As regular readers know, we are always on the lookout for a pub with a good ghost story, whether it’s October or, really, any time. The pub in question we’re visiting this week doesn’t feel particularly spooky, but it does have an interesting history to go along with the ghost story, even if they aren’t perfectly well-connected. Without further ado, we make our way to The Portobello Bar.
While the ‘since 1793’ date is a little shaky, given the current building’s construction in the 1870s, it seems entirely plausible that there was, indeed, an inn or pub around here earlier. The Grand Canal’s proximity – just across a heavily-used road – supports the possibility of an earlier date, and it’s also what supplies our ghost story. Construction began on the Grand Canal in the late 18th century, and it was a key piece of infrastructure in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Our ghost – a ‘vengeful’ or ‘drunken’ lock-keeper (take your pick/why not both?) – is alleged to originate in the middle of the 19th century, forever haunting the lock just outside the pub. He’s even meant to be responsible for multiple deaths, appearing as a shapeshifting light-into-human-figure. As an aside, we don’t get enough shapeshifting ghostlore any more – there used to be a proud tradition of spooks turning into hay bales or cows and horses, and that seems to have vanished in modern ‘it happened to me stories’ – someone should get on that. But we digress…
But there was a very real tragedy just opposite the pub’s location in 1861, when a horse-drawn omnibus went off the nearby bridge into the canal, killing all the passengers as well as both horses. While ‘some’ attributed the accident to the spectral lock-keeper, it would be an interesting exercise to trace back the origin of that part of the story, especially since the current pub (or, at least, most of it) would have been built or re-built at least a good few years after the accident.
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 Pavement Pints than beer garden, given the amount of traffic nearby, but you do get a view of the canal lock and the (haunted?) bridge. And even if you’re not into the ghostly folklore, The Portobello Bar does have other legitimate historical claims: back when it was called Davy’s, it was an important site during the Easter Rising in 1916, and that history is very much remembered in this pub.
We may not have seen the vengeful lock-keeper at The Portobello Bar, but we did have a good burger and pint. We’ll keep trying to find some good haunted Dublin pub stories…
Where: 33 South Richmond St, Dublin, IE D02 CF40
Access from the city centre: Buses 9, 15, 15A, 15B, 16, 83, 83A, 140; 25-ish minute walk
Food: Elevated pub grub, carvery, weekend brunch
Sport: All the sport, football especially
TVs: So many large screens in the back that it can feel a bit sports-bar-y
Music: DJs and live music at weekends
Family-friendliness: At the usual times
Pub-crawl-ability: High – Camden street is full of pubs and bars like The Bleeding Horse, Devitt’s, Teach Tábhairne Ag Teach, The Camden, Whelan’s, Anseo, Ryan’s of Camden Street…and the local ‘Spoon’s, Keavan’s Port
Local sites of note: Iveagh Gardens, St Stephen’s Green, National Concert Hall, St Kevin’s Park, Grand Canal
Haunted: Is it the lock-keeper? The tram passengers? The horses? Everything to play for here
Other notes: Main-floor toilets, though no specific disabled toilet
Socials: Facebook, Instagram
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 
Have we found Dublin’s darkest pub?
All told, though, the vibe at Frank Ryan’s is extremely laid-back, and it can be a respite from the sun on a hot day; it’s not the sort of pub that’s going to be to everyone’s taste, but with so many in the broader 
Dublin excels at 
There’s a warm welcome, and not one, but two local independent beers offerings: Hope and O’Hara’s are always well-kept here. The bar serves two separate sections, each with their own respective snugs and other seating, and there are lots of little corners to duck into if you’re looking for that quiet solo pint. And it’s interesting to note that while everything you see now is very much hearkening back to the late 19th century, this is, in fact, an older pub – the original building(s) is/are Georgian, and its first license 
Our one knock on many Old Man Pubs is that they rarely offer any beers beyond the usual Guinness and Heineken (though to be fair, it’s usually an excellent Guinness from scrupulously clean tap lines), but as mentioned above, at Gaffney’s, there is good support for other choices, plus Beamish as another stout option. This beer selection, combined with the attractive interior, might just make it the perfect Dublin Old Man Pub.
The recent run of warm weather has led to prioritising pubs with lovely 
A recent BlueSky chat was a reminder that unlike the Neighbouring Island, we have few pubs that are a middle ground between Old Man Pubs, with a standard macro lineup (always Guinness, of course, plus Heineken or perhaps Carlsberg) and ‘hipster’ pubs with interesting craft beers…there’s no direct equivalent of a free house with a mix of standard macros, family brewery offerings on cask (sob) and local indies here in Ireland (with a very few exceptions – 
It’s also worth mentioning just how spacious Kodiak is – the main floor has two full bars, each with its own distinct feel (one darker, one brighter) and tap lineup, so for you beer nerds, check out both, and then there’s the large beer garden at the back. Then there’s even more upstairs (shuffleboard!) – hangout spaces that would be ideal for parties, and the well-designed toilets can be reached via lift or stairs. Indeed, simply by moving around different parts of the pub, you can switch up your experience of the place: start off with a chill solo pint in subdued lighting, then grab some sun 
Stoneybatter
And the attractions are many: great support for local independent beers from the likes of Hope, Kinnegar, Trouble and The White Hag, as well as a notable cocktail list. For the more ‘traditional’ drinker, it’s possible to get Guinness, Beamish and Murphy’s, so if you’re one of those who enjoys doing the blind taste test of all three, The Belfry has you sorted. There’s also a wonderful little beer garden, and plenty of events that are very much rooted in the local community. It was an absolute oasis for this year’s instalment of the always-busy-but-great-vibes 
Our only other ‘complaint’ is that The Belfry tends to open later than some other pubs, so it’s not always handy for a quick weekend lunchtime pint. All the more incentive, really, to get there as they open to secure a comfy leather chair and a refreshing beverage…
The staircase formerly connected floors in Trinity College, and the beer garden out back can even be heated when necessary (though as with so many of the more interior-feeling beer gardens in Dublin, it can tend toward feeling very smoky). All told, it feels very ‘pubby,’ but what strikes me is the very noticeable vibe shift when the tour groups leave. It took a few visits to realise that it wasn’t just the freeing up of part of the pub that made the real difference; rather, it was the music. When the groups are in, the music is not just trad (there is, after all, plenty of good trad out there), but full-on diddly-eye trad – the sort of music that might have been featured on an American PBS station 40+ years ago. But once they go, there’s a break – either no music, or a change to something a bit more current. Perhaps it’s coincidence, but it’s something we’ve noticed on multiple visits – and it’s no bad thing!
Now, this is not to say that some of the more touristy pubs are doing their customers a disservice in any way; to the contrary, they are doing a great job of catering to multiple demographics, and more power to them. And Nancy Hands also does a great job of supporting local writers – 
Inside, the look is all Old Man Pub, but with a more diverse clientele of all ages, genders and dog breeds. There’s also good support for local independent beer from Rye River, but they also get accolades a-plenty for the Guinness here. On our visit, the hurling was on (ironically, I was trying to get as far from 
It’s that time of year when we begin to get the ‘where should I go before Croke Park?’ question. The answers will depend on whether you’re pre- or post-gaming an actual game (and, of course, which sort of actual game – the occasional rugby crowd isn’t necessarily the same as the more usual GAA crowd) or a concert. Fortunately, as a household within the ‘so close to Croke Park we get free tickets to things* from time to time’ radius, we’ve got some educated opinions on which pubs to hit up before, say, Oasis. (I was going to say ‘before Oasis hit each other,’ but it was too lazy, so it’s parenthetical instead).
There are a few ways to approach the Croke Park Pubs question: proximity, food/drink options and, well, vibes. If wanting to be in the closest possible pub is your key consideration – and on a day when it’s 70,000 plus in attendance, it’s not unreasonable – your best bets are 
If combining food and drink is of paramount importance, casting a wider net can help, but you can still start quite close by. 
Although the branding is different, Urban Brewing is an outpost of 
But what I particularly enjoy about Urban Brewing is that each part of the venue feels very different – the outside space is the go-to when the weather is good, but the modern bar in the old building has a lovely look and feel, while the vaults below are great for events – cosy and always beautifully decorated. And as a newer business in an older building, they’ve had the space to get their accessibility figured out in the retrofitting; there are lifts as well as stairs.