Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
affluent crowd. If there's talk of sport here, it's usually about rugby - soccer and Gaelic
sports are very much in the minority.
Temple Bar
This cobbled neighbourhood used to be where tourist went to cause mayhem, and while
it's quietened down somewhat in recent years, it's still the unofficial 'party zone' of Dub-
lin. Weekend nights see every pub full - usually of visitors, but also of Dubliners out for a
knees-up and a hook-up with the aforementioned visitors. Temple Bar's reputation meant
that the cool crowd would never be seen here, but in the last couple of years it has become
something of a hipster hangout...in an ironic way, y'know?
Kilmainham & the Liberties
This is strictly daytime territory for outsiders - the lack of restaurants and bars means that
only locals are to be found here when the sun goes down. But it is precisely that lack of
night time traffic that makes the couple of worthwhile bars in these neighbourhoods so
damn good.
North of the Liffey
The traditionally working-class neighbourhoods of the north inner city have long been
blighted by poverty and its resultant social ills, which has made the area around
O'Connell St - especially the northern end and the streets immediately east of it - a hot
spot for potential trouble late at night, when the pubs close. By then, though, those attend-
ing a play at the Gate or Abbey theatres will have long left the area. To the west, the
Smithfield area never took off the way it was planned, but it's still full of apartments oc-
cupied by young professionals on the rise. Immediately west again is Stoneybatter, Dub-
lin's version of Brooklyn - lots of young, bohemian hipsters and immigrants that have
brought new life to a traditional neighbourhood. The bars and eateries draw in the trendy
crowd from all over.
The Rounds System
The rounds system - the simple custom where someone buys you a drink and you buy one
back - is the bedrock of Irish pub culture. It's summed up in the Irish saying: 'It's impos-
sible for two men to go to a pub for one drink'. Nothing will hasten your fall from social
grace here like the failure to uphold this pub law. The Irish are extremely generous and
one thing they can't abide is tight-fistedness.
