Tag Archives: Pub Crawl

Dublin bar crawl. Ten pints of Guinness, ten pubs

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!

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Would you like even cheaper beer?

‘POUNDPUB’

PoundPub minimum prices

We have pound shops littering the high streets, cheap discount airlines like Ryanair and Easy Jet ruling the air, people buying their clothes in charity shops, and getting buses from Leeds to London for a few quid. Think you have seen it all, well what about a PoundPub! Has life gotten any better!
A pub that offers pints of beer for just £1.50 from 8am onwards has opened in Greater Manchester and, so far, has been a huge success.
The Pound Pub in Atherton, near Wigan, is the second location in a chain of new no-frills pubs offering booze at extremely low prices. The pub saves money and cuts their overheads by not offering entertainment or subscribing to Sky Sports but will have traditional games like darts and billiards on offer.
Strongbow, Fosters, Theakstons and John Smith’s – are all on offer at £1 for half a pint or £1.50 for the full pint.

The interior of the pub is basic and the pub’s slogan is ‘more round for your pound’.
News over plans to open these chains of discount pubs has angered alcohol awareness campaigners who claim that drink is already too cheap and readily available.
However, Mike Wardell, a director at Here for Your Hospitality Ltd, the company behind the ventures, said it was returning to the traditional concept of a pub. “We are responsible retailers, and this is about giving value for money to working people. No one said anything when Workingmen’s clubs were offering bitter for 99 pence a pint, in fact it was pretty popular. We will offer a quality product at an affordable price”.
He further went on to explain that “These two sites are the test, and a lot will depend on how successful they are as to how we expand. At a time when 12 pubs a week are closing across the country we have to think outside the box a bit.” If it’s a success, the chain plans to bring the brand nationwide.

DOWN WITH THAT SORT OF THING!

Some residents of Atherton and Stockton have criticised the Pound Pub for taking advantage of ‘vulnerable’ drinkers and lowering the tone of the town. They are afraid that the pubs will attract the “wrong sort”.

pound pub

Chair of the Stockton Town Team, Joanna Waker called the Pound Pub ‘counter-productive’ to Stockton’s development. She said: ‘Businesses do not need to be low cost to survive in Stockton, ‘Earls of Ashwood deli serving fine cheeses and The Storytellers pub serving fine and real ales from around the world – both of which are absolutely thriving – prove it.’

Stockton is undertaking a £38 million town centre refurbishment, and borough councillor Phil Dennis, said he was worried about the effect of the scheme on the redeveloped town centre, and warned the pub “cheapened the image” of the new investment. He added: “I have initial doubts and concerns about the ability of such a venue to control the environment where effectively we are selling at a point where the quality of clientele will likely match the price of the product on offer.”

Ken Lupton, leader of the council’s Tory group, said: “An individual pub with such a pricing policy would only be detrimental to the general improvement the council hopes to achieve with their significant investment in the High street. I have initial doubts and concerns about the ability of such a venue to control the environment where effectively we are selling at a point where the quality of clientele will likely match the price of the product on offer”.

The inner sanctum

This type of drivel is a joke. How do ordinary people having a few pints in a pub lower the tone of an area? It’s all well and good for the cheese eating, coffee drinking, bridge playing types to moan, but drinking in pubs is what the British do best. They have done it for centuries and if it puts a few tory noses out of joint in the local councils then so be it. Stick your 38 million redevelopment up your arse. Who the hell wants another starfucks or M n S in their high-street! Can there not be a little bit of the town left for ordinary people to drink and be merry.

The pub is also raising concerns over its application to start serving alcohol at 8am. Angry neighbours claim it caters for drunks “staggering around the streets” before lunchtime.
This is also a bit of a misconception. A person can only drink so much. I am amused as to where all these drunk people would be going to, are they not already in a pub, where would they be off too?

Pub landlord, Dave Sutton, allaying fears, stated ‘If people get out of hand they get kicked out – it’s like any other pub, only cheaper.’ He also added that the pub was only met with one objection when its application for an extension to its alcohol licence was put forward last year. Which makes you wonder if all the residents objections were a figment of some newspaper hacks mind.

I will leave the last sentence to the Greater Manchester Police who confirmed there had been no problems with the PoundPub.

Drink Irresponsibly

pound pub

Colin Shevells, director of Balance – an organisation that encourages people to reduce their alcohol consumption said: “Drink is already too affordable, too available and too heavily promoted. We know that problems are caused by it being too cheap. The PoundPub is just part of a much bigger problem. We need to wake up to the problems cheap alcohol is causing both in the short and long term. We need to find a way to bring in a minimum price that doesn’t penalise the moderate drinker and the good solid community pub. So many of them are closing because they can’t compete and this will make it worse.”

The local council has also raised fears that the pub will encourage ‘irresponsible’ problem drinking and threaten public health.
Wigan Council’s director of public health, Professor Kate Ardern, said: ‘Alcohol used to be a luxury, but it is now widely available and often sold at pocket money prices. Research has proved that the cheaper alcohol is, the more people drink. ‘Any promotion which potentially increases the supply of cheap alcohol and which appears to target those on limited incomes, especially young adults, who are cost-conscious, is highly irresponsible – particularly in a borough like Wigan which has high rates of alcohol harm.’

Mr Sutton, the pub landlord, denied claims it was “irresponsible”, saying: “We don’t encourage people to get drunk.” He also pointed out that supermarkets are able to sell their own value beers at 40p a can – something which is not monitored by councils

My View

I have to be honest I love the idea; half a pint for a quid, £1.50 for a whole. In fact I don’t just like it, I fecking love it! I like drinking. I like drinking in pubs. I like drinking cheap beer in pubs. So far I can’t see anything too wrong with this concept!

All in for a pound

Pubs are very valuable in improving the communal spirit of an area. It’s a place to make friends, have a chat, relax, and take a breather from the outside world. Is this not better than buying a cheap can of pish from Tesco’s and drinking it all alone at home? Where are all the old men meant to spend the day? Where can we relax and have a sit down after the weekend shopping spree?
Mr Sutton, the pub landlord, said his clients were mainly old men drinking throughout the day, starting as early as 9am. Not the image of boozed up vandals terrorising the locality then.
PoundPub is offering a service, and the point that the two pubs are doing a roaring trade so far supports the fact that people want them in their areas.

PoundPub is also the lifeline to an industry that is currently suffering and where 12 pubs a week are closing across the country. Pubs are finding it hard to compete with supermarket chains who can cut their prices on alcohol and offset the price onto something else. As Dave Sutton said, ‘Pubs around the country are shutting all the time so something has to be done – and this could be it. The idea is to bring people back into the pub” And amen to that.

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St Patrick’s Day Shenanigans

Saint Pat

March 17th every year, millions of people wear the green, hold big parades and drink bucket loads of beer, all in the name of an old Irish saint. But why? What is the history of this much loved holiday, and why do we celebrate it in all corners of the world with shamrocks and alcohol?

While many people mainly use the day as a justification to drink a countless quantity of booze, it is still—first and foremost—a day to celebrate Irish heritage and culture.

Let’s go over some of the reason why we celebrate paddies day and look a little closer into the myth and realities of St. Patrick.

Who was St. Patrick?

St. Patrick is well known for being the patron saint of Ireland and having a day named for him that most of the world uses as an excuse to get incredibly drunk. However, contrary to popular belief, St. Patrick was not actually Irish! St. Patrick was the son of Romans who were living in Britain, around 385AD. As a boy of 14 he was kidnapped and taken as a slave to Ireland where he spent six years herding sheep. He returned to Ireland in his 30s as a missionary among the Celtic pagans. Rather than replacing pagan Irish rituals, he incorporated them into his teachings, hence the shamrock. (Halloween is another Irish festival that we all know and love so well)

Shamrocks

The shamrock is the traditional symbol because St. Patrick used it to explain the connection between the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit (the Trinity) in the Christian religion. It is the symbol of Ireland, and wearing and displaying shamrocks has become a widespread practice on St. Patrick’s Day.

Why green?

Wearing green is said to commemorate St Patrick’s use of the shamrock – although blue was the original colour of his vestments. But green is associated with St. Patrick’s Day because it is the colour of spring. And the ancient Irish used to wear green to show their love for the harvest gods and the advent of spring. That and the fact Ireland is a very green country and shamrocks are green! Also the wearing of the green differentiated the Irish from the British.

You don’t have to wear green clothes on St. Patrick’s Day, a sprig of shamrock on your clothing can do.

Parades and celebration?

St. Patrick Day Parade

Well you might not have noticed but there are a lot of Irish everywhere, that and all the Irish bars all over the place. The Irish are a sentimental bunch and when abroad they do tend to miss the old country. There are currently more Irish living outside of the island than on it – a lot more. There are an estimated 100 million people of Irish descent living in places as diverse as the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. More than 36 million Americans claim Irish ancestry. So celebrating St. Paddy’s day is a way to celebrate Ireland. Many cities around the world hold parades in honour of the holiday. Patrick’s Day was first celebrated in America in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1737. The New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade is the largest parade in the world. The world’s shortest St. Patrick’s Day parade is held in the Irish village of Dripsey. It lasts only 100 yards, covering the distance between the village’s two pubs.

And the 17th of March is when St Patrick died, supposedly!

The snake?

One of his most famous miracles attributed to St. P was the driving of serpents out of Ireland. However, evidence suggests post-glacial Ireland never had any snakes in the first place. That’s a pity!