1015067 ONE Ballsbridge

Two restaurants have failed in rapid succession in this new, pub-licenced unit; so I decided I'd better be quick, lest lightning strike a third time - and then still took nearly six months to get out here.

The first two were run by household names - Dylan McGrath and Richard Corrigan, and this one is run by someone who's probably close to a household name. Oliver Dunne has held a Michelin star and done a fair bit of TV work, and has previously reacted rather badly to a review, but may not be quite as well known as the previous tenants here. 

That may be for the best, as premises can get a reputation as "cursed", and attaching another extremely well known name, or promoting a fairly well known name hugely in connection to it could do far more harm than good.

Unlike a lot of pub-licenced-restaurants, where drinkers are either barely catered for, or not catered for at all - the licence being bought to make drinks service and production of cocktails more legally simple than on other classes of licence - there is an actual dedicated bar here; and its big at that. The second floor is a nicely fitted out bar; and there's also terrace seating outside on the ground floor that held the majority of the drinkers during my visit - it was a very nice day; but I'd already been outside, walking between the previous writeups, for long enough in that sunshine.

Its an interesting enough bar, in a premises that will hopefully be third time lucky. Just in case, maybe visit quickly to get the tick!

S3437 Radisson Blu St Helens

I was going to say this was the most expensive hotel for pints I've ever stayed in, but in the time between my visit and the writeup, I've been to London for work - and even a discount hotel there makes the €9.30 I was charged in the Orangery here seem fairly reasonable.

The hotel is a fairly minimally messed with, mid 18th century mansion with a modern bedroom wing attached, and underground carparking hidden under the front approach, and is by all accounts quite nice. But there's absolutely no reason to go here just to get a drink - unless it happens to be in the last ~75 places you have to visit in Dublin, that is!

1021852 Super Social

The last of the 'experience pubs', for now - and finally one that isn't underground!

This is my first visit here, but it's not the first time I've written about the premises - as this was originally built as the ill-fated Baileys Icon Centre, which closed some years before I was allowed drink; and was briefly a nightclub - Rocksy - that the internet has basically forgotten existed. And then it sat empty, licenced, awaiting its fate.

When Club 92, the famed nightclub in the racecourse pavilion, closed in 2018, there was some mention that something was going to open in this space - and eventually a planning application went in to restructure the space, with some being hived off for retail and the rest being changed to pub/restaurant style use.

Rather than reopening as a nightclub type space though, it has reopened as a sort of amalgam of all the other experience bars, but with a large, conventional bar on the ground floor. There's virtual golf - like Pitch, darts - like Flight Club, but also shuffleboard and "The Arena", something I've not quite found a good description of yet; and I don't think would have been much fun to do on my own.

Apparently €5m has been spent on the fitout - a fraction of the ~€26m, inflation adjusted, that the Icon Centre cost; but still a very substantial amount. Hopefully this is more attractive to visitors and lives a longer live than the Icon Centre, or the Rocksy for that matter.

(no number yet) Lane7 Dundrum

Unlike the previous Lane7, this is not a small, subterreanian, awkwardly laid out bowling alley - its a large, penthouse, awkwardly laid out bowling alley!

The bar remains expensive, but there's actually some reason to come here for drinks - the bar is large, spacious and has views over Dundrum from two sides. There's slightly more choice of drinks than in the city centre location, but prices remain high.

Rooftop bars aren't much of a thing in Ireland, and Dundrum certainly isn't the most interesting vista to look out over - but it could be worth heading up here. Like all Lane7s, you can just come in to drink without bowling or using the paid arcade games.

1018537 Donnybrook Fair Dundrum

This is another high end food store using a pub licence to cover various operations within; and another case where I decided that buying and drinking some off-sales inside would probably get me thrown out - so I had to come around when the restaurant was actually open.

At the time of my visit, all they were doing here was breakfast/brunch, with the fairly limited hours that entails; but I managed to haul myself down here early enough - and hungry enough - for a brunch and a bottle of beer. Licence ticked.

The food was decent enough and, despite being fairly close to full, the restaurant is a lot less hectic than eating in many of the Dundrum Town Centre restaurants might be. Later service has been promised for a while and may have actually resumed by now.

N2582 Carlton Hotel Blanchardstown

This is another wildly misnamed hotel, being in Tyrrellstown and not Blanchardstown; and indeed the only place to go for a drink in Tyrrellstown now - the pub in the development itself having shut down some time ago, and had a planning application lodged to convert it to apartments.

But despite this, it's incredibly difficult to actually get in to the hotel from Tyrrellstown. Not due to any issues with letting in outsiders - despite having been told some years ago that they didn't serve non residents, they do; with absolutely no issues doing do - but instead the issue is pedestrian access.

The hotel isn't causing this - they even have a pedestrian walkway out to the road, bypassing their long driveway. The issue is that the road is a dual carriageway with a concrete median and no crossing points. Google Maps even suggests a walking route that involves walking around a roundabout - on the road!

That aside, it is possible to run across and skirt the edge of the median, or get a bus one single stop - definitely the safer option on your way back from pints!

After dealing with the access issues, you get a fairly standard hotel bar - plush enough but not incredibly fancy, but still in the mould of "if you've seen one, you've seen them all". You'll have to decide whether it's worth the risk of death, or a short distance bus fare, to go here for that.

N2417 The Paddocks

A very busy and VERY LOUD suburban shopping centre pub that's also a massive pain in the hole to get to, this ended up being done extremely late for a long established premises on the basis that it's basically only really possible to get here from the city and not anywhere else - and it's a long way out on a dead-end.

The lounge was 'wait to be seated', doing food services and appearing to be completely full; and the bar hadn't got any free seats when I arrived, so I ended up standing to drink my pint; possibly looking more like an undercover Garda trying to fit in somewhere than ever before. 

The pubs exterior design is one of the strangest of this category of pub that I've ever seen, with the semi standard clocktower at one end, running through what looks like an attempt to make it look like a row of small houses, down to a stone round tower at the other end, literally towering over the main entrance. It is, unfortunately, nowhere near as weirdly decorated inside!

1010656 The Green Phonebox

This is the fourth name in two years on the premises which was previously Peggys On The Green, Three Storey and previously 10 St Stephens; and which always seemed to be closed when I was anywhere nearby. 

Peggys opened in April 2024, closed in Autumn 2024, reopened briefly for Christmas and then closed again - a refit had been advertised when closing in Autumn, and that hadn't finished. It reopened on May 1st as The Green Phonebox, a rather odd name that is at least justified by the addition of a retro phonebox to their small front outdoor area.

I didn't get a great immediate impression of this place, as I assumed the sign outside offering Irish food and drink would mean there'd be some beers not made by Diageo or Heineken on the taps... and there wasn't.

Pointing this out on social media lead to someone I'd never interacted with giving me abuse for stating the facts that Diageo and Heineken Ireland are not Irish companies; which is very particularly strange as I frequently say vastly more controversial things about pubs and breweries than that without anything being said!

The pub itself is very, very touristy - greebling by the metre from some wholesaler, menu offerings of what tourists expect to be able to buy, and the aforementioned Diageo/Heineken only drinks. It would be more suited to Temple Bar, realistically.

1021842 Bewleys

The last branch standing of the once substantial Bewleys coffee shop chain obtained a Publicans (Theatre) licence recently; which has a solid claim to legitimacy as there is actually a theatre in the building. However, I think they are slightly stretching the rules about service hours under that licence - not uncommon - as you can now get cocktails with meals instead of just wine as before.

And that is what I did, rather than going to a show. An Aperol Spritz along with a slightly mad, yet extremely nice, concoction that could best be described as eggs-benedict-as-a-burger served as a late lunch here and got me a licence tick.

While not always possible - the cafe is vast, with many side rooms that are frequently closed, and can be very busy in the areas that are open - a wander around here after you've eaten is worthwhile, as there is artwork, sculptures, stained glass windows and various artefacts from the past of both the Grafton Street branch and other bits of the chain on display throughout the premises.

(no number yet) Sandbox VR

A third underground "experience bar" writeup in a row - they were actually across two different days - the main attraction here for those not partaking in the VR setup is the "robot bartender", a pair of robotic arms that can make a range of fairly simple cocktails. 

Make them fairly badly, more specifically - they haven't managed to replicate any conventional shaking motion so things aren't as mixed or diluted as you'd expect; but its probably worth doing once for the novelty; and then get your other drinks from the humans at the main bar.

With an interior that feels like the set of a 1980s kids TV show - maybe if Parallel 9 had been made 10 years earlier, on 10 times the budget - the blue lighting and sharp angles may not make this somewhere you want to spend a prolonged period in; but like the other places, you do not need to be doing a VR session to use the bar.

1021725 Pitch Golf

The second of the "experience bars", as I think they're best called, that I needed to visit - I don't have to go to Flight Club as it is the same licence, down to the serial number, as when it was Samsara/Sam's. This time, its publicans liquor licence was already confirmed in advance of my visit, so I wasn't risking spending a lot on a pint and it turning out to be a rules-bend on a restaurant licence or similar.

I just ended up spending a lot on a pint anyway...

Like the previous post, this is also an underground venue. Unlike the previous post, the bar is a lot more bar like,sort of a normal sports bar that happens to be surrounded by the virtual golf pods. The venues website heavily promotes the bar as something you can just drop in to, with DJs and cocktails being less commonly pushed as features of a sports bar.

It wasn't particularly busy when I visited, so this could actually be a useful place to remember if looking to watch a match in the South city centre.

Revisited pubs, June 2025

Forgot to take notes on this one, so hopefully it's complete... I was also away for a substantial amount of the month, so this can't be too long

S0027 The Lombard - I now work closer to Pearse Station, so the pubs around there will get more visits

S0048 Kennedys - Remember what I said about Pearse Station one line ago?

1017216 Dockers - I also work close to here, and sometimes my wallet doesn't scream at me for considering it...

N0006 Brew Dock - Connolly continues to get some use, and I continue to need dinner

N1620 Boco - Regular-ish meeting location

N0097 Underdog - across the road from same, and it'd be rude not to pop ine

 

(no number yet) Lane7 Chatham Street

A few months (by the time this scheduled post goes out) ago, I wrote about the weird trend of the majority of new bar openings in Dublin being some form of "experience" rather than a conventional bar. This is the first of those I visited, assuming it would have a pub licence on the register in time - there's some writeups that have waited over a year for the licence to surface, so I'm holding with that assumption for now.

Set in the basement of the building with all the watch shops in it (replacing a number of more interesting buildings that housed multiple restaurants etc), this is an awkwardly laid out bowling alley and arcade, with a very expensive bar. It was exceptionally busy with an after-work crowd when I visited, and while you can go in and just get a drink; I don't see why you *would* - go here for the bowling not the beer, realistically.

1014544 The Ivy

The Ivy Collection is a British chain of mid-to-high-range restaurants with surprisingly bland menus - deliberately so, as some of the items are considered comfort food for their regulars - and they entered Ireland quite some time ago with this giant restaurant on Dawson Street. It has held a pub licence the entire time; but their behaviour towards their staff put me off coming here.

What behaviour, you may wonder? Well, it was a tips policy so egregious that it quite possibly caused the introduction of the legislation which require places to advertise how they handle tips.

That legislation means they can't do that anymore, but a WRC ruling that staff were dismissed in part due to union membership also made me fairly unwilling to go here; but a lack of recent stories; and a dire lack of other places to tick off, meant I finally did it.

What I got was mid-range food at far more than mid-range prices; but clearly it appeals to enough people that they are now opening a second restaurant on the same street, albeit this time as Ivy Asia. I sincerely hope it does not have a pub licence too!

N0039 Noctors

You* can all stop asking now. 

Claimed by many to be the roughest pub in Dublin, and potentially with a little bit of basis in fact; I worked around the corner from Noctors for a number of years. I was doing this blog/mission, but I never went in.

Part of this was because I assumed it might eventually close down, and another part was that there was a Garda car sat at the corner of Oriel Street effectively monitoring the pub during opening hours, this being months after a mistaken identity murder outside the pub.

But the pub never closed down, and with very few remaining premises to go to, I had to tick it off eventually.

The pub is a single room setup straight out of the 1980s, with a limited selection of beer - more limited even than the illuminated tap heads suggest, as some things were off. My cash-only pint of Guinness was perfectly drinkable and relatively cheap, and consumed in no danger. Despite apparently looking like an undercover Garda (see prior commentary on this in older writeups), my presence wasn't treated as unwelcome at any stage.

However, it is definitely a local pub for locals - I wouldn't recommend you go out of you way to go here; or even possibly bother going here if you have moved in locally. 

*Twitter users when I say that there's very few "rough pubs" left in Dublin 

1014840 The Devlin Hotel

For a hotel with it's own (small, but public) cinema, the visit here was surprisingly unmemorable - it's another former McKillen venue, so the bar experience is exactly what you get in all of them.

It may be more memorable if you stay here - I believe the rooms range from very small to absolutely tiny.

S0236 The Dunmore

During the time I've been doing this blog, this premises has had a slightly awkward operating history and was closed down on all three times I came through Rathmines to tick previously; initially as Toast but latterly as The Bowery. I believe The Bowery had very irregular opening towards its end too.

Eventually, the pub was reopened as The Dunmore, a branch of sorts of a pub from Dunmore East - The Strand Inn. It is branded as a "bar and restaurant" which can often mean "restaurant that doesn't really want drinkers" - but in here, about half the floorspace is set up as a bar/pub seating rather than dining tables. 

This includes a nice mezzanine section above the front door, which could take maybe 12 people. This is good for people watching as well as getting somewhere a little quieter within the pub.

I only tried the drinks options here rather than the food, but these were interesting enough - including a number of beers from Dew Drop Brewhouse in Kill; a brewery operated by a small pub chain who formerly ran S0186 Ashtons

S0239 Murphys

This pub seems fairly accessible for something so late in my visits - and indeed, it was a nice round number, which I'll get to shortly - but I'd been sort of "keeping" it, intending to visit it with someone specific who lives nearby.

However, they were busy and I needed to get it ticked off, so I'll have to come back with them - for once committing myself to a revisit before I've even written the whole writeup!

Oddly quiet after a series of absolutely rammed carvery spots; they were doing food here too - my next visit wasn't incredibly busy either; so either I'd come after an earlier rush, or the diners of Rathmines eat later.

This turned out to be my 900th, rolling register basis, Dublin licence tick. Considering it's a mix of an older city pub with elements of modernity and suburban pubs to it; it's a fairly apt pub for a "big number visit", even if I never planned it as such. 

1001237 The Morgue

I almost baked myself to death in this pub; but had that happened they wouldn't have been able to lay me out on a slab here - not without a time machine at least.

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As I mentioned when putting a photo up on Instagram, sometimes pub nicknames stick and owners just roll with it. The Templeogue Inn is never called that anymore, but instead The Morgue - a reference to the use of the pubs cold room for storage of dead bodies under Victorian legislation.

At this stage, with only The Morgue name above the door and on the pubs website, is it even the Templeogue Inn anymore? The name does still appear on the side of the pub, but realistically The Morgue is the name now.

It was a warm day to begin with, but I could swear the heating was on in the front bar of the pub, which was busy enough with racing punters. A Kinnegar Scraggy Bay tap is a rare but welcome sight in a bar like this (common enough in the lounge, of course) and that kept me cool enough during my trip.

July 2025 Revenue register update

Nothing*, again. Actually the smallest update I've ever processed.

 

*(well, there's a new liquor licenced boat, for Howth Cliff Cruises, but I'm dropping boats as they completely fail the quack test of being pubs...) 

S2261 Spawell / D'Arcy McGees

Getting to this pub felt like going to urbex somewhere, as I entered the Spawell compound through a hole in the fence.

This wasn't planned, but poor bus connections meant I walked much of the way from the previous pub, and this gap took half a kilometre off the distance. 

I had been here once before, many many many years ago, as an underage teenager, not drinking - a long story involving a long wait for the AA to come take a look at someones car - but I decided that didn't count as a visit. As far as I can remember, the interior looks completely different to well over 20 years ago - what a surprise!

I was possibly the only person in the place not there for carvery, and it felt like half of Tallaght and Templeogue were both there for that. There's even a more school dining room style section of the place. But this is a pub, with a pub licence (despite being in the middle of a sports complex) and I'd presume when the carvery demand dies off it feels more like a normal pub too.

S2636 Penny Black

A large suburban pub with awkward public transport access... however did this end up so close to the end of the list?

If you approach this from the South, you may see the hulk of a building within the Castletymon Shopping Centre which looks like an 70s estate pub. This isn't the Penny Black, this is the former library of all things, which has been replaced by a much more modern building. 

The Penny Black is actually from the late 80s, in a more traditional looking building around the side of the shopping centre, complete with a small clock tower - a feature a few pubs from then had. It is also quite traditional inside, albeit with mostly an open plan layout like most "newer" pubs ("newer" meaning "about as old as me" is a bit of a stretch; but when there's so many 100+ year old pubs around, they are newer).

There's a sort-of "museum" snug section near the front, mostly consisting of photos, covers Dublin trams amongst other things - despite this pub not being terribly near either the original or current trams serving Tallaght; and due to that, it was mostly O'Connell Street stuff that I remember seeing!

S2818 House Dublin

Another "Cian goes ticking on Sundays" problem venue, as this only opens for brunch on Sundays and I don't think opens on Bank Holidays at all; and the first two times I tried it fell down at this hurdle.

Third time lucky actually worked in this instance, and I was admitted and seated at the bar - albeit I was offered tables, it was middlingly busy and I felt they may want those for diners rather than drinkers.

This isn't really my kind of bar - cocktails and southside partying - but I don't think I'd have fit in during its past era when this was a hotel with a nightclub rather than a hotel with a large bar-restaurant instead.