In Dublin, fair city

Dublin is established as a beer drinkers' paradise. But now the money's rolling in and the city's being transformed, where can you still get a decent pint? Andrew Marshall reports

Little has changed since Joyce penned his classic novel, and despite the increase in European-style cafes and restaurants, the city’s 800 or so pubs are still the hub of social life; a place to meet friends, to laugh, relax and enjoy a pint. Dubliners sum it all up in one word – craic.

In Ulysses, Joyce described the characteristic ambience of Dublin pub life so successfully that his characters may be fictional, but they are based on a multitude of people that he found in the pubs throughout the city.

Many remain outstanding examples of the tradition, which Joyce immortalised in his works, and throughout the years have retained their down to earth atmosphere – one that many contemporary premises spend hundreds of thousands of Euros attempting to artificially create.

Dublin abounds with old-style traditional establishments where you can enter a stranger and leave as a friend.

A short stroll from Temple Bar’s cobbled streets is the Palace Bar (21 Fleet Street), often said to be the perfect example of an old Dublin pub.

This small and unpretentious pub has fame vastly out of proportion with its size.

Step into the beautiful snug with its mirrors and wooden niches in which many a historic meeting has taken place or the backroom (also known as the intensive care unit) with its high ceiling and ornate stained glass, where literary stock used to gather.

Flann O’Brien and Harry Kernoff were regulars, and the Palace Bar became one of Dublin’s great literary pubs. An advertiseme.....

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By Andrew Marshall

Section : Beer Journeys

Page number : 50