Dublin bar crawl. Ten pints of Guinness, ten pubs in Ireland's Fair City

Temple Bar prices

Dublin is a great drinking city, we all know that. You won’t walk too far without passing a top quality boozer, serving the best Guinness in the world. Many tourists head straight to the Southside of the Liffey over to the Temple Bar area to experience overpriced drinks and watered down “craic”. To be fair Temple Bar isn’t as bad as many Irish make it out to be. There are some decent pubs in the area and there can be wild fun to be had late at night, but by god it’s pricey and has an overabundance of stupid cunts in a very small sized area. I prefer the Northside, it has more character, better pubs, and decent priced booze. Ok it might get a little hairy at times, but heh that’s half the fun, right?

Dublin bar crawl, Ten pints of Guinness, ten pubs, Irish bars

The plan: Guinness, and lots of it!

Arrived very early into Dublin from a cheap Ryanair flight, planning on heading to an evening football match in the FAI Cup first round. The match was between Belgrove and Drumcondra to be played out in the grounds of Dublin’s most famous schoolboy club, Home Farm, and wasn’t kicking off until 7.45p.m. I had ages of time to kill so I decided, after a nice stroll along O Connell Street, to have 10 pint of Guinness in ten top drinking establishments on the way to the game. But in Ireland the pubs don’t serve alcohol until 11.30 a.m. which is fecking ridiculous and unless you want to head to some early morning bars near Smithfield then you will have to wait.

Graingers Bar

Address: 51 Talbot Street, Dublin

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Graingers Bar, Talbot Street

After another few strolls around the centre of Dublin, eventually the time came to drink and I was hungry and needed to fill the belly, and there really is only one pub I know that serves great food with a good pint in a nice relaxed atmosphere. Graingers Bar on Talbot Street. Near both the national bus and train Station this bar always has good food on offer. Great friendly service and a good way to start my Guinness bar crawl. In fact the Guinness was so good here it was very tempting to go all out and have a few, but I didn’t and just had the one. One of my favourite bars for a quiet pint and some food. Recommended.

Graingers Bar on Talbot Street, Dublin bar crawl, Ten pints of Guinness, ten pubs, Irish bars

Graingers, good food, great Guinness

Molloy’s Bar

Address: Talbot Street Dublin

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Molloy’s Bar

Pint number two was to be in another one of my old favourites, Molloy’s Bar, just a few steps down from Grainger’s, also on Talbot Street. This bar has a good lively atmosphere and is close to two betting shops. The pint was great, and had a good time just relaxing, reading the paper, checking my (losing) bets and taking it all in. Usually the bar staff are top notch in this place but on the day I was there they had an English woman at the counter and she was a right fecking eejit (fool). Think she was trying too hard with her “banter”. But anyway, Molloy’s, always worth a few pints and great pub for gambling and drinking. Recommended.

A pint of plain

Briodys

Address: Marlborough Street, Dublin 1

A good pointer

For my third pint I headed up to Marlborough Street, to have a pint in Briody’s, a very small pub right beside a bookies. Good pint, relaxing place to have a beer, small and comfortable. One thing that is common with a lot of these decent pubs is the look of the toilet area. Cheap old fashioned steel sheeting always means its a decent boozer. That’s always a given.

Relaxation therapy

Sean O Casey’s

Address: Marlborough Street Dublin 1

Sean O Casey’s, top class Dublin pub

Fourth pint was also on Marlborough Street in Sean O Casey’s on the corner. Love this pub. Think the owners are from Kerry, old folk and really friendly. Good pub for watching sport, and they generally will show any kind of sport if asked nicely. Good pint (do I really have to keep mentioning this, as all pints of Guinness in Dublin are great!?), good bar chat, and one of my favourite pubs in the city. Strongly recommended.

A lovely pint!

Lovely!

Hop House/The Shakespeare Korean Pub

Address: 160-161 Parnell Street, Dublin 1

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Next I headed up to Parnell Street at the end of O’Connell Street, an area with a lot of decent boozers and good for a spot of food. Originally planned on having a pint in the Hop House/The Shakespeare Korean Pub, which is a weird Korean restaurant/old man’s Irish pub combo. It sounds strange but it really works well and it is the best of both worlds, good food washed down with good beer. But the best thing is that it has still retained a lot of the pubs old clientele which is great. But unfortunately it was not opened when I was about, which was a damn shame.

O’Reilly’s

Address: Parnell Street Dublin 1

O’Reilly’s, Parnell Street.

On my fifth pint I was in O’Reilly’s on Parnell Street. A very lively pub in the inner city of Dublin. While I was there three separate fights were going on in and around the bar, nothing too serious but it was midday and the pub was heaving. Great pub for the chat and the banter, and right beside a betting shop and some of Dublin best Chinese restaurants, you can’t go too wrong here. Many the time I spent time in this pub whiling away the hours before I headed home on the train. Has a small reputation but I like it. Recommended, especially if you like horse racing.

O’Reilly’s

Bermingham’s

Address: 111 Lower Dorset Street, Dublin 1

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After Parnell Street I ventured up to Dorset Street to see if I could find Bermingham’s, an old style Dublin pub, that hasn’t changed since the time of dawn. Cracking pub with good banter and even better pints. But imagine my horror to see that the bar has closed and is not open anymore. It seems the owner passed away last year (Dec, 2013) and with it the closing of one of Dublin’s finest boozers. A pity. RIP

Bermingham’s, Dublin bar crawl, Ten pints of Guinness, ten pubs, Irish bars

Bermingham’s, RIP

Mayes Pub

Address: Dorset Street Upper, Dublin 1

Mayes Pub, Dorset Street

So I headed over to Mayes Pub also on Dorset Street with its distinctive signage and good central location. First time drinking here, and a good pint and good banter, not a bad pub and was good to get the break and rest the feet after wandering around looking for a non-existent Bermingham’s.

Mayes Pub

The Auld Triangle

Address: 29 Dorset Street Lower, Dublin 1

The Auld TriangleFor my 7th pint I went into The Auld Triangle, a well-known Republican bar with a H Block mural featuring on its walls. Not a bad pub, good pint, good banter, some rebel music on the jukebox and a nice place to relax and take a breather as I was getting a bit tired with all the walking around and betting and drinking. Just as I was finishing the pint some of the regulars started an old sing a long, was a pity I had to go, but time was of the essence.

The Auld Triangle, Dublin bar crawl, Ten pints of Guinness, ten pubs, Irish bars

A republican pint

Quinns

Address: Drumcondra Road Lower, Dublin 9

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Quinns in Drumcondra, Dublin bar crawl, Ten pints of Guinness, ten pubs, Irish bars

Quinns, Drumcondra,

8th pint was had in Quinns in Drumcondra, a good lively bar, a well known and popular bar which is always busy when there is a GAA game nearby in Croke Park. I like this bar, good friendly staff and a good pint. Good pub and much better than the nearby Fagan’s a shithole which is to be avoided. Recommended, especially if attending a game at Croker. Can get busy at night time, and is a student favourite (but don’t let that put you off!).

Quinns

Millmount House

Address: Drumcondra Road, Dublin

Millmount House, Drumcondra,

Millmount House, also in Drumcondra, Dublin bar crawl, Ten pints of Guinness, ten pubs, Irish bars

Millmount House, great for a game of pool

9th pint was in the Millmount House, also in Drumcondra. A good bar for a quiet drink in the day and a game of pool and a decent pint. Good crowd at the bar, friendly staff and good Guinness. One of my favourite bars this side of Dublin. At night time it gets pretty lively, and on occasions has some good live music. Recommended.

Millmount House

Home Farm Whitehall

Address: 97a Swords Road, Whitehall, Dublin 9

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Finally managed to walk up to Home Farm Football Club for the match and had my final pint at half time in the clubhouse. Good banter at the game, and a very friendly and chatty bar staff. Had a nice pint, probably had more than one but can’t remember as I was just glad to have arrived at my final destination. Was completely knackered after all the walking, but was glad to get some football in my itinerary. Belgrove won one nil by the way!

Home Farm Football Club

Football and Beer

So after my ten pints ten pubs I walked back to the Bus Station near Connolly and got my late bus home to the midlands, happy with my achievement but tired. All of the pubs on my crawl were decent boozers, the Guinness was top notch in all the pubs (seriously it would have to be in Dublin!), and all the bars were enjoyable in their own unique ways. Must do this again but with a different ten! Got to love Dublin!