Traditional Pubs, Dublin

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Mc Daids is one of Dublins pubs that regularly features on the 'Top 10' Traditional Pubs in Dublin.
We chose to go here after viewing the statue of Phil Lynott, which is opposite this pub. We'd just been to the Green Gallery in the Stephen Green Shopping centre, where there was a sketch of Philo posing outside McDaids.
McDaids was established in 1779, previously it was sited at another nearby location on Chatham Street.
This present building was previously one of Dublins morgues (it was also a one time Moravian Chapel)
Our visit was on a Saturday lunchtime, and surprisingly, it wasn't too busy. We took a stool at the bar and waited for our Guinness to be poured. There is a selection of bitters and lagers too - Kilkenny, Smithwicks, Heineken, Carlsburg, Becks and Stella Artois, as well as wines and spirits - (there looked to be a good selection of Irish (and Scottish) Whisky/Whiskey) as well as soft drinks/tea and coffee.

to be continued....

Dress Code: Casual attire, but No stag Party gear! we witnessed one such group dressed casually, but 'the stag' was dressed as a leprechaun - No way was the bar tender allowing them in!

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We were looking for somewhere fairly near to our hotel (by Connelly Station) for a quiet drink, so we didn't fancy the bustle of Temple Bar. I remembered seeing this place during one of my previous visits and thought that it looked a likely place.

Well, it was a good choice, and turned out to be our favourite bar. We returned here the following night and enjoyed a meal here too.

The Oval is a traditional Victorian pub, built in 1820, it still has some of its original features. Due to its location, a few doors down from the General Post Office, it suffered considerable damage during the 1916 rising, and had to be rebuilt
One of 'The Newspaper pubs', as staff from the Independant newspapers used to frequent the bar. Apparently, some of the regulars are immortalised in sketches adourning the Ovals walls.

The Oval Bar isn't named after it's bar -(it's rectangular, not Oval shaped) but from the lunette (glass window) above the 2 storeyed bow-window facade. It is quite an unusual architectural design.

For some strange reason, this friendly and authentic hostelery doesn't seem to appear in the many lists of 'Dublins Top 10 Traditional Pubs'. It appeared to be popular with locals, workers and visitors of all ages and characters. Perhaps it's a blessing that it isn't one of the Top 10, as we had space to sit in comfort, and enjoy the ambiance.

So, first impressions - A traditional Irish pub, with a polished dark wood, marble topped bar, brass fittings, tiled floor, mirrors, shaded lights.
A friendly welcome from the bar man, who invited us to 'take a seat, and I'll bring your drinks over'
We soon made ourselves comfortable. A good pint (or two) of The Black Stuff, quiet conversation and 'people watching' it soon became clear to us, that the bar staff were very professional hosts- discreetly watching to see that their customers/'guests' weren't left waiting for a drink, anticipating that we might want food before they stopped serving (we'd already eaten), working the bar with a calm, natural ease.
On first glimpse, The Oval appeared to be quite small, but it actually has 3 floors!

The toilets are downstairs - entered through a gap in the wall opposite the bar.
Outside on the front is a seating/smoking area to enjoy the warmer days/nights

On the two nights that we were here, the Darts Grand Prix semi-final and final were being played 20 minutes away at the Citywest hotel and Conference Centre. The matches were playing on the TV screens in the bar. Now, neither of us are huge fans of televised sports, least of all darts, but we were soon drawn into the exciting final between 15 times world Champion, Phil 'The Power' Taylor, and 'local boy' Brendan Dolan, a former ­decorator from County Fermanagh.
According to the bars website, all 'Big Matches' are shown here, and it's a popular pre and/or post match venue for those heading to/from Croke Park.

NOT to be confused with The Oval, Shelbourne Road, Ballsbridge.

Background music of soft rock at a comfortable low volume. (we didn't hear any traditional or otherwise Irish music) I'm not sure if there are any live music sessions.

Prices (October 2011)
Pint Guinness 4.25 Euros
Glass Guinness 2.55
Pint Heineken 4.65
Glass Heineken 2.75

OPENING HOURS: Open Daily, from 10-30 (12-00 Sunday) to 23-30 (00-30 Friday and Saturday, 23-00 Sunday)

Dress Code: Not as far as I could see.

Although it is not located within the core of the Temple Bar area, it is among the pubs with the best reputation. Or maybe it is because it is outside of it and thus not found by the Temple Bar drunkards. Still, it has an open atmosphere and tourists are as welcome as locals here. Whenever I appeared here, it seemed to be full of life. Even in the morning after St. Patrick’s Day, some locals seem to come here for a pint of breakfast. The front bar gives you the impression that this is a rather small pub. However, it consists of several other rooms with additional bars, including one in the first floor and another in the basement. Beside usual live music, further events like book readings, comedy and whatever you can imagine take place here. It is also the place where the 1916 rebellion walking tour starts, one of the things in Dublin I cannot praise high enough. To sum up, this pub is among my favourite ones in Dublin.

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A day before New Year's Eve 2006 I finally made it to Dawson’s Lounge. Dawson’s Lounge is located on Dawson Street, just a step away from St Stephen’s Green and around the corner from Grafton Street. It is advertised as Dublin’s smallest pub and I was previously jinxed in always visiting Dublin the few days when they were closed for some private functions. So I was pretty excited to finally find it open and met VTer Krumel there.

It sure was worth the wait. I absolutely love pubs with an atmosphere, and this little bar sure was oozing with it. You enter through a very narrow set of stairs that lead down to a little room that is vaguely reminiscent of a private living room and can be considered chockablock once you have a dozen people or so inside. The atmosphere was great and we soon got talking to a bunch of people from all over the place and fell out the door a few hours later to wake up with a severe hangover afterwards.

Dress Code: Come as you are

The Porterhouse chain only has five pubs - in Bray, Temple bar (Dublin) , Glasnevin (why ?) and 2 in London.

The pub in Parliment Street is perhaps mainly frequented by tourists and beer-lovers, rather than 'locals' , but is still very worthwhile sampling.

The signs in the pub could be seen as a direct dig against Guinness -

e.g "Home of the best stout in the world", when the Guinness brewery is only about half a mile up the road. Another sign says "Home of the largest Irish-owned brewery in the world".

They brew eight different beers here, including several stouts (originally called Porters after the men who used to drink the stuff in ancient markets), ales and lagers.

I was especially enamoured of the Porterhouse Red, which was a fine hoppy brew.

This micro-brewery is a refreshing throwback to the days when the Liffey was lined with small breweries - before the days of mass production and mass-marketing. Support it - and enjoy it!

One of my favourite pubs in Dublin is the Palace Bar in Temple Bar. It's frequented by an older crowd, mainly journalists and writers... what can i say?? it's one of those old style pubs like there are very few left - where people go to talk to drink - not just to see and be seen

Dress Code: definitely informal. it's what you are that counts, and what you say - not what you look like.

in my opinion the stags head is one of the nicest pubs in dublin. dating back to 1770 it has beautiful woodwork and interesting stained glass windows. even for those who do not drink it is worth stopping in for a look.

Dress Code: casual.

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The Dubliners are very friendly people, and one place to meet the locals is visiting a real Dublin pub! And there are many to choose from as Dublin is said to have around 1,000 pubs! This is my kind of city!

Sláinte…

O’Neills Bar

After a long day of sightseeing, my friend and I were heading for a pub. We have heard about the Temple Bar area, and it seemed like a popular place, but also very touristy. Instead we ended up at O’Neills Bar on a corner close to the Trinity College. It was a really nice pub with locals hanging out, a good selection of beers, local food, football on TV, and live Irish music a couple of evenings. We liked the atmosphere here so much that we visited O’Neills every evening during our stay in Dublin.

Address: Suffolk Street, Dublin
Web: O’Neills Bar

The Brazen Head

We also visited the Brazen Head, which is officially Ireland’s oldest pub. It is dating back to 1198, but it is unclear how much of the 11th century coach house is still intact. Through times, many famous people have enjoyed a pint or a bite to eat here, for instance James Joyce, Jonathan Swift, and Michael Collins. Today you can meet musicians like Van Morrison and Hothouse Flowers, but around noon on a Thursday in August there were only a couple of Danes – and many other tourists from around the world.

To be honest the Brazen Head looked "touristy”, but I only visited in the afternoon and don’t know whether locals are hanging out here in the evening. The garden was nice and the history interesting.

Address: Bridge Street Lower, Dublin
Web: The Brazen Head