Pubs, Dublin

The literary pub crawl leaves out of the Duke pub every night at 7:30pm and lasts about 2 hrs. It is led by two actors, who act out passages and plays written by Ireland's finest! The actors were very talented and hilarious. They kept us entertained the entire time, and it was one of the best things we did in Dublin. Along the crawl we went to four pubs: O'Neils, Old Stand, The Duke, and one more that I can't remember! Even if you know nothing about Irish literature (which I didn't), you'll still have a fantastic time.

This pub was lovely and warm and friendly. They were just as happy to serve bread and vegetable soup and a cuppa tea as to pour pints of Guinness. The soup was fabulous, just what I needed on a chilly February day.

Brilliant way to experience traditional Irish music, learn a bit about it, have a laugh, and enjoy a few pints all at the same time!!

2 Irish musicians take you to a few pubs (special reserved area in the pub), and then tell you all about Irish music, play you many different tunes and songs, teach you a bit about the instruments - all with a bit of comedy too!! My stomach hurt by the end of the evening!!

The whole thing lasts about 2 and 1/2 hours and costs about 12euro's - well worth it!!

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As soon as our two guides/actors started doing a hilarious bit of Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot", I knew we were in for a major treat! The Dublin Literary Pub Crawl appropriately starts at The Duke, a beautiful 19th century pub located just off Grafton Street and an old favourite of local authors James Joyce, Brendan Behan and Patrick Kavanagh, among others. Our two guides were excellent: they did an amazing job of mixing history and literature, all the while entertaining us with some beautiful songs and funny anecdotes about Dublin writers - I think my favourite ones were about Brendan Behan's visit to Toronto (where he said the city would "look nice when it's finished"!) and Oscar Wilde's visit to a Colorado mining town ("I saw the only rational method of art criticism I have ever come across. Over the piano was printed a notice - 'Please do not shoot the pianist. He is doing his best.")

Although it may vary, our pub crawl took us to O'Neill's, The Old Stand and Davy Byrne's. For noise issues, however, most of the storytelling and song singing takes place outside, which means we only spent about 20 minutes in each of the first pubs - better to call a shot of whisky than a pint of Guinness! Throughout the evening, our guides had some trivia questions for us and when we got to the last pub, there was a little contest to see who could answer the most questions... and I won! They gave me a really nice souvenir t-shirt but to be honest, even without the t-shirt there's no way I could ever forget that wonderful evening in Dublin!

The Dublin Literary Pub Crawl starts at 7:30 pm and lasts for about 2.5 hours. Tickets: 12 Euros.

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We enjoyed going on the Literary Pub Crawl so much that we decided to give the traditional music one a try, and we were not disappointed! The Musical Pub Crawl starts at the Oliver St. John Gogarty Pub at the heart of the Temple Bar area. We had two amazing and really funny musicians with us that night: one sang, played the guitar and the bodhrán, while the other played the flute. We quickly realized they both were "purists" as far as traditional Irish music is concerned - they quickly warned us against buying a bodhrán or a CD at a souvenir store, saying that "an angel loses his wings everytime someone buys one of those" (OK, so maybe the Guinness had began to kick in at that point!). They stayed away from the most popular songs and introduced us to some lesser known, excellent jigs and reels ("Johnny Jump Up" was my favourite one), explaining how real Irish music sessions work (clapping your hands is a big no-no!) and also telling us about the history of music in Ireland. Given that my dad is a folk musician, it was really interesting for me to see all the similarities that exist between traditional music from Ireland and that from Quebec :o)

The pace of this pub crawl was very different from that of the literary one. We visited only three pubs (on top of the first one we went to the Ha'penny Bridge Inn and Brannigan's), and we had a private room reserved for our group in each one. We therefore had plenty of time to drink - and so did the musicians! The Musical Pub Crawl starts at 7:30 pm and lasts about 2.5 hours. Tickets: 12 Euros.

Is there anything better than a pubcrawl combined with a literary tour to help you enlighten and kill your brain cells at the same time?

Two actors take visitors around four or five historic Dublin pubs where they perform readings from Irish writers who have links with these bars. Anecdotes about Dublin writers from Joyce, Behan, Beckett, O'Casey and Wilde. Meanwhile you are getting smashed as you indulge in the Jamieson's, Guiness, Kilkenny, or other beverage of your choice.

The tour starts in the Duke pub where James Joyce's links are discussed. On our way to the next literary pub we stroll to Trinity College where under the Great Clock the actors perform a scene from Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest". The night goes on like this passing by sights such as the post office and learning a bit about Irish history.

A must for any visitor to Dublin.

www.irishmusicbars.com

Very good site

The following are good for live music :0)

DUBLIN
Abbey Tavern
Anglers Rest
Devitt's
The Brazen Head
Fitzsimons Bar
Frank Ryan's Pub
Frazer's Bar
Gub Dandy's/Brady's
Johnnie Fox's
The Noggin Inn
O’Donoghue’s Bar
Oliver St.John Gogarty
O’Shea’s Hotel (Olde Moran’s)
O’Shea’s Merchant
Ripley Court Hotel / The Austin Kelly Bar
Sean Doherty's
Smyth's
Taylors Three Rock
The Temple Bar
Whelan's

This is a traditional music and food restaraunt in Dublin. This pub is called The Oliver St. John Gogarty's bar and restaraunt.

Main courses vary from Irish stew, Gaelic steak, lamb, Crispy Ducking, etc.

Soups listed was named "The hair of the dog that bit you". (funny I found this one)?

Of course there is Irish whiskey and beer for your choosing.

Same idea as the Literary Pub Crawl. A group of musician tour guides take you from bar to bar singing the songs of Ireland. The tour begins at 7:30 every night. This can be really fun when with a lively group of people who aren't afraid to sing.

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You can try to work your way through all the Pubs, but you would end up being carried off like those enebriated folks at Octoberfest lying on the grassy hill. However, wandering through many of them we found them all to be a bit different, have different kinds of food, and entertainment. Many of the pubs have an upstairs area, and we found several with a so called garden area for smokers.
If you go into a pub looking for food, check right away to see if the waiters come to your table, or you have to go and order it at the bar and pay.
My other best suggestion is that you take in a few pubs that are not in Temple Bar area. This way you can rub elbows with the locals, as I don't think many local citizens of Dublin frequent Temple Bar much, unless they are showing guests from out of town the sights.