For many visitors to Dublin, the famous nightlife – and associated ‘craic’ – is a major aspect of its appeal. But as Europe’s eighth most expensive city, it can be costly to drink in Dublin. Read on to discover how to experience its bars without shocking your bank balance.
Only open since 2015, the stylish Bow Lane has already gotten off to an incredibly successful start, winning two of the most prestigious titles at the Sky Bar of the Year Awards 2016 – Best Bar and Best Cocktail Bar – less than a year after first opening its doors. As part of their #SuperSimonSunday deal every Sunday evening from 6 p.m., you can try those award-winning cocktails for just €7.
Part of the Russel Court Hotel on Harcourt Street, Dicey’s is one of the south-side of Dublin’s favourite bars. It’s also one of the most reasonably priced, with drinks promotions like ‘Dicey’s Mondays’, where all pints and bottles of beer at the late bar are just €2 and bar food is just €5. Even on Saturdays, the prices here are hard to beat, with pints, bottles and wine only €3 until 10 p.m.
One of the best-loved bars in Dublin’s riverside Portobello area, the bar at the Portobello Hotel is contemporary and comfortable, with an ideal position overlooking the canal. This popular pub serves €4 pints and long-neck beers, while hungry customers can pick up a meal and a pint for €10. It’s especially lively on sunny summer days when customers can soak up the rays on their outdoor seats.
The Living Room sports bar just off O’Connell Street was voted the Best Bar to Watch the Match at 2016’s Sky Bar of the Year Awards, but it’s got much more going for it than just its selection of big-screen TVs. As well as recently adding a new shisha bar and pizza restaurant, The Living Room provides regular drink deals throughout the week, with three bottles of Sol beer for €10 and two cocktails for €12.
The 777 is a slick, modern Mexican restaurant on George’s Street that is a great place to drink, with a classy bar that serves 100% blue agave tequila and some of the best cocktails in the city. They do four kinds of margaritas, from a house version with triple sec and lime to a ‘Lobo Verde’ with grapefruit, lemon and thyme. Every Monday evening, cocktail lovers can make the weekend last with their Margarita Monday special offer of two margaritas for just €12.
O’Reilly’s Sub Lounge sits in the arches underneath the Tara Street DART station, where the youth (of legal drinking age) of the city take advantage of an impressive amount of special offers throughout the week. Their so-called ‘Cheap Ass Mondays’ are for hard-core drinkers, with shots costing €1, jagerbombs €2.50, and a pitcher of Jack Daniels and Coke just €13. On Saturdays, rock and metal DJs play their Club Hell night, where pints are €3.30 and pitchers are €9.
To give you an idea of exactly how cool 4 Dame Lane is, this was where Beyoncé’s band went to wind down after one of her 2014 gigs at the now-3Arena (then The O2). Even better, this funky two-storey late bar offers two cocktails for €12 from Sunday through Thursday. Alternatively, try their ‘Old Fashioned Fridays’, with great music and two barrel-aged Old Fashioned cocktails for only €15.
Having once been the premises of Ireland’s first nationalist newspaper – the Freeman’s Journal, for whom Leopold Bloom, the lead character of James Joyce’s Ulysses, was meant to have worked – 27 Westmoreland Street is now home to Cassidy’s, a well-placed hipster Dublin bar smack in the city centre. As well as boasting a wide selection of Irish and international craft beers, Cassidy’s offers a pizza and a pint for just €12. They also encourage customers to play Jenga, chess and board games.
