Live Music Pubs in Dublin: The Music Is the Point

Dublin's reputation rests on its pubs and the reputation is deserved, but not in the part of the city that sells it hardest. The live music pubs worth an evening are mostly ten minutes' walk from the ones on the postcards.

Temple Bar, and the honest assessment

Temple Bar is the cobbled quarter every visitor is sent to. There is live music every night and the atmosphere is real enough.

It is also the most expensive drinking in the city by a clear margin, and the music is pitched at tour groups rather than at the room.

Go once, early in the evening, see it, then walk ten minutes in almost any direction.

Where the live music pubs in Dublin actually are

Traditional sessions, trad, happen across the city most nights, and the good ones share a few characteristics.

The musicians sit in a circle, often at a table rather than on a stage. There is no amplification. Nobody announces anything. People at the bar carry on talking, and that is not rudeness, it is the format.

Ask your hotel, or ask a barman on a quiet afternoon which night is the session night. That single question gets better results than any list, because the good sessions move.

The area around Capel Street and the north side generally, and the streets off Camden Street, are where to start.

This is the Dublin we send music people to, and the one to skip if your evenings are meant to be quiet ones.

Guinness, and whether the Storehouse is worth it

The Guinness Storehouse is the most visited paid attraction in Ireland. It is a well-made brand museum with a panoramic bar at the top, and it is busy.

Worth it if you want the history and the view. Not worth it if what you actually want is a good pint, which you can have in any decent pub for a fraction of the ticket.

The difference between a good pour and a poor one is real, and any bar that takes its time over it is telling you something.

Two days of daylight

Trinity College and the Book of Kells run on timed tickets, so book ahead. Kilmainham Gaol is the single most affecting historical site in the city and explains modern Ireland better than anything else, and it sells out days in advance.

The National Museum branches are free and good. St Patrick's Cathedral and Christ Church are close together.

For air, Phoenix Park is one of the largest enclosed city parks in Europe and has a resident deer herd.

The Docklands hold the Famine Memorial, a small set of sculptures and the quietest ten minutes you will spend in Dublin.

Thirty minutes out on the DART

Dublin is compact and two days covers it. Rather than a third day in the city, take the coast: Howth to the north for cliff walks and seafood, Dun Laoghaire to the south for the pier.

Where Dublin sits in an Ireland trip

It is the arrival city for most Ireland trips and the natural start of a westward route. Our Ireland travel guide covers the whole shape, and the Cliffs of Moher from Galway is where most people go next.

Call Exquisite Travel Group on (916) 757-6300. Tell us if the music matters and we will put you somewhere it is actually happening.