Weirdo Guide to Dublin Pubs

Editorial note: This post was originally published on 2 October, 2025, but we have updated with some new spooky notes for 2026.

Perhaps surprisingly to some (certainly, to us), Dublin pubs do not contain a wealth of ghostlore. There are, of course, a few good stories, but there isn’t the critical mass of spectral servants, long-dead landlords and pesky poltergeists who turn up in the dozens (and dozens) of books about haunted pubs on the Neighbouring Island. Indeed, we have books covering small parts of individual counties that span to over 100 pages, but for whatever reason*, Irish pubs simply don’t seem to have the same ghostly population – at least, in the ‘true ghost story’ tradition. We do have centuries of weird fiction, covering ghosts, vampires and other visitors from beyond the veil, and it’s certainly not just Bram Stoker, whose namesake festival is back with a bite for 2026 – Sheridan LeFanu got the vampire train rolling with Carmilla, back in 1872. We highly recommend local stalwarts Swan River Press for some wonderfully creepy tales, many by too-long-overlooked by Irish women writers like Rosa Mulholland (buried in Glasnevin) and Dorothy Macardle, to name only two. We’d recommend taking some books to one of the spooky pubs here mentioned, or, if you’re of a nervous disposition, one of these instead.

However, ’tis the season, and we always have an eye or ear out for a good creepy pub story. One of our favourite tales is tied to the Bull & Castle, although the current building replaced the one in which James Clarence Magnan was born; nonetheless, he’s meant to haunt the place, drifting around and leaving a melancholy atmosphere (as you do). And the pub does have a very atmospheric feel, so it’s well worth a visit for a spooky pint.

We’re less inclined toward the flashy, big-name haunting at The Brazen Head, though at least there’s historical reason to associate Robert Emmet with the pub (unlike its entirely spurious ‘founding date’), so we’ll give it a pass, with reservations. Just around the corner (and we swear we’ll get to spooky pubs outside The Liberties, but it does have some of the more well-preserved ‘older’ buildings in Dublin, so sorry/not sorry), The Lord Edward is meant to still accommodate its namesake ghost, and the décor would back that up.

Sticking with one of the more well-known spots for spooky vibes, we can’t miss The Gravediggers; of course, the location next to Glasnevin Cemetery helps (see? We left The Liberties!), but it’s also got a proper ghost story of the ‘messing with the electrics‘ sort, which is always interesting from a folklore/ghostlore classification perspective (well, we get excited about that sort of thing). Similarly, Mulligan’s and Brogan’s both have more ‘modern haunting’ elements – we ignore mention of the dreaded orb, but we do enjoy non-specific bumps, knocks, moving pints and the like – and L. Mulligan, Grocer, also has some gentle ‘haunted’ vibes in that direction.

There is another ‘classic’ haunting of the folkloric stripe at The Portobello Bar, where a 19th century lock-keeper still keeps watch…or, perhaps, lures victims into the canal near Rathmines Bridge – if time permits, we’ll investigate this one properly this month and provide an update (that update: the food is good, but the feel isn’t super-spooky). The Bleeding Horse also has some literary ghost cred (yes, Swan River Press again), so it nearly counts in this list.

But we also want to shine the spectral spotlight on another pub whose apparitional associations are often overlooked: Doyle’s Corner. Whilst nowadays, with Gavin James onboard, its musical reputation is growing again, but in Brendan Behan’s day, it was known as the pub in which executioner Albert Pierrepoint would relax pre- or post-work at nearby Mountjoy Prison – and if you haven’t listened to the relevant Three Castles Burning episode, now is your chance. It even had reports of poltergeist activity in the 2000s.

And while we still have no creepy tales about The Cat & Cage, well…we hope there are some out there, it would be a brilliant spot for a ghost story on a chilly night. It’s also right next to an atmospheric churchyard, and makes for an ideal spot to pause on an autumnal stroll.

Perhaps we need a pubby ghost story contest…

*Would happily retire and do a folklore PhD on this topic. Just saying!

It’s September, and that means the Dublin Festival of History is nearly upon us; as ever, many wonderful events have sold out almost instantaneously, but there are more to explore. You can also create your own historic pub crawl – and maybe learn a little bit along the way.

For our purposes here, we aren’t looking for Dublin’s ‘oldest’ pub (we bang on enough about the bogus entries in the ‘oldest pub’ category across the country *cough* Sean’s Bar *cough*) or most literary pub, but rather, those with a reasonably legitimate historical claim to fame. Not of the ‘was once mentioned in Ulysses‘ or ‘Brendan Behan drank here’ sort, as we’d be here all week, but those with documented (or at least well-attested) historical connections. Given that the Wide Streets Commission knocked down much of medieval Dublin, we have no truly ‘old’ pubs (or even ‘old’ pubs that were once built as something else) to explore, so we’ll start off with pubs that have associations with the 1798 rebellion.

The Brazen Head and The Lord Edward both have arrays of 1898 memorabilia (although The Lord Edward is ‘only’ a late 19th century building, and feels much more like a 1960s pub than anything else), commemorating the centenary of the 1798 rebellion, though The Brazen Head goes a few steps further and claims – with at least some good evidence – that events were, to some extent, planned or discussed here – ditto Robert Emmet’s 1803 uprising. Indeed, we would love to see them lean more into this more interesting (and fact-based) history vs their entirely imaginary 1198 ‘founding.’ With so much real history – as well as a bit of related folklore – why not focus on that? (Yes, we know the ‘why’ is that many tourists are very willing to believe anything they’ve been told and it makes them feel good to see the ‘oldest fill-in-the-blank’ – it’s just a shame they are missing out on a much more interesting, if more complex, story). The Cat & Cage also claims a bit of 1798 action, as it was a postal stop during its time as a coaching inn; rebels seized a postal cart outside as a sign that the rebellion was on. We would still love to see a full historical survey of The Cat & Cage, as we suspect there may well be more going on there, archaeologically and archivally-speaking…and, frankly, we find it a much nicer pub than its city centre counterparts.

Moving on to pubs associated with the Fenian movement in the 1860s and 1880s, there are a few more takers – not particularly surprising, as so many Dublin pubs are late 19th century buildings at the earliest. The Bleeding Horse and The Long Hall (Cromien’s at the time) both trade on their associations to the movement without being entirely defined by them. Brogan’s (trading as Wrenn’s back then) is where the 1882 Phoenix Park assassinations were planned by the Invincibles; the event was organised just across the street from Dublin Castle, mere steps from the colonial establishment – whilst talk of a tunnel is likely no more than just that, the basement does flood from the old castle moat, as OG Underdog (RIP) regulars know all too well. The Hut also served as something of a Fenian meeting spot too, later in the 19th century, so it is said, though there’s little to tell the tale now amid the well-kept Victorian pub splendour.

A number of still-extant local pubs played roles in the Easter Rising and the War of Independence; The Portobello Bar (known as Davy’s) became part of the action, while The Oval was destroyed completely in 1916, and required years to rebuild. Cleary’s, meanwhile, was another meetup spot for Michael Collins and Harry Boland, among others, though Collins was also partial to The Palace Bar, and The Confession Box (previously The Maid of Erin) was another key locale for Volunteers. We highly recommend a viewing of this video featuring all-around legend Donal Fallon for more, and we always recommend his absolutely wonderful The Dublin Pub: A Social and Cultural History for further reading. We assume you’re all already listening to Three Castles Burning.

Finally, we’ll finish with something of an oddity, historically-speaking. As regulars know, most stories of secret tunnels or ‘ship’s timbers’ used to build pubs are Lies, and you should all pick up Historic Building Mythbusting by James Wright for more (or listen to us chat historic pub nonsense with James on the Beer Ladies Podcast). However, The Oak’s wooden panelling is said to have come from the RMS Mauretania, when its fittings were sold off in 1934. Is it entirely true?

Well, it makes a good story…and we’re willing to give this one a bit of credence. It looks the part, and the management doesn’t go out of its way to tell you about it.

And as mentioned at the start, there are plenty of local pubs with literary and journalistic associations, those with sporting links, musical legends and so on…just be wary of any advertising ‘early’ foundation dates or other overly-specific superlatives. A thoughtfully critical eye can be a fine companion to a nice pint, and a lovely way to begin a historic adventure.