Things to do in Dublin

Travel, Wine Tourism, and Restaurants Forum
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My father and sister are heading to Dublin shortly after Thanksgiving (without me [swearing.gif] ). They will be staying fairly close to the main drag on just the north side of the river. I don’t think they are planning to rent a car, so easy access through public transportation is a must.
I know ‘drink’ is one answer: I have a couple places recommended, but would be interested in other thoughts. They are not big foodies or wine drinkers, so we’re looking at pubs. For others that may have spent long strecthes of time in Dublin, what are your ‘can’t miss’ sights or things to do?
Thanks in advance.

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Play golf, hard to beat!!

3

My family lived in Dublin for a while

I would suggest

  1. Chester Beatty Library (if they just do 1 thing this is a must)
  2. Francis bacon studio (Hugh lane gallery)
  3. Book of Kells (Trinity college)
  4. Museum of modern art
  5. Guinness brewery
  6. food/ farmers mkt thing Saturday morning cool local stuff, Guinness(or a glass of white) and oysters for breakfast. You will need to check the location or if it still exists(I went 10 years ago)
  7. visit Skerries/Blessington
  8. Museum of Irish history
  9. Dublin Castle
  10. Some nice coastal paths to walk just a short train ride away.

Have fun.

4

Only if I were going, then… flirtysmile

5

Awesome stuff
[thankyou.gif] [thankyou.gif] [thankyou.gif]
Will googlemap these to see what’s close to their hotel.

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+1. Thank you, Philip! [thankyou.gif]

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Are you hitting Dublin? Actually got to go back in April, so I can add to the list, especially from the beer drinker’s perspective… [drinkers.gif]

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Yeah; going this weekend. Would love to hear what you have to say!

9

This list below was from my contact Wally at Porterhouse. Porterhouse has two locations, one in Temple Bar the other beside Trinity College; the college one was much noisier. Definitely the best source for hoppy beers, either their own or imports by the bottle.
On this list, we did Palace Bar just on the edge of Temple Bar. Very authentic long bar, no food and very few tourists, several cask beers. Also hit Bull and Castle which is directly across the street from Christchurch Cathedral. Very good lineup of beers, amazing quality food for the money. They are owned/partnered with a butcher chain, so all their meat is excellent. I think even the burger meat is dry aged.
If you are a music fan, and depending on where you are staying, you MUST hit The Cobblestone Pub, just north of the plaza outside the Old Jameson distillery. Pure Irish, the most authentic experience you could have in Dublin. We spent 3 hours just drinking, talking, and listening.
If you get a chance, find Dungarvan Brewing from Waterford, especially on cask, and especially the Black Rock Stout. Like someone squeezed a handfull of peat into the beer. Irish bliss.
We stayed just off the north end of O’Connel, so almost everything was walking distance. Where will you guys be?


“A top five is difficult at the best of times but make it about favourite pubs in
my hometown…here goes,
dublin pubs…
the palace bar fleet street city centre
mulligans poolbeg street city centre
the long hall south great georges street city centre
the grave diggers (kavanaghs) beside glasnevin cemetery about 3 miles from the city centre
grogans southwilliam street city centre
beer bars and some specialists for great food…
Porterhouse Parliament Street city centre
Against the Grain Wexford Street city centre
The Bull and Castle Christchurch City centre
L.Mulligans Grocers Stonybatter (about 1 mile from city centre) close to
drinkstore (a liquor store on manor street dublin 7…www.drinkstore.ie) a tiny
but wonderful specialist that has the selection of beer in Ireland -and of
course a nice bottle or two of vino and spirits
The Blacksheep Capel Street close to city centre”

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Don’t know exactly where we’ll be staying — my wife did all the planning. 'And, actually, as of a week ago, I didn’t even think I was going to go b/c I was consumed with taking care of our ailing dog and thought I might still be doing the same by the time this vacation rolled around; very unfortunate circumstances made it such that I am now available to join-in on the Dublin excursion, so all this planning is happening very much by the seat of my pants.

I really want to find some of that Black Rock Stout!

Question for you: is wine available at the pubs? (doesn’t have to be good wine). My wife’s sister who will be in Dublin with us is allergic to gluten, and therefore cannot drink beer, so a pub with wine will get priority over a pub without, unfortunately.

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and, any Wine Bar recs. would be very well-received, too!

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Sorry to hear about your dog.

I would think Porterhouse and Bull & Castle would as they seem to be all-purpose sorts of places. Palace Bar, maybe. Definitely worth checking (best place to find the Black Rock, to be sure), but it’s more of an ambiance place so you could pull in for a pint and leave within 10 minutes if you wanted. I would go to Cobblestone and drink tap water if I had to. Honestly never looked for anything wine related. Just doesn’t seem to be part of the culture, and I was looking for things I couldn’t find stateside, which happens more for beer than with wine. Plus there’s lots of smoking in the pubs, which would kill off the wines.

Send me the info on your hotel if you can, and I’ll help figure out where some things are for you. If you are anywhere close to the Hop On/Hop Off bus route, you are on easy street getting around to the most important areas. I wouldn’t know the first thing about driving in Dublin.

13

Cool.

And thanks for the condolences re: our dog. Minutes ago, I just took a call from our vet, actually: we finally got some answers. Apparently, she had a rare form of a rare cancer — systemic mastocytosis.

I’ll PM you later, Matt, with location of our hotel; I’d be very interested in any tips you may have to give. [cheers.gif]

14

Yep, sorry about your dog Brian.

There have been a couple of wine-pages offlines in Dublin I think, check out the threads.

15

Cool. Will check it out, Russell. Thank you for the condolences, too. [cheers.gif]

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Hi Brian, very sorry for your loss, I hope Dublin can somehow help to lift your spirits.

Some great advice already given, as a proud Dubliner (living in Sydney) I’ve got a couple of suggestions…particularly on pubs.

In the city, it’s best to walk through Stephens green and down grafton st.the small streets off grafton have many little gems. My favorite is kehoes on south Anne st. This isn’t glamorous by any means, but a friendly traditional pub with possibly the best Guinness. Also has a small snug inside opposite the bar, which is truly a classic spot to while away a lazy afternoon on a rainy day.

Other pubs off grafton worth checking are mcdaids, o Neil’s, davey Byrnes, the duke…all within a few minutes walk from kehoes. Also just across from kehoes is la cave, a decent little wine bar.

Running parallel to Grafton St is Dawson st. Here you’ll find Cafe En Seine. Not traditional by any means but quite a beautiful new style trendy spot. A favourite spot of my wife’s when we visit Dublin…recommend you check in here with your crew. Also on Dawson is Ron Blacks, new style trendy spot, similar to cafe en seine.

A great boozer, 10 mins from Dawson st is odonoghues on baggot st, definitely look in here, traditional, lively and quality Guinness. A favourite for locals and tourists, plus often has live music. A very hard place to leave :slight_smile:

Across the road is Downey & nesbits, solid pub and certainly worth a look, also used to do a great lunch. In fact most of my suggestions offer decent pub food, and certainly all should have wine available, granted you won’t see much DRC …lol!

In fact, to walk from that end of baggot st to the other brings you past some other notable watering holes. Let’s be honest, it’s impossible to walk far in any direction without finding a few pubs. In fact I expect you’ll stumble across random places not called out here that will fit the bill perfectly.

I’ve assumed your staying in the city, hopefully the south side :wink:. As a southsider, I’d recommend merrion square and ballsbridge, ver close to the centre and lots of beautiful Georgian houses and nice to walk around if the rain ever stops for 20 mins. Off Merrion you’ll find historical places, like Oscar wildes house etc, and generally see landmarks of some of the great writers. I’m pretty sure there a few Joyce tours available if of interest.

If your feeling adventurous, jump on the Dart (train) out to Dalkey. Probably 45 mins from the city. Beautiful coastal Dublin village, home to Van the man, bono, and some terrific walks. It needs a dry day, but if you’re looking for some fresh air, and a different perspective from the city…Dalkey is highly recommended.

Hope this helps. Have a great trip, Agus go n’eiri an bothar leat.

Cheers
Michael

17

Matthew

Meant to add, playing golf around Dublin is a must when you visit in April. Many many recommendations, you will absolutely love it. Shout with more details nearer your visit and I’ll do my best to advise. After pubs, golf courses are arguably Irelands greatest national assets, and tourist draw cards, speaking as a biased golfer of course [basic-smile.gif]

18

My trip was actually this last April and was pure city walking with the wife; her first trip overseas, so slipping out for a round was a big no-no (though I did manage a walk over to Croke Park to check out the museum and pick up some nice county sports gear). But I appreciate the advice offer. Definitely recognized a few of the bar names on your list.

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Matt and Michael,

THank you so much for your recommendations. I am a couple minutes from heading out the door to catch our 6:30 a.m. flight out of Leeds. Michael, we are staying at Drury Court Hotel (iirc right now).

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I’ll throw in Casino Marino for an interesting architectural tour. Plus it’s nice to get out of the city center but it’s on a bus line.