This week, we make a trip not only south of the Liffey, but nearly into the heart of Dublin 4, with a visit to The Merry Cobbler.
While we are now happily Northside people, when we first moved to Dublin, we were initially deposited nearby – this area is, at least as stereotypes go, a land of rugby and Range Rovers, D4 accents and posh schools (though it is much more diverse than that generalisation would have one believe). The nearby Aviva Stadium can, at times, feel a world away from our now-neighbour, Croke Park, despite the venues being only a few kilometres apart. Irish pubs, though, can feel like great equalisers, and The Merry Cobbler is no exception.
It’s very much a neighbourhood spot, welcoming local families, game day regulars and guests – you can even stay in the pub. And while its renovation of the past decade means it’s got a bit more polished wood and stained glass than many of its counterparts on the other side of the river, it never feels snobby. There are some lovely snugs – again, more stained glass – and various different spaces to spread out around this large pub. Local independent beers are well-represented (from Trouble and Wicklow Wolf on this most recent visit, though we’ve also seen Hope in the past), but this is another spot where the stout enthusiast can do the full Guinness–Beamish–Murphy’s taste test.
There’s a lovely fireplace that’s worth a visit in the colder months, and a few outdoor seats next to the yarn-bombed bollards for fine weather – we will admit there’s much less traffic than we tend to get near some of our closer pubs that have Pavement Pints options.
We will eventually do a ‘Best Pubs for the Aviva’ roundup to complement our ‘Best Pubs for Croke Park‘ summary, but in the meantime, this is one to add to that list.
Where: 78-82 Irishtown Rd, Dublin 4
Access from the city centre: Buses C1, C2; Dart to Lansdowne Road; 40-ish minute walk
Food: Pub grub, pizza, weekend brunch and tasty desserts
Sport: Rugby (you are on the southside, after all), football…all the big sports
TVs: Many screens all around
Music: MOR pop hits of the 80s and 90s on our visit
Family-friendliness: Very family-friendly indeed
Pub-crawl-ability: Low-medium – The Vintage Inn and Irishtown House are very close, with The Oarsman and The Yacht Tavern up the road in Ringsend; The Old Spot and The Bath Pub are not too terribly far. While BrewDog is close as the crow files, actually getting there can be a challenge from here
Local sites of note: Aviva Stadium, Ringsend Park, Irishtown Stadium, Seán Moore Park (for Poolbeg Parkrun – you can get your New Year’s Day run in here), Poolbeg Chimneys, Sandymount Strand
Haunted: The church just steps away always looks a bit spooky
Other notes: Dogs welcome; main floor toilets but a few areas of differing floor heights around the pub
Socials: Instagram
BrewDog is, once again, back 
Inside, the look is straight out of 
Nowadays, we are rarely in this part of town, and if we were looking for pre-show drinks, we’d be more likely to hit up 
We have no insights into ‘what will happen’ with BrewDog’s uncertain future (though it’s difficult to imagine a space of this size continuing without global private equity money). In our ideal world, this would continue as an independent tap room and community space with the same staff, but we also know that’s highly unlikely. It’s also possible a buyer will swoop in and continue running BrewDog’s portfolio as-is (for good and ill), but as of this writing, it’s all guesswork.
Staying on 
Inside, it can be absolutely packed at this time of year, both with decorations (similar to 
But The Hole in the Wall is a pub for life, not just for Christmas – there are also running and cycling clubs based here, and it’s a handy spot if you happen to be on this side of the Phoenix Park (though you’d have 
Dublin – indeed, Ireland – is not over-endowed with glorious (or even ‘fine’) train stations. Having recently 
The staff were also friendly and welcoming – how many pubs would put on the ‘Airwolf’ theme when asked to do so (not, it must be said, by us, but we did enjoy it)? And while it’s true that this part of Dublin still has a bit of a ‘reputation,’ something we’ve discussed in our entry on 
There’s a definite chill in the air, and a quick search on any platform will turn up a number of lists for cosy 
Our absolute favourites, though, are almost hidden gems when it comes to a roaring fire, and are well worth seeking out. 
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 
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 
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 
Cask ale, as we have often complained, is something of a rarity in Ireland. While there are a few more pubs with a regular cask offering up in Belfast, here in Dublin, it is simply not a regular feature in most pubs. Happily, though, a tipoff from a reader (cheers, Ciaran!) alerted us to a beer engine in regular use at Harty’s Bar. Naturally, we dropped everything to go investigate.
One reason this pub had not been on our radar is that, appearances notwithstanding, it’s a fairly new establishment (but also not; bear with us) – until about 18 months ago, it was the Dingle Whiskey Bar. But like its neighbour, 
While it doesn’t have the selection of beers next door in Tapped, with its enormous bar, for a small space, it has a good lineup of some of the more standard Porterhouse beers – the Plain Porter, Yippy IPA and Red – as well as Trouble’s Ambush. There’s also Guinness, of course, and Beamish. But as you know, we were here for the cask option: this week, it was 
We know that we tend to be biased toward pubs on the north side of the Liffey, but this week, we travel (relatively) far into south Dublin – all the way to Blackrock and . Once a quiet fishing village with a sideline in 
And while the 
There are some lovely little snugs and the pub also has a bit of a nautical bent – the seafront is right here, after all – but it’s very welcoming to all; the standard Guinness (and Beamish!) is on offer, and there is good support for independent offerings like Hope and Wicklow Wolf, as well as