Back in the day – you know, perhaps 3 years ago – this week’s pub was The Porterhouse Central. It was a very handy spot in that you could enjoy a mix of interesting beers from Porterhouse and various guest options, but you avoided Temple Bar. Granted, you are still right in the middle of Dublin, and things could be busy. Depending on the time of year it could be full of tourists making their way from Trinity College across the street, but on the whole, it was a useful meeting point that offered more than the usual city centre beer options. Indeed, it was an ideal spot for that all-important post-race pint after the VHI Women’s Mini-Marathon (only a 10K, but we’ll let that slide). It was on that occasion that, complete with medal, I made what I didn’t realise would be my final visit to this pub under that name. Only a few weeks later, it vanished into renovation, re-emerging in its current form: Tapped.
While still a part of the larger Porterhouse group, it’s been styled very much more as a ‘bar’ vs a ‘pub,’ and it’s taken a while to settle. My first few visits were, it must be said, not great. The initial redesign felt rather like they’d ordered a ‘taproom’ kit from the early 2000s – lots of plastic, colours just a bit too bright and faux-industrial, and the service was, frankly, poor. Even on the relatively quiet times I’d stopped in, it seemed nearly impossible to get served…yet that was rather less difficult for the younger men around me, or so it seemed. Comparing notes offline at the time, it seemed quite a few other women had a similar experience, and so I essentially gave up trying for a few years.
However, I happened to be in the area and had a bit of time after a meeting, so I gave Tapped another try. I’m pleased to say that the interior, while still feeling just slightly too ‘taproom’ has been softened and improved. There is now much more comfortable seating and the lighting is more dialled-in; it feels warmer on the whole. There are screens showing the beer lineup, direct from Untappd (no relation), and there are quite a few cocktail options as well, plus many food choices – it’s vastly improved on this front. And it is certainly one of the most varied beer selections you’ll get in this part of Dublin: there are the expected options from Porterhouse and local stalwarts such as Rascals, Whiplash, Hope and Trouble. But if you’re looking for a spot to watch the rugby with less-adventurous friends, there are also ‘normal’ beers like Heineken, Guinness and Beamish, plus some useful non-alcoholic options.
It’s not the sort of welcome you get at, say, Underdog, but service was much improved, though it’s hard to gauge how it goes at a busier time. The crowd still tended toward ‘younger,’ but that’s no bad thing…it simply didn’t feel as mixed as many other spots, and it’s natural you would get at least a bit of a ‘student’ element so close to Trinity (if not student-friendly prices).
Dare we say that Tapped is Dublin’s ‘most improved’ pub over the past year or so, at least, taking complete re-brandings out of the picture? It’s an entirely subjective take, but I feel much more warmly toward the spot…I may even stop in again after this year’s VHI Mini-Marathon.
But first, there’s the actual Dublin City Half Marathon to get through…that’s almost certainly going to be one for Juno after!
Where: 47 Nassau Street, Dublin, IE D02 P285
Access from the city centre: You are there
Food: Gastropub offerings, pizza & nibbles – even a fancy spicebag
Sport: Big events on – Six Nations, Premier League and the like
TVs: Screens throughout may show either sport or the latest Untappd check-ins
Music: Indie vibes
Family-friendliness: Feels less welcoming than in its previous incarnation, but the food menu has many options during the day
Pub-crawl-ability: High – Harty’s Bar is next door, and Bowes, O’Neill’s, Cassidy’s, Mulligans, The Palace Bar, JR Mahon’s, The Oval Bar, Porterhouse Temple Bar, Kennedy’s and many, many more are all within a very short stroll
Local sites of note: Trinity College, National Library of Ireland, National Museum of Ireland (Archaeology and The Dead Zoo), Leinster House, Irish Whiskey Museum, NATIONAL WAX MUSEUM
Haunted: Still missing the old Porterhouse Central wall panelling, which surely felt haunted
Other notes: Open from 11 am – 3 am if either day drinking or late nights are your thing
Socials: Instagram, Facebook
This week’s pub is one that we’ve both been asked to profile repeatedly, and, in nearly equal measure, begged not to reveal it as a secret hidden gem. Is it possible to satisfy both of these audiences? Let’s find out – and so, we venture back to Marlborough Street, home to 
Also unlike many other Old Man Pubs, there was an independent beer option: Kinnegar’s Scraggy Bay. In some pubs that don’t have that kind of turnover for non-Guinness options, they aren’t always as fresh, but there were no such issues here. Guinness was, of course, plentiful, but there were many pints of lager being consumed, too – it is slightly unusual to see Tuborg on one of the taps in a Dublin pub, but I have a soft spot for many Carlsberg products, so it was quite welcome. The décor is, again, by no means fancy, but it’s very well-kept: red and cream paint, lighter wood tones and simple brass lamps on the bar. The crowd was clearly mostly regulars, and although most were deeply invested in the multiple channels of horse racing, there were other long-running conversations, too.
And while it may be true that this is not the cleanest nor most well-kept part of Dublin, that is presumably part of what keeps the tourists away, Georgian architecture notwithstanding. And although some parts of Reddit may be thoroughly convinced that we’re all just waiting to get murdered north of the Liffey, there are signs of positive development; newer pubs like The Morris Bar, just a short walk away, suggest that things are slowly improving. But for a pub like Briody’s that’s been here for over a century in various guises, it seems to be content to keep its current mix of regulars and semi-regulars who drop in whenever they are in town.
Sometimes, just sometimes, a fantastic new(ish) pub pops up where you least expect it. Dublin’s Talbot Street has had a lot of publicity 
At that time, the shopfront that is now the pub was The Morris Wallpaper Stores, and the signage from that era has been preserved above the door. The theme continues inside, with framed William Morris wallpaper samples on the exposed brick, giving a mix of industrial chic and cosy early-20th century-pub vibes. There’s a pizza spot toward the back (check for opening hours, as these things evolve) with more communal-styles tables, but the seating in the main bar is much ‘pubbier,’ and very comfortable indeed.
There’s a good mix of the usual Guinness-and-friends offerings, but also a handy Rye River tap, as well as Beamish for the Corkonians in your life. The cocktail list is interesting as well. On our visit, the staff were all wonderful, and the attention to detail that went into the design of the pub is evident. It hits just the right mark of honouring the building’s past without feeling like a theme pub.
We kick off our 2025 pub-visiting endeavours with a stop off at 
Its more 
Some of that may also come from its beer selection; there’s the usual Guinness-and-macros lineup (plus Murphy’s), as well as two new taplines from 
We’re still just warming up for all things Autumnal, so while we wait for Spooky Season to properly kick off, we’re visiting a very ‘normal’ pub this week – we’re back in 
As it happens, there are a lot of positives: the interior is a tidy version of ‘traditional Irish pub,’ with dark colours – lots of deep greens and reds – and a variety of snug-like seating options. Independent beer is represented by Kinnegar’s Scraggy Bay, and there were a variety of non-alcoholic and cocktail options on offer as well. There is Guinness, of course, and a frankly great €10 pint-and-toastie deal – ‘Not The Brazen Head‘ notes the chalkboard proclaiming the deal.
Now, my personal favourite Jonathan Swift-themed pub is, oddly enough, 
This week, we are journeying to one of those ‘needs no introduction’ pubs that’s simply part of the fabric here in Dublin, and sometimes, you just need a pint and a toastie. And so, 
And, speaking of podcasts, there’s an entire episode of 
Despite its Viking-era foundations, Dublin rarely feels like an ‘old’ city by European standards – something we can, in large part, blame on the 
Built as a house in 1734, Toner’s has been continuously operated as a pub since 1818, and to quote the 
And Toner’s does have an interesting history; it’s alleged to be the only pub Yeats ever went to, and his brief? occasional? presence in the front snug seems to be one of the connections that gets Toner’s onto the list of Dublin’s 
As tourist season seems more or less nearly in full swing, we’re sticking with Dublin city centre this week and O’Neill’s Pub and Kitchen – a tourist-friendly but also authentic pub that caters to a range of tastes and preferences – and one that’s large enough to offer a different experience depending on where you are in the pub (and just how crowded it is on the day or evening).
I recently had the unpleasant experience of stopping in a pub I’d never tried, and which shall remain nameless here, that was so aggressively 
Happily, O’Neill’s is nothing like this, and visiting it not long after The Pub to Remain Nameless made its positive features stand out all the more. Yes, there are trad sessions – good ones are always welcome – but the usual background music is quiet enough to chat, not painfully loud. Yes, there are various old photos and signs, even some barrels as you head upstairs, but they seem like a more natural accumulation over 
And speaking of ‘upstairs,’ there’s a nice ‘Whiskey Corner,’ all red leather and dark wood, though of course you’re welcome to drink anything you’d like (and the whiskey selection is indeed a very good one). It can be quieter up here (not necessarily on big game days, of course), especially during the afternoon, and it can make a pleasant spot on your literary pub crawl, given its 
But as of this writing, Bowes seems to be doing just fine as-is: in addition to the usual well-kept Guinness, there’s always an excellent whiskey selection, rivalling that of 
For me, Bowes
Some Dublin pubs are spoken about in slightly hushed tones, with an air of wonder; when you admit you haven’t been to one of those ‘classics,’ there are frequently two standard responses: ‘ah, you must, it’s wonderful,’ or ‘well, I know it’s a certain type of a place,’ which may sound non-committal, but it conveys much more. And so while I’ve been told again and again that I ‘must go’ to The Lord Edward, also hearing the second line nearly as frequently had made me somewhat apprehensive. On the face of it, this is silly; what could be intimidating about a pub that is clearly beloved by so many? And I hasten to add this isn’t the sort of place that has a clear demographic type that would be genuinely something to avoid; I used to live near a fairly notorious football hooligan pub in London in the 1990s, and while it was my closest watering hole, the fact that I would walk nearly a mile to the Wetherspoons up the road instead should say everything about that.
But as I sat with my pint of Beamish (yes, I am aware that the Guinness was brewed just a short walk away, I’m just a sucker for Beamish and am glad it seems to be reappearing around town), listening to snatches of conversation here and there, I struggled to put my finger on just what it was about The Lord Edward that made it feel less ‘for me’ than the aforementioned