Quirky Dublin?
 

We are taking a guided tour (We've always travelled on our own and this is first time ever on a tour - but it's through my husband's place of work so we're going.) in Ireland in July (Dublin and Western Ireland). We have the last day free in Dublin for shopping etc.. but we never go abroad to shop. I'd like some recommendations of some quirky places/ activities in Dublin (no travelling outside please) for a Wednesday. We love going to markets but from what I've read, those are only on the weekends.
We'll be seeing all the major sites in Dublin in one day on the tour but we're up for interesting museums that probably won't be included.
The night before we'd like to go to a jazz club or a pub with authentic Irish music. Any recommendations?
I've gotten great ideas from the forums before and I know that you Fodorites won't let me down!

Check out St. Michans on Church Street and go down into the vaults and see the mummies.

Take the hop on hop off bus tour and ride through the whole way first and then make a note of the places that interest you and get off on the next round.

Take a literary pub crawl...I think students from Trinity put it on.

The National Museum on Kildare St. is great!

The Chester Beatty Library, near Dublin Castle, is a bit different in that it specialises in artifacts of Islamic and Oriental origin; also has an excellent coffee shop.
The Dublin literary pub crawl has its own website and is very popular.
For an insight into Gaelic games, Irish field sports, you can visit Croke Park, the headquarters of the GAA.
Although you specify not venturing out of the city, one of the most popular venues for a night out with Irish music is Johnny Foxes, up in the Dublin Mountains. It's very much a tourist haunt but they organise bus pickups in the city centre. They have a website.

There's a small covered market just off George's street in the city centre (running parallel to exchequer street) which is open all the time. It's not a farmers market but a collection of permanent shops / stalls, but it does have a bit of atmosphere and a great sandwich shop.

The Chester Beatty library in Dublin Castle is a lovely quirky museum full of items collected by Chester Beatty on his travels in the orient, and the cafe there (the Silk Road) does good food (Lebanese I think).

sorry seedee - didn't read your response properly to see that you had already suggested the chester beatty! At least we both agreed!

Thanks for your suggestions. I'll look into them. I also found Dublin river cruises - we've done that in other cities and we might try that also if it doesn't rain. (The cruise is only 45 minutes.)

Haven't been there yet, so I cannot comment if it's "worth it":
http://www.jeaniejohnston.ie/

Not sure if your tour lets you really visit the museums timewise, but the National Museum on Kildare St. really is great.

I have been up the Liffey in a private boat and have to report that the view of the city from the vantage point of the water is not wonderful; seeing the many bridges close up is about the best feature. The river lacks the width of the Seine so the height of quay walls restricts the view; buildings along the river don't quite make Paris standards anyway.

SeeDee, thanks for the information. If the cruise isn't special (like Paris), it would be too bad to waste our free day on it. We'll concentrate on the museums.

Take DART to some small places on the Bay like Howth or Sandy Cove.
Only 10-15min on the fast train.
The best part of Dublin.IMO