Dublin, Ireland

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Try one over the eight - all brewed here.

The Porterhouse chain only has three pubs - in Bray, Temple bar (Dublin) and 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!

Looking for a night out, we happened here only because it was near our hotel. We seemed to be the only tourists. Nice to find a local place, but got lots of looks...
There is live traditional music and at about 9pm-10pm some older couples appeared and began dancing on a little spot o' wood floor space available. Kind of looked like square dancing--but whatever-- it was fun to watch! Walls were heavily decorated with newspapers articles umpteen years old...

Dress Code: Casual

Atmospheric little ancient pub, full of photos and mementoes, including the old claim to fame that James Joyce drunk here!
They put lunch and dinners on - but like everywhere in Dublin it is expensive to eat for budget travellers. (Irish Stew for 12 euro!) Well we cooked that at our apartment...

However, its good to go and have a drink, and lose yourself in the Irish music which is on nightly.

Dress Code: Smart casual

Whelan's Pub is the pub seen in the movie P.S. I Love You. It has a live band every night and affordable drinks! The atmosphere is great and the people are very friendly. They have tv's throughout the place for live rugby or football matches and some seating, though not much.

Dress Code: Casual

Day before St Pats Day, we'd come out of the Guinness Warehouse, down the main road towards the city centre. We needed to stop for the loo, so we went into this little pub (i wish i could remember its name!) and we ended up having 2 pints here! There were the locals sat in the corner playing Irish songs, a group of them with their wives, it was a wonderful atmosphere! We chatted to another bloke at the bar. After that we decided this would be where we come after the Parade on St Pats Day. We didnt want to go to the Americanised pubs or Temple Bar that you can go to anywhere in the world. We wanted a traditional irish pub whilst in Ireland, and this is exactly what it was! Brilliant!

Dress Code: casual

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If you're in your 20s or 30s and looking for a fun area to go drinking, hit up Temple Bar. We actually stayed in this hood when we were there the first time. You meet a TON of people and everyone is there for the same reason ... to drink and have fun! The Temple Bar and The Auld Dubliner are great fun. The Temple Bar is A LOT bigger than it looks from the outside. Auld Dubliner had great live music. A lot of pubs don't let under 23s in ... which is great, because it weeds out the sometimes irritating younger crew. Less riff raff in the pubs is good.

Dress Code: Casual. You can dress up cute in a skirt or dress or wear jeans and a T. Anything works.

In the center of Town you find enough bars and nightclubs .Have a look at

Howl at the Moon, Lower Mount Street ( end of Nassau street andMerrion Sq)Four luxurious bars spread out over 4 levels.

Zanzibar.at Lower Ormond Street just over the Liffey River.Unique for its decoration and a place to be.

Café En Seine, café/bar at 39, Dawson Street.A small entrance but a huge Art Nouveau place and reasonable prices

If you like to drink like I do, make sure you bring enough money because it can get expensive. Also, They don't sell alcohol in the normal markets. You have to go to an off-licence and they close early, and are closed on holidays when you need a drink the most. At the pubs, you can buy alcohol to go. Some pubs close pretty early, but you can go to a "Wine Bar" that is like an after hours. It cost about $30.00 or more for a bottle of wine.