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travel > Ireland
Top 10 traditional pubs in Ireland
The traditional Irish pub is now an endangered species,
with one closing almost every day.
Turtle Bunbury went on a pub crawl around all 32 counties in search of the best
Turtle Bunbury
Guardian.co.uk Thursday October 23
2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/oct/23/ireland-bars-top10-traditional
36 Hours in Cork, Ireland
June 28, 2009
The New York Times
By MICHAEL McDERMOTT
WHILE Cork may officially be Ireland’s second city, don’t suggest that to one
of its proud residents. The melodious reply — most likely delivered in a rich
brogue sprinkled with gammin (Cork slang for Cork slang) — may contain playful
swipes at that larger town over on the Irish Sea. But it’s this spark and warmth
of Cork, a remnant of the city’s enduring rebel history, that captivate the
visitor and — along with its picturesque setting along the River Lee and its
dedication to the arts and good food and drink — make it a convincing rival to
Dublin. On long summer days, Cork’s compact size makes it a perfect city to tour
on foot, providing you’ve packed walking shoes and a bit of ambition for a few
hilly climbs.
Friday
4:30 p.m.
1) RING BELLS ON ARRIVAL
For an introduction to the city, ascend the hill north of city center into the
district of Shandon to the Church of St. Anne, built in 1722 of sandstone and
limestone, a red and white color combination so popular among residents that
they designed the city’s flag to match. For the best view of the city, wind your
way up the tower’s stone stairs (6 euros, about $8.50 at $1.41 to the euro),
alerting the city to your arrival by ringing the eight bells you’ll find along
the way up. Handy music sheets demonstrate how to play appropriate classics such
as “The Bells of Shandon,” or more unlikely tunes like Meat Loaf’s “Two Out of
Three Ain’t Bad.”
5:30 p.m.
2) A DRINK FROM THE WELL
Keeping with the sacred spirit, make your next stop the Franciscan Well Brewery
(14b North Mall; 353-21-421-0130;
www.franciscanwellbrewery.com ), a microbrewery (still a rarity in Ireland)
and pub (less so), built on the site of a Franciscan monastery where legend has
it that the well water was a miraculous curative. These days, the water may come
from the city pipes, but the beer pours freely and in lavish variety by Irish
standards. The crisp, clean Friar Weisse wheat and the robust Rebel Red are
excellent house choices (about 4.50 euros a pint). Or pick from a handful of
other drafts and a range of import bottles, certainly plenty to get you
langerated, magalorim or mombolised (Corkonian ways to describe getting loaded).
7 p.m.
3) TAPAS, IRISH STYLE
Boqueria (6 Bridge Street; 353-21-455-9049;
www.boqueria.ie ) serves up Spanish tapas, with a nod toward classically
Irish ingredients, in a converted pub. The charcuterie plate (15.50 euros)
offers smoky chorizo and salami from the local Gubbeen Farmhouse, along with
rich chicken liver pâté, spicy serrano ham and strips of creamy Manchego cheese
topped with tangy quince jelly. For a decadent vegetarian option, try the
piquillos, sweet red peppers stuffed with locally renowned Ardsallagh goat
cheese blended with crushed almonds. A lengthy list of Spanish wines provides
welcome liquid accompaniment.
10 p.m.
4) THE PIPES ARE CALLING
Traditional music is alive and well at Sin E (pronounced shin-AY, Irish Gaelic
for That’s It; 8 Coburg Street; 353-21-450-2266), a pub that could easily be an
East Village transplant if not for the occasional barber chair (formerly, one
could get a trim and a pint simultaneously). A mishmash of rock concert posters,
snapshots and postcards dangles from the walls and ceiling, framing musical
sessions where outsiders and regulars are equally welcome. A mix of young and
old play fiddles, banjos and flutes into the night even when the house music is
switched back on.
Saturday
10 a.m.
5) RASHERS AND BROWSERS
Fill a beer-worn belly with a baat, an Irish breakfast sandwich (7.50 euros) —
rasher, sausage and blood pudding held together on buttered nutty whole grain
bread — at the Farmgate Café (English Market; 353-21-427-8134). Ingredients are
fresh from the surrounding English Market (City Center, entrances on Grand
Parade, Princes Street and Patrick Street), in operation for more than 400 years
and clearly visible from your second-story perch in the cafe. Watch locals shop
for fresh meats, fish, cheeses and breads, or go out to browse the stalls
yourself, satisfying your cravings for sheep’s cheese or smoked meats at On the
Pig’s Back (353-21-427-0232;
www.onthepigsback.ie ) or reviewing various raw materials for the local
specialty of tripe and drisheen (a blood sausage).
Noon
6) BETTER BELIEVE IT’S BUTTER
For a surprisingly engaging and multi-faceted view of history, visit the Cork
Butter Museum (O’Connell Square; 353-21-430-0600;
www.corkbutter.museum ; adult
admission, 4 euros). Subjects include everything from the medieval legacy of
cattle raids and children’s baptism in milk to the economic growth spurt of the
dairy industry. When ready to trade savory for sweet, stop at nearby Linehan
Hand Made Sweets (37A John Redmond Street; 353-21-450-7791) where the Linehans
have been cooking up old-fashioned boiled candies like clove rocks, butter
nuggets and apple drops for four generations (1.50 euros a bag).
2 p.m.
7) FOOD AND ART UNITE
Feeling flahed out (wasted) from walking the hills? Stop in at the Crawford Art
Gallery and Café (Emmet Place; 353-21-490-7855;
www.crawfordartgallery.ie ). The
airy former Custom House, built in 1724, defies the overpriced and govvy
(snobby) reputation of museum restaurants. An ever-changing menu offers
selections like a rich, creamy cucumber, lettuce and mint soup (5.20 euros) and
a Spanish tortilla accompanied by a zinger of a country relish (10.50 euros).
Fawn Allen, the restaurant’s manager, hails from the family that founded the
world-renowned Ballymaloe House farm and restaurant in County Cork. Have a
sconce (quick look) at the museum’s collection of modern and classical works,
and don’t miss the watercolors by the Irish stained-glass artist Harry Clarke.
Admission is free.
4 p.m.
8) RETAIL PILGRIMAGE
Join the locals along St. Patrick’s Street and the surrounding alleyways, where
you might find buskers playing fiddle or tambourine alongside an odd mechanical
troupe of doll performers. In this shopping hub, one can find a Bunbury cutting
board that can be tracked via serial number to its Irish tree source as well as
pottery by Irish artists at the Meadows & Byrne Home Store (Academy Street;
353-21-427-2324;
www.meadowsandbyrne.com ). At Samui (17 Drawbridge Street; 353-21-427-8080;
samuifashions.com), check out high-end women’s threads by Irish designers like
Lainey Keogh and Roisin Linnane.
7 p.m.
9) WORTH THE CLIMB
Find your way to a side door mounted with a winged bust of armor overhead and
ascend to the Ivory Tower (35 Princes Street; 353-21-427-4665;
www.seamusoconnell.com ), a creation
of Seamus O’Connell, an American-born chef. During a late-spring visit, the
unusual menu (four-course menu for 60 euros a person or a seven-course starter
menu for 75 euros) included inventive dishes like tongue with ladyfingers and
gentleman’s relish, carpaccio of wood pigeon with beetroots and rocket, and
magret of duck with blackberry balsamic jus and braised endives.
10 p.m.
10) ESCAPE THE FIDDLES
For a night out without the plucking and pipes, head over to the Pavilion
(Carey’s Lane; 353-21-427-6230;
www.pavilioncork.com ), a hot spot of recent prominence as both a mellow
lounge with good beats downstairs and the choice venue for live acts and club
nights upstairs. Saturday night’s Go Deep sessions present both up-and-coming
and veteran Irish and international D.J.’s, some joined by live performers. The
lofty barrel-vaulted ceilings of the club space serve as a stylish reminder of
the building’s original incarnation as one of the first cinemas in Cork, opened
in 1921. (Admission is 14 euros upstairs; free downstairs).
Sunday
11 a.m.
11) TAKE YE TO THE RIVER
While the River Lee may seem inescapable in the central city, for more alluring
views and a better chance to appreciate the water, head to Fitzgerald Park, west
of the city center along Mardyke Walk. Grab a scone (1.50 euros) at the
Riverview Café (back of Cork City Museum in the park; 353-21-427-9573) and
stroll among the gnarly trees, splashing fountains and well-manicured gardens
where children’s laughter and their parents’ mellifluous replies merge with the
lazy flow of the river.
THE BASICS
Several carriers, including Aer Lingus and Ryan Air, fly to Cork via Dublin,
Shannon or London. A recent online search found round-trip flights from John F.
Kennedy Airport connecting to Cork in July starting around $600. Taxis from Cork
Airport to the city center cost about 12 euros (about $17 at $1.41 to the euro),
while convenient CityLink buses cost 5 euros (8 euros for round trip).
The individually designed luxury rooms at the Imperial Hotel (South Mall;
353-21-427-4040;
www.flynnhotels.com/Imperial_Hotel /; rooms from 79 euros) have seen some
upgrading since the national hero Michael Collins spent his last night there in
1922 before being assassinated the next day. Multiple restaurants and the Escape
salon and spa offer further hospitality to the weary traveler.
Hotel Isaacs (48 MacCurtain Street; 353-21-450-0011;
www.isaacs.ie ; rooms from 69 euros) offers
guest rooms as well as holiday apartments in a carefully restored Victorian
building.
36 Hours in Cork,
Ireland, NYT, 28.6.2009,
http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/travel/28Hour.html?8dpc
Belfast Regains Its Voice
October 19, 2008
The New York Times
By JOSHUA HAMMER
THE Friday night session was just getting started on the second floor of
Maddens, a dimly lighted pub in the Cathedral Quarter of Belfast. Six musicians
— a young woman fiddle player; a pony-tailed, grizzled uilleann piper; a pair of
guitarists; a tin-whistler; and a bodhran, or Irish tambourine, player — sat in
a circle jamming, gazing at one another, seemingly oblivious to the crowd. The
music had an improvisational feel to it — sprightly and hypnotic, the vigorous
melody of the fiddles skittering above the sweet, mellow tones of the bagpipes.
Midway through the set, I heard an unfamiliar language being spoken and turned
to face a bearded, stringy-haired young man clad in baggy sweatshirt and jeans
sitting beside me at the bar. He introduced himself as Caomhin (pronounced
KEE-vin) Mac Giolla Caehain, a fiddler and devotee of Gaelic, which, like Irish
folk music, has been enjoying a revival in Belfast the last few years.
Many of the people in the room, Caomhin (the name means gentle offspring) told
me, were regulars — traditionalists who showed up at Maddens on Friday nights to
pay homage to both the ancient language and Ireland’s rich musical heritage.
“This is the real thing,” Mr. Mac Giolla Caehain said of the music.
Some 10 years after the Northern Ireland peace agreement, Belfast is in the
midst of a transformation. A wave of investment — mostly from other parts of
Britain — has turned this once war-torn, economically depressed city into one of
Europe’s liveliest towns.
Hotels, clubs and restaurants seem to be springing up in every neighborhood; a
new riverside promenade winds past acres of commercial and residential
development to a giant entertainment complex in the making, the Titanic Quarter,
named for the doomed luxury liner built in Belfast’s now-moribund shipyards in
1911. But perhaps nowhere is the peace dividend more pronounced than in the
revival of the city’s music scene. Back in the 1960s, before the outbreak of the
Troubles, Belfast was one of Europe’s most musical cities. Van Morrison, born in
East Belfast, got his start playing folk tunes at a sailor’s hostel called the
Maritime Hotel. (From there he landed a recording contract with Decca Records in
London, and a career was born.) The city has also nurtured performers like Derek
Bell and Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains and Henry McCullough, who started a
folk band called Sweeney’s Men in the 1960s, later joined Joe Cocker’s band and
then became the lead guitarist for Paul McCartney’s Wings.
“When I grew up in the ’60s there were 80 clubs in and around Belfast where
bands could go and play. And that went down to one,” said Terri Hooley, a
Belfast impresario who brought the Clash to Northern Ireland at the height of
the Troubles in 1977. (After fighting broke out between fired-up fans of the
Clash and the police and British soldiers — a riot that became known as the
Battle of Bedford Street — the promoters canceled the concert at Ulster Hall two
hours before it was scheduled to begin.)
Now, however, there are at least 40 clubs around the city, including a dozen
where Irish musicians go back to their roots — playing the traditional folk
tunes that have formed the backdrop of Irish life for centuries. “You can hear
‘trad’ every night of the week these days,” Mr. Hooley told me.
Debate abounds about how far back the origins of traditional Irish music go;
some of the songs played in the pubs of Belfast, I was told, date back more than
1,000 years, passed down from generation to generation. And it was only in the
last couple of centuries that the music was written down and collected. Bands or
small ensembles have probably been a part of Irish music since the early 19th
century, when instruments like the fiddle and the uilleann pipes were pulled out
for Irish dancing — reels, hornpipes and jigs — at weddings and saints’ days.
These days perhaps the greatest display of Irish traditional music in the world
takes place at the annual Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann festival, which begins with
a series of competitions at the village and county level, and attracts as many
as 20,000 participants.
I recently spent five nights in Belfast, venturing out every evening to sample
the flowering trad scene. I started my tour on a Monday night, the slowest of
the week, at a bar called Fibber Magee, around the corner from Belfast’s City
Hall. It was a touristy place where a duet called Finnegans Wake played familiar
Irish tunes to a crowd almost exclusively made up of Americans, Canadians and
Britons.
But it didn’t take long before I found my way to more authentic hangouts — pubs
frequented by, among others, former paramilitary fighters from both sides of the
sectarian divide. Nearly all of these establishments can be found in the
Cathedral Quarter, a slum only five years ago but now the epicenter of Belfast’s
cultural and architectural renaissance. In most of them, the musicians gather
once or twice a week for sessions — relaxed, informal gatherings at which the
music is played as much for the benefit of the artists as for that of the
audience.
On Tuesday night, a fairly quiet one in Belfast, I left my hotel and wandered
past a boisterous group spilling out the door of the Spaniard, one of
Cathedral’s oldest taverns. Then I turned down a narrow street lined with
darkened office buildings and came upon a small, unobtrusive pub called the John
Hewitt.
Opened nine years ago by the nonprofit Belfast Unemployed Resource Centre, whose
managers hoped to bridge the city’s sectarian divide, the John Hewitt (named for
a Belfast poet) stands blocks from a no man’s land once ruled by paramilitary
gangs. The neighborhood is still dicey: across the street stands a burned-out
office block.
When I arrived at the Hewitt, a trad quartet — fiddler, guitarist, drummer and
uilleann piper — had just started its evening session. I met John McSherry, one
of Northern Ireland’s best known players of the uilleann pipe — the Irish
national bagpipe — who tours with a band called At First Light.
“There’s been a lot more vibrancy to the Belfast scene nowadays, and it just
keeps getting livelier,” Mr. McSherry told me during a cigarette break in the
street. He sat in a chair on the stage, wedged the uilleann pipe bellows beneath
his right elbow, manipulating it to keep air flowing into the pipe bag. With his
fingers dancing lightly over a series of holes on the stemlike chanter, he
produced a haunting, vibratory sound with high-pitched, reedy notes skipping
over a low monotone.
The Hewitt occasionally sponsors contemporary art exhibitions in tandem with the
weekly sessions, and on this Tuesday evening the walls were covered with stark
surrealistic paintings — prisoners squeezed into concrete cells, courtyards
overlooked by watchtowers. The works were done by Raymond Watson, a former Irish
Republican Army man who served eight years at Maze Prison outside Belfast. As it
happened, Mr. Watson was at the pub that night. As the session players kicked
off into a lively reel, he invited me to sit down at a round table packed with
Hewitt regulars: poets and politicians, Protestant and Catholic ex-fighters,
artists and ex-Communists, aging hippies and a few business types.
“This is neutral ground,” I was told by Aidan Short, a wheelchair-bound banjo
player. As he sipped from a pint of Harp ale, Mr. Short recalled that he was a
17-year-old Catholic from rural Northern Ireland when he arrived at Belfast in
1972. In his telling, one evening he and a friend wandered unwittingly into a
Protestant area and were seized by members of the Ulster Volunteer Force, a
Loyalist paramilitary group. The armed men, he said, marched them to the
Shankill Road, accused them of being members of the I.R.A. and shot them. Both
survived, Mr. O’Connor told me, though he was paralyzed from the waist down.
Today, he is a John Hewitt stalwart, taking in the trad along with former
Loyalist fighters. “We’re all brought together by the music,” he said.
While the divisions are no longer as deep as they once were, the pubs I visited
were predominantly Catholic strongholds, where Gaelic pride was palpable,
Republican sentiments remained near the surface and the I.R.A. was largely
treated with deference.
On Friday night, Belfast’s busiest, the Cathedral quarter was hopping. I pushed
my way past crowds on Waring Street to Maddens, where a soft rocker was playing
unmemorable tunes on an acoustic guitar in the ground-floor bar. The trad
sessions take place upstairs, and it was there that I ran into Mr. Mac Giolla
Caehain, the musician and Gaelic revivalist.
“Some people don’t take kindly to Gaelic,” he said. “For some of the old
Loyalists, there’s a political connotation to it.” I told him I’d spent Monday
night listening to Finnegans Wake at Fibber Magee, and he wrinkled his nose in
distaste. “Finnegans Wake is not the real thing,” he said.
Then, with Gaelic conversations floating around me, I followed him down an alley
to a squat red-brick building: Kellys Cellars Traditional Irish Pub, one of
Belfast’s oldest, founded in 1720. “The Oak Tree,” an infectious reel, spilled
into the alley from large open ground-floor windows. Inside, the crowd was
cheerful, rowdy; many had been putting down ale and stout for hours.
The session players were gathered in a corner, beneath dark oak beams and tin
kettles and bellows hanging from the ceiling; oil portraits of Irish Republican
heroes, including Theodore Wolfe Tone, who led an early rebellion against
British rule in the late 18th century, hung from the walls above their heads. I
nursed a pint and sat on a barstool, letting the ballads, airs and jigs wash
over me; I had to restrain the urge to let loose with a solo jig of my own.
After taking in the scene for another hour, I headed back to my hotel, walking
down the now-deserted alley past warehouses and a cement-walled shopping arcade.
It was after 2 a.m., and the music from Kellys Cellars was still going strong.
UILLEANN PIPES AND BODHRANS TO GO WITH THE ALE AND STOUT
GETTING THERE
Continental Airlines ( www.continental.com
) has a daily nonstop flight from Newark to Belfast International Airport. Based
on a recent Internet search, nonstop fares in November started at around $700.
Other options include tagging on a trip to Belfast while visiting London. BMI (
www.flybmi.com ) has several flights a day,
operating out of Heathrow. Round-trip fares generally start at about $340.
A taxi ride to the city center from the Belfast International Airport is about
£25 ($44.50, at $1.78 to the pound); from Belfast City Airport, about £7.
Belfast is a compact, walkable city. There is no need to rent a car, unless you
want to go out into the country, and you’ll rarely need a taxi to get around
town.
WHERE TO HEAR MUSIC
Kellys Cellars (30-32 Bank Square; 44-28-9024-6058), built in 1720, is one of
Belfast’s oldest pubs and one of the liveliest. It’s set in an industrial corner
of the revitalized Cathedral Quarter, a few blocks’ walk from the Merchant
Hotel. Trad music is played in sessions every night except Monday.
Fibber Magee (38-42 Great Victoria Street; 44-28-9024-7447) is the rear bar of
Robinson’s, a Belfast stalwart across the street from the Hotel Europa. You can
hear music there most nights, in a very touristy atmosphere.
The John Hewitt (51 Donegall Street; 44-28-9023-3768), also in the Cathedral
Quarter, comes alive with sessions every Tuesday night. Opened in 1999, it’s
named after a late socialist poet and owned by the Belfast Unemployed Resource
Center, a nonsectarian group.
Maddens (Berry Street; 44-28-9024-4114), just down the street from Kellys
Cellars, opened in 1751. The bar features sessions every night, beginning at 9
o’clock and going until 1 a.m. on the weekends.
WHERE TO STAY
Rooms at the lushly furnished 62-room Malmaison (34-38 Victoria Street,
44-28-9022-0200; www.malmaison.com ) are
on the smallish side, but smartly outfitted with plasma-screen TVs and DVD
players. There’s a tiny gym — basically an oversized hotel suite with a couple
of treadmills and a few free weights. The lobby bar is a popular hangout for
guests and city residents alike. Rates start at £125 for doubles when booked
online.
The Merchant Hotel (35-39 Waring Street; 44-28-9023-4888;
www.themerchanthotel.com ), former
headquarters of the Ulster Bank, is a refurbished Italianate villa, set in the
heart of the Cathedral Quarter, that opened in 2005. It’s a small and sumptuous
hotel that’s widely viewed as the finest in Northern Ireland, with an excellent
— if somewhat stuffy — bar and restaurant. Deluxe rooms start at £220, including
breakfast.
Its popularity among members of the boldfaced crowd on their visits to Belfast
has helped to make the 23-room Ten Square (10 Donegall Square South;
44-28-9024-1001; www.tensquare.co.uk )
a hot destination. Both the Asian-influenced bedrooms and bathrooms are huge
(the bathtub alone could accommodate two people), and the rooms come with
toiletries and high-speed Internet access. Rates start at £170 for a double room
with full Irish breakfast. The Grill Room and Bar, just off the lobby, is a
popular gathering spot throughout the day.
WHERE TO EAT
Paul Rankin rules the Belfast culinary scene with several highly regarded
restaurants, including the fusion-style Cayenne, at 7 Ascot House, Shaftsbury
Square, 44-28-9033-1532, where the set dinner menu (served from 5 to 7 p.m.) may
include offerings like a goat cheese “puff pizza” and crispy belly pork with egg
noodles and a black bean sauce. Prices are £15.50 for two courses and £19.50 for
three.
Botanic Avenue, especially the area around Queen’s University, boasts a lively
after-work street scene. You won’t find much fine dining there, but there are
some pleasant, casual restaurants drawing a youngish crowd. Among the most
inviting is AM:PM (67-69 Botanic Avenue; 44-28-9023-9443), with menu items
including a chorizo risotto (£9.25) and a Thai green curry (£11.95).
JOSHUA HAMMER is a freelance foreign correspondent based in Berlin.
Belfast Regains Its
Voice, NYT, 20.10.2008,
http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/travel/19Belfast.html
Instant weekend ... Dublin
Emma Levine The
Observer Sunday June 1 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/jun/01/dublin.hotels
36 Hours in Dublin
July 13, 2008
The New York Times
By GEORGE LENKER
THE Celtic Tiger, the economic engine that roared in the
1990s, may have softened to a purr today, but Dublin still basks in a newfound
prosperity. The city’s compact center, at the mouth of the River Liffey, has
become a magnet for young people throughout Europe, imbuing the Irish capital
with a modern and international veneer. Asian herbal shops and Polish galleries
now share the history-soaked streets with 18th-century town houses and
(smoke-free) old pubs. But Irish traditions die hard. So if you’re looking for
classic Dublin, the city still has plenty of nooks to curl up in with a sudsy
pint and a good book.
Friday
3:30 p.m.
1) GEORGIAN DOORS
The cloud-dappled afternoon light makes for a splendid time to survey Dublin’s
Georgian architecture, a formal and symmetrical style popular in the 18th and
early 19th centuries, during the reigns of the first four English kings named
George, and known for its colorful, sometimes garish doors. A bright spot to
start is Merrion Square, which was home to Oscar Wilde (No. 1) and William
Butler Yeats (No. 82). Lower Baggot Street is also lined with colorful doors,
many immortalized in a classic poster called “The Doors of Dublin.”
7:30 p.m.
2) STAIR FARE
There’s an old Irish joke that a seven-course Celtic meal is just a six-pack of
Guinness and a potato. Truth is, the past decade has brought an influx of
sumptuous cuisine far beyond corned beef and cabbage. Such is the fare at the
Winding Stair Restaurant & Bookshop (40 Ormond Quay; 353-1-872-7320;
www.winding-stair.com ) where traditional Irish offerings seamlessly dovetail
with nouvelle cuisine. There aren’t many places in Dublin where you can dine on
a duck liver parfait with spiced plum chutney (10.95 euros, or $17.41 at $1.59
to the euro), followed by a parsnip-and-shallot tart with Gubeen cheese (19.50
euros). Much of the ingredients are organic and locally grown. Some tables
overlook the River Liffey and, yes, the lower floors house a quaint bookshop.
10 p.m.
3) OFFBEAT BREWS
There’s nothing wrong with Guinness Stout, but at times it seems to be the only
beer in town. For a different taste, head over the Liffey to the Porterhouse
(16-18 Parliament Street; 353-1-679-8847;
www.porterhousebrewco.com ), one of the
city’s surprisingly few microbreweries. The savory stouts include Wrassler’s
XXXX, based on a County Cork recipe from the early 1900s, and the Oyster Stout,
made with fresh oysters, which add a spicy note to the otherwise dry brew. Note:
Bartenders don’t expect tips in Ireland, but if you become friendly with one,
buying him or her a pint is a welcome gesture.
Saturday
9 a.m.
4) ROYAL BREAKFAST
Beat the breakfast stampede to the Elephant & Castle (18-19 Temple Bar;
353-1-679-3121; www.elephantandcastle.ie), where much of Dublin seems to go for
brunch. Try the French brioche toast with maple syrup (6 euros) or the Irish
pinhead oatmeal with sultanas and hazelnuts (4.25 euros). If you’re wondering
about the name, it’s from a former London pub that was called Enfanta de
Castile. Locals made a malapropism of the name and it became Elephant and
Castle.
11 a.m.
5) WITH OR WITHOUT U2
Although the Irish Music Hall of Fame shut down in 2001 for poor attendance,
music fans can still seek out a slice of Dublin’s rock history at the former
site of the Windmill Lane Studios on Windmill Lane. This is where U2, Van
Morrison, Elvis Costello and others have recorded. The old studio stands empty,
but fans have covered the boarded-up two-story building in a psychedelic cloud
of U2-inspired graffiti. Afterward, head down to Harry Street and pay tribute to
the late Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy fame. A bronze statue stands there in his
honor.
1 p.m.
6) FLIP OUT
Head back in time, at least as far as clothing goes, by visiting Flip (3-4 Upper
Fownes Street; 353-1-671-4299; www.flipclothing.com), a boutique in Temple Bar
that sells vintage clothing from Germany, France and the United States, as well
as its own trendy line of urban wear. Expect to find Brandoesque biker jackets
(starting at about 75 euros) and Brady Bunch bell-bottoms (from 30 euros). If
Flip flops for you, walk a block to another secondhand shop, Eager Beaver (17
Crown Alley; 353-1-677-3342). The store sells used Levis (24.95 euros) and
tweeds of all sorts. Also stop by the bright pink storefront of Sesi (11 Fownes
Street; 353-1-677-4779) for quirky jewelry, bags and clothing from Chile, Japan
and other countries.
3:30 p.m.
7) HIGHBROW BROWSING
If you are overwhelmed by the bigger bookstores on Grafton Street, the city’s
retail strip, stroll over to Books Upstairs (36 College Green; 353-1-679-6807;
www.booksupstairs.com ), an independent outlet with plenty of bargains. And since
it’s near the gates of Trinity College, there’s a wealth of books on Irish
history and literary criticism, as well as a good selection of gay and feminist
literature. The handsome balcony offers views of the streets below, assuming
there aren’t piles of books in the way.
8 p.m.
8) A FINE KETTLE OF FISH
For Old World-style seafood, head to the Lobster Pot (9 Ballsbridge Terrace;
353-1-660-9170; www.thelobsterpot.ie ), which displays its daily catch on a fish
tray that is expertly explained by the staff. If they have it, order the crab
claws, delicately seared with garlic butter (15.50 euros), as well as the Dublin
Bay prawns (33.50 euros), which are pan-fried in garlic butter and sweetly melt
in your mouth. Save room for crêpes suzette, a flambéed crepe filled with
caramelized sugar juice and liqueur. It’s a bit pricey (24.50 euros for two),
but worth the splurge.
10 p.m.
9) DUBLIN DANCING
While tourists cram themselves into the various watering holes in Temple Bar,
you can find a cooler scene across the River Liffey in the city’s International
Financial Services Center area, directly underneath Connolly Station. Housed in
a former bank, the Vaults (Harbourmaster Place; 353-1-605-4700;
www.thevaults.ie ) is made up of a series of vaults divided into four rooms lined
with thick stone walls and is home to some of Dublin’s best soul and R&B. The
dance floor draws a rave-like crowd, including hyperkinetic youths who keep
their sunglasses on all night. The other rooms fill up with 20- and
30-somethings in Gaelic football jerseys or business suits. If you’re watching
your budget, come on Fridays for drink specials and free munchies.
Sunday
12:30 p.m.
10) GO TO JAIL
The story of Ireland’s fight for freedom may be best told from within prison.
Just three miles from the city’s center, the Kilmainham Gaol Historical Museum
(Inchicore Road, Kilmainham, Dublin 8; 353-1-453-5984;
www.heritageireland.ie )
now houses an educational center that covers both the heroic and tragic
struggles from the 1780s to the 1920s. This is also where Patrick Pearse, James
Connolly and other founding fathers were jailed — and executed. The 45-minute
tour is capped by a visit to the chilling stone-breakers yard, where some of the
rebels were shot. Admission is 5.30 euros.
2 p.m.
11) WALK IN THE PARK
A post-brunch constitutional through St. Stephen’s Green will spark the
imagination. The 27-acre park in the city’s center just off Grafton Street, has
several garden areas, including one for the blind that features Braille signs
and aromatic plants such as herbs that can be handled repeatedly without harm.
Be sure also to visit the William Butler Yeats Garden. There is a sculpture of
the poet by Henry Moore, and a statue of Wolfe Tone, the father of Irish
Republicanism, that is known as “Tonehenge” for the surrounding Stonehenge-like
columns — which shows that one thing is not lost in Dublin’s new globalism: the
Irish sense of humor.
THE BASICS
In peak summer months, several airlines including Aer Lingus and Delta have
nonstop daily flights from Kennedy Airport to Dublin, starting at about $1,000
for travel in late July. Continental offers nonstop flights out of Newark. To
get to the city from Dublin Airport, take the 30-minute Airlink bus for 6 euros,
or $9.54 at $1.59 to the euro (353-1-873-4222;
www.dublinbus.ie ). Or hop in a cab, which costs about 30 euros.
The Dylan (Eastmoreland Place, Dublin 4; 353-1-660-3000;
www.dylan.ie ) is a stylish boutique hotel
with funky décor that ranges from Art Deco to ultra modern. High-end touches
included large bathrooms with heated floors and recessed televisions. Doubles
start at 199 euros.
The Merrion Dublin (Upper Merrion Street; 353-1-603-0600;
www.merrionhotel.com ), a luxury hotel
in the middle of Georgian Dublin, offers silky rooms and 18th-century-style
service starting at around 455 euros.
For a cheaper but still elegant spot, try the Waterloo House (8-10 Waterloo
Road; 353-1-660-1888; www.waterloohouse.ie
), not far from St. Stephen’s Green. Look for the twin red doors. The hotel has
17 classic but modernly furnished rooms, with doubles from 145 euros and a house
dog in the backyard garden.
36 Hours in Dublin,
NYT, 13.7.2008,
http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/travel/13hours.html
Top 10 Dublin bar secrets
Dubliner Pol O'Conghaile takes you on a clandestine crawl of his
favourite drinking holes
Pol O'Conghaile
Guardian.co.uk Tuesday 7 August 2007
10.32 BST
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2007/aug/06/dublin.bars
The Guardian > Travel > Dublin
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/dublin
The New York Times > Travel Guides > Ireland
http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/europe/ireland/overview.html
The New York Times > Travel Guides > County Cork
http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/europe/ireland/county-cork/overview.html
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