Any recs on the Dublin Pub crawls? We're considering the Literary one and the Music one. Or since we'll be there on June 21st - summer solstice when I hear they party -- should we just find a pub with music? Also, anyone taken in a play at the Abbey Theatre? They have a comedy that I haven't heard of opening this week.

I think the Musical one is a bit livelier. It starts early (7:30ish) so you could continue on your own. There is no special partying on the solstace like in Scandanavia just the usual sat nights!

Didn't have the opportunity to do the Musical Tour, but did do the Literary Tour and had a great time with a lot of nice people. I'd say definitely do one or the other, just for the experience. We went to the Abbey for a drama - "Da" - and also had a great evening doing so. The Irish have a great appreciation of their literary heritage including a natural love of the theater so it was nice to be in that setting. I think we would have gone to the Abbey no matter what was playing.

I did the Literary crawl in September 2000 and totally enjoyed it. Talking to the other "crawlers" in the pubs along the way was as much fun as the actual entertainment.

I saw a drama at the Abbey ("The Secret Fall of Constance Wilde&quot -- excellent production (I'd never heard of the play before), vastly cheaper than anything comparable in the U.S. The theatre building itself is nothing remarkable. Go instead for the play itself, and for the chance to visit a great Irish cultural institution.

We did the musical pub crawl and really enjoyed it. It's really a crawl, though, because you go to just two or three pubs. The guys that put this on are really great and good fun. They explain traditional Irish music, play different instruments, and you join in.

Last June we enjoyed both the music and literary pub crawls. Get there early, they fill up fast.
Plenty of time to hit other pubs afterwards or return to a favorite from the crawl.

One night we took a taxi to the Brazenhead, but they had country music so we ended up across the street at O'Shea's Merchant House...good music but hot and packed. We enjoyed a couple pints sitting with some locals. (finally left because we couldn't squish through to get to the RR).

Just FYI...pubs that have music get packed.
If you want to be near the music get there early and sit as close as you can to where the band plays (just ask, or if you notice a really good spot open as it gets crowded, it's probably empty because that's the band's spot!). We usually enjoyed pub grub while waiting. If you get there late, make friends with someone and join them.

Note: if you have ever heard the saying "on Irish time", it is very true for Irish music...on our 18 day trip the music never started on time. The band would usually show up on time but of course they needed a pint or two to warm up before they started playing!

Wish I was enjoying a pint of Murphy's right now...enjoy!
Slainte!

We loved the musical pub crawl, great fun and you can just hang out at the last pub afterwards. Have fun

Enjoyed the musical crawl. It's a good way to start your trip. One piece of advice: STAY in the last pub. We made the mistake of leaving, and couldn't get in anywhere else. Every pub was packed with lines of people waiting to get in.

And, yes, take in the play at the Abbey. You'll be glad you did.

We had fun on the literary pub crawl a couple of weeks ago. Realize tho, that the 2.5 hour tour is not all tour. There were 3 20+ minute breaks to sit in a pub, while the tour was in a "holding pattern".