There’s a definite chill in the air, and a quick search on any platform will turn up a number of lists for cosy Dublin pubs with fireplaces. We have Opinions, about this, of course, and while we do agree with some of the heavy hitters that appear on most of those listicles, we have a few that we prefer to the usual suspects as well – in some ways, it’s tempting not to share, and keep them to ourselves.
But we’ll begin with those that are rightfully mentioned in nearly every piece on the subject: Arthur’s Pub and The Gravediggers. Both are wonderful pubs on a cold day: full of atmosphere and prime spots near the fireplace, if you’re lucky enough to snag one. Also namechecked frequently is Neary’s – and that’s also quite fair.
We have a few, however, that we think are criminally-underrated when it comes to cosy fireplace vibes in winter, however – and a few are more central than you might expect. J McNeill’s does pop up here and there, but TP Smith’s also makes for a warm spot on a cold day, and it deserves more notice. The Bleeding Horse may not always have their fireplace up and running, but it’s a wonderful feeling when they do. Dudley’s, too, falls into that category. The King’s Inn has not just wonderful little snugs, but a picturesque fireplace at the back of the pub – it’s always a bit of a surprise to us it doesn’t appear on more ‘cosy pub’ lists.
Our absolute favourites, though, are almost hidden gems when it comes to a roaring fire, and are well worth seeking out. The Bald Eagle’s fireplace is small, but fully functional, while Carthy’s Bar is an ideal spot when it’s freezing outside; we hope the broader renovations to The Ivy House at its front don’t change that feeling (or impact their wonderful fireplace). But for us, nothing beats The Cat & Cage – comfy chairs and sofas are curved around the fireplace, and it always has just the right level of seasonal decoration, all the year round. We’d still love to discover a great winter ghost story about this pub, but as the days grow shorter and the dark longer, we can’t think of many pub fireplaces we’d rather be haunting ourselves…
So, do visit a few of those mentioned above – or others we’ve tagged with our ‘fireplace‘ keyword (we do love a useful bit of metadata) – and decide for yourselves…what’s your favourite Dublin pub with a fireplace?
We’ve not always been fair to 
The first point in its favour – for us, anyway – is its support for local independent beer: there are multiple 
While it’s true that when in this general direction we are more often to be found at 
While 
And it is, perhaps, fitting that Neary’s is a pub that attracts this kind of lore; its beautifully-maintained interior hearkens back to the 1880s – well, at least in the main bar downstairs – while upstairs, it’s a slightly more updated restaurant feel, but still elegantly understated. The 
On our perambulations around Dublin this week, we visit what feels like a proper dive bar…that is, assuming proper dive bars all have a few good local taps and a killer playlist. If so, then Anseo is, indeed, in that category. But its slightly-scrubby-yet-cheerful interior doesn’t entirely hide the building’s history: this is a mid-18th century house, complete with a few extant interior features, that’s been repurposed as a pub since the mid-19th century. If you 
You are most likely to be visiting Anseo to catch a gig from an up-and-coming band or artist, or, perhaps, seeing some stand-up comedy upstairs; you may also be doing a 
As regular readers know, we are always on the lookout for 
While the ‘since 1793’ date is a little shaky, given the current building’s construction 
So, ghosts aside, what is the pub like? Well…most definitely not creepy. If anything, it’s a bit too polished to feel at all like a liminal space. There are several very different sections of the pub with their own character, but none are especially dark or gloomy. The front is much more ‘pubby’ and the rear more of a restaurant or hotel bar vibe (the many large TV screens are part of what gives that impression), though it’s worth knowing that the back bar is where the sole local-craft-beer representative is; there’s a Rye River tap if you know where to look. Indeed, the food was very good – a step up from a lot of pub food, though the enormous portions are perhaps created more for tourists than locals. There’s also the usual Guinness – and Murphy’s – plus some Warsteiner.
There’s a covered outdoor space too, more 
Perhaps surprisingly to some (certainly, to us), Dublin pubs do not contain a wealth of ghostlore. There are, of course, 
We’re less inclined toward the flashy, big-name haunting at 
But we also want to shine the spectral spotlight on another pub whose apparitional associations are often overlooked: 
The 1884 is so called after 
And like many pubs in the more suburban parts of Dublin, it’s absolutely enormous inside – indeed, somewhat barn-like. But it’s all very tidy, and there’s plenty of space to spread out. There are much-appreciated coat hooks under the bar, which really should be standard everywhere, but here we are. Only a few years ago, this pub was known as Grainger’s, and it had, well, a 
And while the beer selection is mostly the usual Guinness-and-Heineken-and-so-so-much-Rockshore (despite being listed as a stockist of Hope, brewed just a bit further north), there is also the lesser-spotted Kilkenny, which has been popping up here and there of late, and it’s a nice alternative. The real hidden gem of The 1884, though, is the enormous 
While it does have a theoretically reasonably interesting drinks lineup, like its fellow Bodytonic-managed bar, 
It is, of course, entirely possible that it’s simply aiming for a younger/cooler demographic, which is fair enough…though it does beg the question as to why there’s a mural of Peter Fonda on one side of the building…it’s not something that resonates with GenXers like us…are the younger Millennials into Easy Rider? We’ve been told it’s a ‘no’ from Gen Z: ‘…it’s no Taxi Driver.’
In our effort to fill in the blanks when we see you getting lost in our search results, we’re aiming to visit some of the more common pubs on the tourist trail here and there, now that the bulk of the summer holidaymakers have gone home. Indeed, this week’s pub is one we’ve only ever previously visited in that capacity, years before moving to Dublin: The Long Hall.
Visiting again with more ‘local’ eyes does make you notice different things, but the fundamentals remain the same: the beautifully-maintained – and, in this case, likely genuinely world-famous – exterior of the pub is unmistakable, with its signature red-and-off-white stripes. Inside, it’s the kind of high Victorian décor that is more commonly a pastiche these days, but The Long Hall comes by it honestly: its last real renovation was in the 1880s. And while the deep reds and dark woods are common to many other local Dublin pubs of this vintage – a subject to which we’ll return – there are unique features here, including the 
Yes, it's cheating a bit, since we just visited a new-to-us cask ale spot last week in 
The Black Sheep