Pubs and Ireland, an unbreakable bond in everyone’s mind. There are approximately 800 pubs in Dublin at this time. However, over 1500 pubs have closed in the last 5 years. So, when a friend tells says “you must go to…. greatest pub in Dublin, we had so much fun…”, be prepared. Some of the pubs are classic and have been around for 100’s of years, others? well….
Pubs are neighborhood joints, with neighbors and steady clientele, but if you are a tourist what then? My advice, walk in, sit down, order a pint and see if you like the place. If you do, order another pint, if not, walk down the road and try the next one.
Pub food is like your favorite corner restaurant, you like it or you don’t, and inevitably someone is going to agree with you and three will say you obviously don’t understand good pub food. I am a bangers and mash fanatic, I have had good, bad and ugly, but accompanied with a couple of pints and good company, it is all good, and that is really what it is about.
So – one’s we visited:
The Palace Bar – 21 Fleet Street – just off the Temple Bar area. The palace bar is an original victorian pub and a haunt of newspaper writers in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s as the Irish Time’s office was just 3 minutes away. We loved it because the 27 year old bartender was well informed on craft beer, and took the time to sit down and give us the history of the area, and his favorite craft beers, and where to buy them (even wrote them down and sent me out the door with a list).
Blarney Inn – Kildare and Nassau Street
Set in one of the city’s oldest buildings (1837) the bar has exposed brick walls and local street signs hanging everywhere. Great Bangers and Mash!
We were told by EVERYONE to go to Foley’s, we did. It was completely empty at 7:30 in the evening. We had decent (but not great) fish and chips. After we ordered, the waitress said to us, why are you here tonight? We just sort of stared at her and she said “all the tourists come on the weekends when we have music” So…that is why I think you should just find pubs by tripping over them, the more you can blame that on the drink the better.
As I said, over 800 pubs – we are going to need a lot more time…
There are a lot of different types of pub crawls if you are visiting Dublin and want some guidance, there are music ones, literary ones and even a hostel pub crawl, have fun!
A great book on pubs, alcohol consumption, all intertwined with literature is: Dublin Literary Pub Crawl by Colm Quilligan
Some silly facts:
Whiskey is called the water of life “uisce beatha” in Gaelic
Shebeens is Gaelic for Little Mug – These were drinking establishments of the tenement areas in the 18th century but did a brisk business in the slums during the 30’s and 40’s. Profits were huge because no one paid taxes, but we all know the consequences of moonshine – you gets what you gets, so it wasn’t exactly the safest alcohol to consume.
In 1929 one pint of stout cost one penny.
The holy hour. Pubs closed between 2:30 and 3:30 pm to do general housekeeping. The holy hour lost its attraction when tourists arrived and didn’t understand why the pubs were closed. The tradition was done away with in 1988.
In 2008 the Drinks Industry of Ireland reported that alcohol sales were worth approximately 6 Billion Euros to the economy.
Smoking was banned in pubs in 2003.
Technically a publican could still refuse to serve a woman until the Equal Status Act in 2000. That would have been a brave man by far.
Sláinte