Our featured Dublin pub this week is one that has been in the ‘much requested’ queue for some time. While we had to make it a flying visit, we finally got to The Cobblestone.
In many ways, it’s difficult to think of a more iconic Dublin pub. News of its possible closure or truncation for yet another identikit hotel caused protests, including a mock funeral, and the pub was given extensive press coverage during that period of threat, including a wonderful documentary. And although The Cobblestone today is best known as ‘the’ spot for trad music, it was not always the case.
Until a little over a decade ago, both before and after Smithfield’s redevelopment from a market into a mix of housing and offices, this was an early house, open at 7 am for the market traders and, later, shift workers. And as the number of early houses has continued to dwindle – even Slattery’s doesn’t always open so early these days – The Cobblestone has evolved as well. Music slowly became an integral part of the offering, along with things like Irish language and dance classes, meetups and the like. From what had been a few sessions a week, live music is now a daily part of festivities, but it’s still a very casual-yet-regular one most of the time.
It’s less a case of booking for a gig and more one of wandering into see who’s playing, and it’s one of the few options for the tourist who only has a few hours and wants to get in a bit of daytime trad at the weekend, as there’s nearly always something on. But unlike some pubs, this is by no means just a tourist hotspot – it’s a much-loved part of the community.
And while it can be a bit rough around the edges, likely needing a few coats of paint and some repairs here and there (not to mention having slightly-infamous toilets), that’s part of the charm. Yes, it would be nice if some of the derelict buildings surrounding The Cobblestone were used for, say, housing, but it really does feel like a landmark as-is.
It’s not the pub you’d go to for food or for a long chat over a pint (though there is, of course, plenty of Guinness, plus some representation from Four Provinces) – there’s music to be heard here, albeit not in the coach-tour-with Irish-dancing-and-a-meal sense – but for trad and a true mix of locals and mostly-respectful tourists, it’s a go-to.
Where: 77 King St N, Smithfield, Dublin, D07 TP22
Access from the city centre: Buses 37, 39, 39A, 70, 83, 83A, Red Line Luas, Green Line Luas, 30ish minute walk
Food: None
Sport: No
TVs: Not here
Music: This is your spot for trad (though see also Piper’s Corner)
Family-friendliness: Kids are welcome earlier in the evenings to listen to music, if that’s their jam; it will nearly always be crowded
Pub-crawl-ability: High – Bonobo is a short walk, with, The Belfry, The Glimmer Man, The Barber’s Bar, Walsh’s, Hynes’ Bar and L Mulligan, Grocer all in Stoneybatter – with another 10 minutes in the other direction to Underdog or down Capel Street
Local sites of note: Lighthouse Cinema, Collins Barracks, Four Courts, St Michan’s Church
Haunted: Does ‘haunting’ music count?
Other notes: The ‘could be tidier’ can sometimes apply to taplines, too – you may want to check a friend’s pint first
Socials: Instagram, Facebook
Irish pubs are, broadly speaking, welcoming to all ages during the day and early evening – or, at least, they are more often than not, compared to pubs and pub-adjacent spaces in the UK or US (the never-ending ‘kids in taprooms’ debate there notwithstanding). Dublin has a wealth of pubs that are especially good at catering to families, whether it’s for a meal or just a relaxing pint for the adults and a Coke or Club Orange for the kids.
In the city centre, it might be useful to navigate by proximity to a few tourist attractions. If Temple Bar is on your list, but this is a family trip and not a stag or hen do,
Going north of the river, 
If you’ve brought the family 
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.
It’s time for another one of our rare trips into Dublin city centre proper with a visit to McDaid’s, a pub with a fine literary heritage. Granted, there are many, many pubs here with similar claims to fame, but most do come by it quite honestly. There’s the requisite 
It would be interesting to do a deeper dive into the history of the building and previous pubs trading on this site…the ‘est 1779’ above the door has little to do with the current incarnation of the pub, which is a mid-20th century affair, and the building that houses it is 
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.