Discover Dublin’s Best Bars for St Patrick’s Day with the Gastro Gays

If you're heading to Dublin this St Patrick’s Day but you're not sure where to enjoy the festivities, look no further. We’ve collated a list of Dublin’s best bars for St Patrick's Day, in collaboration with the Gastro Gays. Get ready for a day you won’t forget.

1. A... pub for a pint.

Ask any Dubliner and the pub ‘The Temple Bar’ is not so much traditional and local, as tourist-laden with pricey pints. Sure, Temple Bar has got to be experienced but there are so many more authentically Dublin pubs to have a pint in. To sip your way around the city try The Stag’s Head (@stags_head_dublin), spill out on the street around Kehoe’s (@kehoesdub) go back in time at the 250-year-old The Long Hall (@thelonghalldublin), or say ‘sláinte’ with a pint of the black stuff and a ham and cheese “toasted special” sandwich at Grogan’s (@groganscastlelounge).

2. A... cafe for an Irish Coffee.

Vice Coffee Inc. (@vicecoffeeinc) Has been consistently remarked as the best place in the city for an Irish coffee and owner Tom Stafford has even scooped awards for his signature take on this deliciously indulgent boozy coffee. Serving 11am ’til 6pm seven days a week, try any one (or all) of their three ways with Irish coffee: The Plain Jane with Kilbeggan Whiskey, the Luxurious Linda with cold brew coffee and poitín and the signature Fancy Frankie with Teeling Small Batch whiskey.

3. A... spot for an unforgettable cocktail.

Everyone might assume fancy hotels and hidden speakeasies when they think of cocktails in Dublin, but a hidden gem semi-off the beaten track is Bar 1661 (@1661bar) in Dublin 7. This is where locals in the know go for cool cocktails and great bar snacks, plus there’s really considered alcohol-free cocktails and a devotion to poitín, too. Open weekdays 5pm ‘til late, and weekends 2pm ’til late.

4. A... spot for an unforgettable St Patrick's Day.

The Luas Red Line originates and terminates at The Point, right outside the entrance of Beckett Locke, but whether you’re staying in Beckett or Zanzibar, hop on the Luas to the stop ‘Museum’ and you’re at the heart of the Festival Quarter at Collins Barracks. This is where all the best live music, entertainment, food and traditional Irish events with a twist will take place during St. Patrick’s Festival (@stpatricksfestival) (16-18 March) – particular highlights include Mother Presents Cultúr Club, a celebration of queer club culture with an all-encompassing line-up on Thursday night and Pillow Queens & Friends on the Saturday evening.

5. A... spot everyone’s talking about.

TAPPED (@tappeddublin) has piqued lots of peoples’ interest. A brand new bar, in what used to be the Porterhouse, at the bottom of the southside’s fancy shopping street Grafton Street, it serves local and international craft beers, organic and sustainable wine and premium cocktails – all via 50 different taps, the most of any bar in Ireland. You can even order direct to your table from one of Dublin’s best purveyors of pizza, Dublin Pizza Company.

There you go. All you need to make this 17th March an unforgettable night. And if you don’t manage to make it to all of them there’s always the next day.