Dublin City Guide - Nightlife

The nightlife scene in Dublin has changed beyond all recognition in the last few years. Alongside the traditional Irish pubs sit stylish bars and buzzing pre-club haunts. The trendy Temple Bar area is the district most associated with the city's best nightlife hotspots and vibe. Pubs are generally open Monday to Saturday 1100 to 2330 and Sunday 1200/1600 to 2300, although some serve until 0200. In some parts of the city, the 2330 weekday and 2400 weekend closing times are enforced by patrolling Gardai (police). Bars close between 2330 and 0100, while clubs stay open until the early hours. The minimum drinking age is 18 years. Smoking is banned in all bars, pubs and restaurants. There is no dress code as such for pubs in Dublin - it depends on the particular establishment in question. Some venues encourage neat dress while casual dress is commonplace in others.

The Event Guide (website: www.eventguide.ie), the free events guide available in cafes and bars throughout the city, and In Dublin (website: www.indublin.ie), the free weekly magazine, are both useful guides featuring bar, restaurant and club reviews.

Bars: Dublin's watering holes fall into two camps - the traditional drinking haunts and the designer bars for bright young things. Hip bars include Pravda, 2-3 Liffey Street Lower, Zanzibar, 34-35 Ormond Quay Lower, Samsara, Dawson Street, and the minimalist 4 Dame Lane, 4 Dame Lane. For a more traditional pub crawl, head to Temple Bar, where the Palace Bar, 21 Fleet Street, The Temple Bar, 48 South Temple Lane, and Oliver St John Gogarty, 58-59 Fleet Street, are all to be found. On Merrion Row and Baggot Street, there are pubs like Toner's, 139 Baggot Street Lower, O'Donoghue's, 15 Merrion Row, and Doheny & Nesbitt, 5 Baggot Street Lower, where literary ghosts have taken up permanent residence. The Dawson Lounge, 25 Dawson Street, is the smallest pub in Dublin, with room for about six people in the basement. The George, 89 South Great George's Street, is one of Dublin's most popular gay bars.

Clubs: Once a clubbing wasteland, Dublin's reputation for top-rack nightclubs is growing year on year. PoD (Place of Dance), Harcourt Street (website: www.pod.ie), retains its popularity and has won awards for its outlandish décor, while the Spirit nightclub, 57 Abbey Street Middle (website: www.spiritdublin.com), provides competition north of the Liffey. The exclusive Lillie's Bordello, Adam Court, Grafton Street (website: www.lilliesbordello.ie), is where all visiting pop stars, actors and celebrities hang out for after-show parties. Ri Ra, Dame Court (website: www.rira.ie), combines a chilled bar with a hip club. Dtwo (formerly known as Velvet), 60 Harcourt Street (website: www.dtwonightclub.com), is another lively option. In addition to Dublin's clubs, most live music venues (see below) host club nights after gigs.

Comedy: Dubliners are celebrated for their easy humour. Top comedy venues for local and international stand-up talent include pubs such as the International Bar, 23 Wicklow Street, from Tuesday to Sunday nights, and the Ha'penny Bridge Inn, 42 Wellington Quay (website: www.battleoftheaxe.com), on Tuesday nights, which has hosted such noted acts as the late Dermot Morgan of Father Ted fame.

Live Music: Eclectic is the key word for Dublin's music scene, with most venues playing something of everything, from jazz, blues and soul to rock and pop, English folk and Irish traditional (known as 'trad'). Trad is played in countless pubs, often in free impromptu 'sessions'.

The Temple Bar Music Centre, Curved Street, Temple Bar (website: www.tbmc.ie), is a great venue for spotting new talent. Vicar Street, 58-59 Thomas Street (website: www.vicarstreet.com), also hosts a variety of trendy local rock acts and has a small, intimate feel to it. The largest concerts (rock and pop) take place at The Point, East Link Bridge, where Oasis, Take That, U2, Westlife, Manic Street Preachers and Fatboy Slim are some of the big names that have performed there over the last few years. It is currently undergoing an €80million renovation until late 2008. The RDS (Royal Dublin Society) Concert Hall, Merrion Road, Ballsbridge (website: www.rds.ie), also caters for both large pop/rock events.

Olympia Theatre, 72 Dame Street, is one of the best venues for broad-ranging styles in a large and lovely three-floor venue. On a smaller scale, the 18th-century pub Whelan's, 25 Wexford Street (website: www.whelanslive.com), is a hugely popular and innovative live venue, providing a platform for up-and-coming bands. Jazz can be heard regularly at the Viperoom, 5 Aston Quay, while long-established Slattery's, 129 Capel Street, offers a wide assortment of music from rock and jazz to traditional Irish. Other popular traditional venues include pubs O'Shea's Merchant, 12 Bridge Street Lower, and O'Donoghue's, 15 Merrion Row (website: www.odonoghues.ie).