it has great seafood and pints, and the soundtrack is the hum of strong opinions strenuously aired. Joyce would approve.
Address: 21 Duke Street, Dublin 2.
Telephone: (353-1) 6775217
A classic Dublin pub, it has all the requisite elements: a snug inside the door, brass fittings, buzzing atmosphere, and a great pint of Guinness. And it wouldn’t be a proper Dub pub without the precarious, narrow stairs down to the toilets. Fun at just about any time of the day, any day of the week.
Address: 9 South Anne Street, Dublin 2
Telephone: (353-1) 6778312
It's a pub in Dublin. My friend John tells me it is the oldest pub in Ireland. The music is so good and the ambience is priceless. What shall I say about the drinks? Guinness as usual.
The Brazen Head, 20 Bridge Street, Dublin 8.
Tel : 00 353 1677 9549
www.brazenhead.com/
On the Dublin Literary Pub Crawl, which lasts for over two hours, the emphasis is firmly on 'Literary'. There are just a couple of 20-minute breaks for refreshment along the way. The rest of the time we're treated to entertaining and informative performances by two actors.
The pubs are those that were frequented by the writers we learn about. There's also a stop at Trinity College, where we hear about Oscar Wilde and others. Perhaps we can be inspired by the spirit of these places (and I'm not referring to the whiskey).
It's also a great way to meet fellow travellers, as there are opportunities to chat along the way, and at the end of the crawl.
I'd highly recommend this particular brand of pub-crawl to any visitor (indeed, any Dubliner). Full details are available on the website.
Tel: +353 1 670 5602; www.dublinpubcrawl.com
In a city of Guinness and generic lagers, Mssrs brews its own beer on site. It has nice views of the water, a good relaxing atmosphere. The food is also good, but quite expensive.
Just off the O'Connell Street Bridge
The Long Hall has always been one of the most beautiful Victorian bars in Dublin, alongside the nearby Stags Head, but it’s characterless. The Brazen Head is just for tourists.
The only place left for a drink in Dublin, itself, is The Horseshoe Bar at The Shelbourne from 5pm on a Friday.
27 St Stephen's Green;
tel: International: +353 1 6727752; UK: 0800 912 0021; USA: 1800 869 4330
Nestled high in the hills, this is Ireland's highest pub. Great seafood, a scenic drive and heaps of good music.
Glencullen Cross, Glencullen; An irregular bus service leaves from the city centre; To drive head south for Enniskery and take the turnoff for Glencullen. The pub sits on right-hand side of road
Tiny wee bar (the very smallest in the city) with bags of personality, great Guinness and just enough room for one barman. Some nights you may even find a jazz band playing away in the corner.
25 Dawson Street, Dublin 2
People have been drinking in a pub on this site since 1198. Great atmosphere, peat fires, a wonderful smoking zone forecourt, and the stew is quite something. Hey, it's even a wireless hot spot.
20 Lower Bridge Steet, just off Merchant's Quay
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