Drinking in Dublin's Victorian Heritage

Such is the popularity of the Irish pub that it's been packaged and exported around the world. From Barcelona to Beijing, the boom in Irish boozers has created a ready market in antique farm implements and wrinkled old posters for tobacco and stout to decorate these establishments. Even in Dublin, the packaged pub has come back home like a boomerang to snare unwary tourists in the heart of the medieval city. Overpriced reproductions of the real thing, these pubs are pale imitations of the old ones still found down back alleys and side streets.

The real pubs have evolved little from their Victorian heyday and each has a unique atmosphere and set of stories about the writers, journalists, poets, and musicians who frequented them when Queen Victoria sat on the British throne.

There are older bars in Dublin, but the lavish, ornate interiors and warm ambience of the city's Victorian pubs are a special experience. Characteristic of these bars are the elegantly crafted counters, beautifully carved in highly polished hardwood or made of marble, with walls paneled in rich, dark timbers, and beveled mirrors, elaborate tiling, and decorative brass fittings.

Near the Phoenix Park is Ryan's, one of the city's best-loved original Victorian pubs, with magnificent stained glass, original mahogany bar fixtures, and an outstanding collection of antique mirrors, all contributing to its unique atmosphere.

Another bar that has matured like a good cheese is the Long Hall on Georges Street. Bars of this vintage have years of beer-fuelled philosophy entering into their very fabric. Popular with poets and students, it's seen the likes of Brendan Behan pass through its doors--though it is said that there isn't a pub in the city unvisited by the writer.

The ambience of elegant old Dublin is encapsulated in the Stag's Head, situated on Dame Court in the city center. A veritable shrine to the art of drink, it was designed with stag-themed stained glass windows, mirrors, wood paneling, and, of course, a large stag's head over the bar. This place was an instant success with Dubliners in the 1890s and was frequented by a young James Joyce. Taking in a broad cross section of the city, the bar is teeming with Trinity students, office workers, civil servants, and clubbers, and has one of the best pints of Guinness in town.

Other Victorian pubs that stand out in defiance to the characterless new super-bars are Conway's on Parnell Street, with its distinctive horseshoe bar and dark polished wood, and Neary's on Chatham Street, which is a popular spot for a pint before attending a show in the Gaiety Theater.

With a large solid bar the length of the pub, The Hut, in Phibsboro, is a rare gem of a pub, while O'Neill's of Pearse Street is one of the loveliest of them all. Slainte!