The All-Dublin pub crawl – the 24 postal districts of Dublin

Ryan’s is in Dublin 8 – both sides of Parkgate Street are, but anything North of that (i.e., Montpelier Hill, Constitution Hill) is 7. Of course, the entire Phoenix Park is also in 8 to provide the President with a Southside address.

Oh yeah. I forgot that Parkgate St. is Dublin 8. That’s a shame then – its a hard toss up between Ryan’s and Fallons. Clearly in terms of phsyical quality, Ryan’s is the superior, but I like the small size of Fallons, its existence in the corner building of what woudl have been a respectable 19th century terrace of buildings and its location in such a historic part of the city right across from St. Patrick’s. I think for those reasons I’d like to keep it – though its a hard call – the last reaosn would be that its much less pretenious than the crowd I often see in Ryan’s. More of a true Dublin atmosphere – which it shoudl be given its on the Coombe.

Anyway, that leaves an opening for Dublin 7. So how about:

Dublin 7 – The Hut in Phibsboro.

I think you should have two pubs for each single digit area code and one for each of the double digits.

Let the squabbling commence! If it was based on the qualittee of tha porttur you’d have a few codgers up in arms with certain suburban choices. Most on the list are impeccable but I would replace Slattery’s in D6 with the Hill and Tommy Walshes in Stoneybatter would just pip the Hut for the D7 overall vote.

Brady’s in Terenure for Dublin 6W for a great night of the trad music (and its across the road from me so ill join ye!)

@tommyt wrote:

Tommy Walshes in Stoneybatter would just pip the Hut for the D7 overall vote.

The right choice. Kehoe’s for D2

Jerry Byrnes in Galloping Green for D 18 – tho’ tha Widow Cullen’s is also a contender.
Kb

I’m not sure that Sandymount House is the absolutely right choice for D4. A fine pub indeed, but I’d think perhaps a stronger case might be made for Slattery’s of Bath Avenue, O’Reilly’s of Sandymount or the Waterloo in Upper Baggot Street.

In D8, a little known but very warm and welcoming pub is the Royal Oak, just down the road from the more famous Patriots.

And in D7, lads, have we overlooked Ryan’s of Queen Street?

There has to be an architectural angle to the crawl. In this case, I’d mention two pubs that came up on the “How well do you know Dublin?” thread: Hanlon’s in Cabra (D7), the only pub in Dublin to have an entrance on three different streets; and Bodkins (D1), the only pub in Ireland to run the entire length of a street.

In that context, maybe Sandymount House would have an architectural claim: “Fürstenberg” is one of the beers immortalised in their stained glass windows. Now when was the last time anyone had a pint of that?:D

Well, if you truly want the D4 experience, you’d have to go to Kieleys.

@jdivision wrote:

The right choice. Kehoe’s for D2

Might the Dawson Lounge, Dublin’s smallest pub, not have a claim for the D2 stop?

Or the former sausage factory on Fade Street, the Market Bar? I’ve only been into the place once, but it is quite an interesting spot from a visual point of view. Not a place to visit in the evenings, I’ve been told, as it gets very crowded. But my visit was during the day – for a coffee, I must add:D – and I liked the look of it.

D2 also offers the interesting possibility of a mini-pub crawl: Hogan’s, Grogan’s and Brogan’s – all within a short walk of each other. (Castle Market/South William Street, South Great George’s Street and Dame Street). Really all that’s needed in this vicinity is a Wogan’s, and for that Japanese restaurant on George’s Street (what is it called?) to change its name to Shoguns, and you’re away for a full night of eating and drinking.:p

Speaking of markets, there’s also a little known spot called the Market Bar across the river in D7. On the corner of Mary’s Lane (I think) and Arran Street. About 100 yards inland from Slattery’s of Capel Street and just opposite the Fruit Market. Not the easiest of places to visit, as it only opens in the evening, and very much a Darts/Pool bar for the locals. I haven’t been there for years, but I recall that there were a nice gang of punters in there, and it is also visually interesting.

I always heard that Market Bar was very rough. I haven’t been inside it though so it could be all hearsay.

Anyway, you have thrown up some very interesting challenges to my compiled list – some of which i would definitely have to bow to – how could I have included the Hut before Walshes?! I plead a memory lapse.

The suggestion to allow 2 pub representations for single-digit postal codes is a good one – if only to permit two entries for Dublin 2 (Palace and Keohoes), 7 and 8 (Fallons and Royal Oak) in particular.

Still though, this suggestion will be difficult for some single-digit postal areas to fulfil – can you really think of a second choice for Dublin 5, for example?

Dublin 3 – ( 3 for 3 )
Harry Byrnes , Clontarf
http://www.dublinpubscene.com/thepubs/harrybyrnes.html
OR
The Yacht
OR
Gaffneys , Fairview
http://www.dublinpubscene.com/thepubs/gaffneyandsons.html

Dublin 5 – Kyles , Coolock Village
http://www.dublinpubscene.com/thepubs/kyles.html

Dublin 13
Graingers Baldoyle
http://www.dublinpubscene.com/thepubs/graingersbaldoylehouse.html

Who’s driving ??:D

@Zap wrote:

I always heard that Market Bar was very rough. I haven’t been inside it though so it could be all hearsay.

About as rough as Andrex coated in Lenor – sir you are well misinformed!

@sinnerboy wrote:

Who’s driving ??:D

Take the bus, and an obligatory stop on Sandymount Strand, like Myles, Kavanagh et al (Bloomsday 1953?4?) No fedoras, but my guess is the archi’s would be in black clothing! Would make a good poster.
Kb2

Findlaters in Howth in D13

Emm, driving? Well, it would not be much of a pub crawl for all concerned then.

Within the core area, Dublin 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8 are all doable walking – though depending on the choice of pubs for D7 and D8 – it becomes less walkable if you are going from Kavanagh’s in D3 to the Royal Oak and Walshes – though at least they are on the way. Still though, this pub crawl is not about ease of commuting and so distance between places is not an issue.

A friend of mine has assured me that the 15B is your only man to drink in Dublin 6W, 14 & 16 – if you take the Morgue as being in both Dublin 6W and 14, this is even easier. But no, 24 postal codes should be represented by 24 pubs.

With such a geopgraphically dispersed pub crawl, order becomes very important though.

I have had a Northsider friend suggest an order for the Northside odyssey of D7, D15, D11, D9, D3, D5, D17, D13 and D1.
But I reckon he got it all wrong when he suggested : D4, D6, D6W, D12, D14, D16, D18, D22, D 24, D8, D20 and D2.

@Rory W wrote:

About as rough as Andrex coated in Lenor – sir you are well misinformed!

Rory, if you’re talking about the D7 version of the Market Bar, I absolutely agree with you.

I visited the place on a number of occasions some years ago, and the owner – who looked at the time like he should really still be on tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd, or perhaps reprising his role as the leprechaun in “Darby O’Gill and the little people”, rather than running a pub on the northside:p – was a fine individual.

I certainly never saw anything resembling trouble in the place.

Comiskey’s at the top of Dominick Street is also worth a mention. Apart from a very reasonable price for a pint, they have an excellent jacks (for the men, anyway).:o Old style.

@KerryBog2 wrote:

Jerry Byrnes in Galloping Green for D 18 – tho’ tha Widow Cullen’s is also a contender.
Kb

Galloping Green is probably the best in D 18. But what is the ;Widow Cullen’s’?
The Blue Light is also in Dublin 18

Frank,
I was being a bit wistful……The Widow Cullen’s was the given name for the pub on Stillorgan Hill. A favorite stopping place for funeral-goers en route to Deansgrange. It changed hands in the late1960s and was the last refuge of the local serious pint drinkers when the Orchard opened. The Da once told me that in the 40’s and 50’s it was also a hunt pub, as there was a meet on the ground where Stillorgan shopping centre now stands.
Another in D18 with history, not character is the Magic Carpet, In my student days the old parish hall next door (a Chinese or Indian last time I looked) was where the Foxrock folk club had sessions. Ferried pints out to Luke and Ronnie, and fed too much to a well-known jazz guitarist who got too intense during a riff and rocked off his stool backwards into Wadham’s drum kit.

Sinnerboy – The Yacht in Clontarf used to have an in-house charity, funded by the locals, called the “Tiller Club.” It that still on the go?

I think the final list is something like this:

The Northside:

Dublin 1 – The Sackville Lounge off O’Connell St.
Dublin 3 – Kavanaghs, Malahide Road
Dublin 5 – Kyles, Coolock
Dublin 7 – The Hut, Phibsboro
Dublin 9 – The Gravediggers, Glasnevin
Dublin 11 – The Autobahn, Glasnevin Avenue
Dublin 13 – Graingers, Baldoyle
Dublin 15 – Moyo’s
Dublin 17 – Coyles

The Southside:

Dublin 2 – The Palace
Dublin 4 – The Sandymount House
Dublin 6 – Slattery’s of Rathmines
Dublin 6W – The Terenure Inn
Dublin 8 – Ryan’s of Parkgate St.
Dublin 10 – Silver Granite
Dublin 12 – The Halfway House, Walkinstown
Dublin 14 – The Morgue (aka Templeogue Inn) *
Dublin 16 – The Blue Haven – you cross Austin Clarke Bridge, named after the poet who used to live in a cottage by the majestic River Dodder in the shade of the old stone bridge.
Dublin 18 – The Galloping Green
Dublin 20 – The Villager, Chapelizod
Dublin 22 – The Finches, Nielstown (scary but worth it !)
Dublin 24 – The Dragon Inn

Thanks for the suggestions – I have listened and checked them up – I can’t wait to visit Kyle’s and Graingers. They look like much better suggestions than what I came up with – well, I still think my suggestion for Dublin 13 was a good one (The Lighthouse) – its just a shame it no longer exists. I was going to fudge the postal code division for Dublin 13 to include the Summit Inn, Howth – which I am informed was once in Dublin 13, but now finds itself in Co. Dublin – but Graingers looks like a very good and more valid representation of Dublin 13.

Dublin 4 is a challenge to call – yes, Slattery’s of Bath Avenue is great – but I didn’t want two Slattery’s on the list – I love the Hill, but I think Slattery’s in Rathmines is the better bar – and what tour of Dublin could not include a stop in that urban village?

The suggestion of allowing two pubs per single digit postal code is a good one – though this will get less and less valid going by latest developments (see below).

Two candidates who would have really vied for inclusion in this list have sadly and criminally excluded themselves.

Both are in Dublin 7. I would have thought to include Gill’s Corner House on the NCR, beside Croke Park, for nothinvg but a great representation of a 1950’s pub in which it seemed nothing had changed since Brendan Behan was a local. After the shock I got of the hatchet job they did on the place when I went in for a pint during the club finals in March, I don’t know if I could bare a return – (removing half the old 1950’s wooden bar and replacing the counter top with some cheapo laminated crap – then knocking a wall through to the lounge, completely changing the place, means I don’t much appreciate their renovation – although it does obviously increase floorspace by probably a grand total of maybe 4-5 sq. m.).

The greatest sin though was a visit I had to Walshe’s in Stoneybatter a couple of weeks ago – an unforgivable atrocity – a freshly varnished disfilement, walls knocked out, the lounge merged into the bar and made indistinguishable from it and the ultimate sin – the bar counter now sporting a brass plate on the side of the bar saying ‘designed by the Irishpubcompany.com’. It will be a while before I can bare to see that disfigurement again. For me, I would have been crazy not to include this as the Dublin 7 entry – but not now.

However ye can’t beat the Pubs in town itself, all the old haunts that the likes of Joyce, Behan, Flann O’Brien etc…used to frequent.

And ye can’t beat a hot toasted sandwich with ham, cheese and tomato with lashings of mustard and washed down with a creamy pint of Guinness (or 2 or 3). Now that’s pure heaven. Forget yer caviar and champers, for it doesn’t come near!

any suggestions for poor oul County Dublin? It’s kinda a postcode. My vote goes to Baker’s Corner

I hadn’t realised, you were originally referring to Christmas 2008.

any suggestions for poor oul County Dublin? It’s kinda a postcode. My vote goes to Baker’s Corner

The Blue Light?

Though there probably should be a north county and south county vote.

Edit: Sorry, I see it’s in Dublin 18. Ha! I can walk to Leeson Street quicker than the Blue Light (and I’ve done both) and I live in County Dub.

If you start drinking in Queen st at Ryans and stop in every pub on the way up Dice Bar McGettigans Walshes The Belfry Glimmerman Mulligans Tommy O’Garas Kavanagh’s Bannerman City Arms and then Hanlons
That is were the saying off Going on the Batter comes from Stonybatter get it