The lads on tour, Malahide par 3 golf course (great course) Back row left to right: KP (Tiny head, 7th Dublin trip), Wheels (crack int glass, seasoned campaigner) Bails (Fat face, rock n roll star 8th Dublin trip), Geordie Lad (good beard, an original 2001 tourist 3rd trip) Dribbs (look of a lizard,an original tourist 6th or 7th trip) Woody Lad (He’s got no hair and we don’t care, another original tourist, 13th trip).Bernard (Firmest handshake in the world 4th trip) Me,Gup (Massive head, 18th trip). Not in team photo but the above photo says it all Rhodesy Lad  (Pillock)

As I mentioned in my previous post the Dublin trip has come on a long way from that first lads trip in 2001. 2014 was a champagne (with a drop of Guinness) year for trips, managing to squeeze two trips (or more importantly managing to get two passes from the wife) in. The first was in July, the largest party I have taken to the emerald isle (more on that in a future post) with 13 travelling. October was a fantastic trip, a one nighter two days with 9 travelling.

The details:

Fly from Leeds Bradford (standard pre flight pint at 5.42am for the lads) landing in Dublin at 7.30am  on Thursday 30th October, one night stay over in Paramount hotel  at the top end of Temple Bar connected to the Turks Head Pub, we have stayed here four times, great location although quite noisy if you haven’t drunk enough!!

It’s quite eerie walking through Temple Bar area at 9 in the morning, a few hours and the place will be buzzing again. We stopped off in the Elephant & Castle for breakfast, pretty decent ans would recommend, although they don’t do a traditional Irish breakfast. With a bit of scram in the bellies the boys were off to Tara Street DART station and on the DART to Malahide.

Malahide is approximately 30 minutes North of the centre of Dublin and is well worth a visit. A very picturesque seaside town, with a handful of pubs and some fantastic parkland with a lovely cricket ground where Ireland play and a par three 9 hole golf course and an 18 hole pitch & putt ideal for the kids. The lads hacked our way round the par 3 course working up a thirst for our first pint on tour. As you can see below we were lucky with the weather!

The clock had passed midday and the lads were ready for a pint. We took the short stroll from the golf course to the town centre and our first pub, Gibneys Pub www.gibneys.com . We were immediately struck at how friendly the barstaff were and like many pubs in Dublin and the surrounding areas, just how unique the pub was and how so many of them seem to have hidden rooms and fantastic smoking / outside areas. On the slight downside not one of the better pints of Guinness I have had in Ireland. Great outside drinking area with massive big screen for the sport.

On to the next pub in Malahide a more modern number but no less unique none the less, Fowlers  which is just down the road from Gibneys, you have to pass a hair studio.

We have a laugh with Woody Lad!

Fowlers is the only boozer country-wide to have a specialist cold room, I have to admit we didn’t notice it but we did notice another outstandingly unique beer garden over three tiers and covered we stopped for two in here which is always a good sign, lovely pint and I would say this would be more of an eat and drink establishment. Would definitely visit again. The lads were loosening up now and the standard Woody Lad joke telling was starting to prevail.

Over the road we went and bobbed into Duffys another boozer that is much bigger than you expect when you walk in. This was the first pub we went in when everyone stopped and looked at us, on discussion with the barman that was because we had walked into a wake! A little awkward but once we went round the corner (the bar is of a horseshoe shape) and kept our selves out-of-the-way we were made to feel very welcome by the locals at the bar and stayed for 2 (a bit of a pattern developing here!).

It was getting on for mid to late afternoon now so we decided to head back to the DART and in to Dublin for a couple more pints a bite to eat and a quick freshen up at the hotel. One thing  I have noticed about all the little villages that line the Dublin coastline, since the recession, the service and welcome we receive in all the places / pubs is superb, I suppose a factor is we go midweek, we’re not a stag party and everyone needs the money!

Back off the DART at Tara street after that dangerous 30 minute break when you’re a few pints in! We seem to always find a different entrance, first pub we cam across was Mac Turcaills on Townsend Street (no website) a boozer we have frequented a few times and is always a decent pint in here. Not a particularly outstanding boozer but worth a visit none the less.

The hunger pangs were now kicking in and we went on the prowl for food (not a problem as almost every pub serves food), my intention was to go up to O’Neils om Suffolk street as it has sandwich counter and a hot food counter where you can basically order anything you want. Should have stuck to this line of thinking but stopped at O’Donnogues which always has a good pint (so good we stayed for 2!) but the food was a massive disappointment, I can honestly say it was the worst stew I have ever eaten in Dublin, I can’t remember another bad one. The food didn’t come out at the same time  and the burgers were terrible. They knocked some money of the bill it was that bad. My advice in O’Donoghues, have a pint but don’t eat! So 8 pints in and it was time to go and have a shower and freshen up.

A quick turn around and 9 John Travoltas were in the Turks Head humming of Brute!! We had one in here, the sort of bar you would find in any city centre. I wouldn’t go in unless it was connected to the hotel I was staying in making it an easy meeting point.

On discussion with the lads, we decided to do a non Temple Bar area trip so off we headed to Baggot Street where there are some cracking boozers that welcome a tourist but you definitely hear more of an Irish accent in these pubs. It’s a ten minute walk  from the hotel to Baggot Street, so obviously we had to have a stop off. Peadar Kearneys was that stop, a pub I have frequented on many an occasion. Always a great pint and usually some cracking live music. On occasions though it is a pub where you are not made to feel too welcome, this evening was one of those nights and with the elder barman, hardly saying a word and certainly not making eye contact our thoughts as always are there are enough pubs in Dublin who do want our custom. So a ten minute pint (lovely pint by the way) and we were off again. Next stop Baggot Street.

Next stop was McGrattans Bar its a bit hidden away just off Baggot Street, what a little (actually not that little) gem of a boozer. It is an absolute Tardis of a place, you walk through the doors and the bar is to the left (very friendly barman – we stayed for a couple, funny that), we walked from the ample sized bar, past the two pool tables past a load of dinning tables and out to see what the beer garden was like. Without shadow of a doubt the greatest outside smoking area I have ever seen, it almost makes you want to smoke! The open fire and sofa like chairs were amazing, it is a covered smoking area with gaps above head height. we got settled in here and did what lads do, talked about our sh1t turning black (see previous blog) and then tested each other with football trivia quiz questions (FAUSTINO ASPRILLA) with the odd fart thrown in to keep everyone amused. Hopefully the pictures below do the smoking area justice.

 All these pictures are from the outside smoking area, the only thing missing is a smoking jacket!

Next stop was the Baggot Inn (no website), you have to walk downstairs to enter this pub (who doesn’t like a pub where you have to walk down stairs?), Been here twice now, it reminds me of a set of a 70’s porn film, a lot of wood and red velvet! Decent pint, upstairs smoking area but there never seemed to be anyone in here, shame as it looks like it has a bit of room to shake the shoulder. As you can imagine now, the lads have been on it for 10 or 11 hours now and we are starting to take passengers. It had just gone past 10 and my instincts to get to the best (in my humble opinion) later evening boozer in Dublin.

Off we set for Dame Lane and the Dame Tavern (no website but have put a link to the fb page as it is THAT good). The Dame Tavern is basically a smallish rectangular bar with a small bar in the corner, great attentive barstaff that always welcome shall we say wobbly lads who have had a good drink. It is rare you see many other tourists in here but it is very welcoming, there is not an awful lot more to this bar until a guitar is plugged in and the place comes alive. They do a traditional session on a Sunday afternoon where the locals all bring an instrument and on most evenings they have a guitarist who plays all the sing along classics. By the time we arrived we had lost four of the lads en route but the five remaining had the greatest hour and a half (coincidence you may think Woody Lad, George, Wheels and Dribbs!) of singing and drinking that you just don’t get in England. It’s amazing how well you think you can sing after a few, you can’t!!

At around midnight the young thrusters went up to a club and Geordie Lad and I made our way back to the hotel obviously via a couple more boozers. We needed a jimmy riddle so bobbed in the side entrance to a boozer and came back up the stairs after visiting the loo and we were at the bar of Temple Bar. I still don’t know how it happened but anyway we had a flyer (we didn’t need one) and carried on the trail home. we did manage to bob in another boozer BAD Bobs Geordie and I were at least 10 years older than anyone in here, the only people not in fancy dress although having been on the lash for 13 hours we definitely looked more like ghosts than a lot in here albeit Guinness stained ghosts. Having thrown half my pint down me we decided to call it a night and walked the remaining 100 yards to the hotel (obviously after trying and being turned away from a couple of other bars).

So day one complete,12 pubs and pushing 20 pints, oush!! Bring on day 2!!