9 Best Nightlife in Dublin, Ireland

Dublin's first superpub received a €4 million face-lift just before the pandemic with three floors of opulent Art Nouveau style à la grand Parisian brasserie, an extensive food menu, and a spectacular enclosed garden terrace with a retractable glass roof. This is one of Dublin's more elegant places to socialize.

A glorious house of ale in the best Dublin tradition, the Cobblestone is popular with Smithfield Market workers. Its chatty imbibers and high-quality, nightly, live traditional music are attracting a more varied, younger crowd from all over town.

Somehow you always get a seat in this tiny sliver of a pub—a warm, old-school boozer at its best—tucked away on a corner near St. Patrick's Cathedral. Pure Dublin class.

Also known as the Castle Lounge, Grogan's is a small place packed with creative folk. The old owner was known as a patron of local artists, and his walls are still covered with their work. There's no music or TV, so you can have a proper chat with your pint and toastie.

The who's who of city society have always been drawn to the elegance of this glorious Dublin institution at the Shelbourne hotel. There's comparatively little space for drinkers around the famous semicircular bar—but this does wonders for making friends quickly.

Old meets new in this award-winning, cozy spot adjacent to the Drury Court hotel. The dark-wood and bar-mirror interior is classic Dublin, but the craft beer selection and chilled-out, board-gaming atmosphere has a more millennial vibe. 

Established in 1823, and scarcely changed since the 1940s, the wonderful Palace Bar is still all tiles and brass. Popular with journalists and writers (the Irish Times used to be nearby), the walls are lined with cartoons drawn by newspaper illustrators.

A Victorian beaut, the Stag's Head dates from 1770 and was rebuilt in 1895. Theater people from the nearby Olympia and Trinity students gather around the unusual Connemara red-marble bar, study their reflections in the many mirrors, and drink in all the oak carvings. They host live music and comedy downstairs most nights.