Dublin’s oldest pubs: where centuries of craic, stories, and Guinness await

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Step inside the right Dublin pub and time does something strange. It slows down. The hum of conversation fills the air, a fiddle starts up somewhere near the back, and the pint in front of you turns the colour of burnished mahogany as it settles. Dublin’s oldest pubs are not just places to drink. They are living rooms that the whole city shares.

There are more than 900 pubs in Dublin. But a handful stand apart — old enough to have served rebels, poets, and labourers across hundreds of years of Irish history. Here are the ones worth seeking out.

The Brazen Head: Dublin’s oldest pub

Established in 1198, The Brazen Head on Bridge Street Lower is the oldest pub in Ireland. It sits just off the Liffey, tucked into a cobbled courtyard that feels a world away from the modern city outside. Robert Emmet plotted rebellion here. James Joyce drank here. The flagstone floors and low timber ceilings have barely changed in centuries.

It gets busy, especially at weekends, but arrive before 7pm on a weeknight and you will find a quieter, more atmospheric version of itself. The trad music sessions run nightly and the stew is genuinely good. This is one of those places you bring visitors and watch their faces change when they realise how old the walls around them actually are.

Mulligan’s of Poolbeg Street: the Guinness purist’s temple

Opened in 1782, Mulligan’s is the pub other Dublin pubs quietly measure themselves against. It is famously unglamorous — no cocktails, no craft beer taps, no food worth mentioning. What it has is possibly the best-poured pint of Guinness in the city. Staff here take the pour seriously in a way that borders on religious.

John F. Kennedy drank here as a young journalist in 1945. A plaque marks the spot. The clientele today is a mix of journalists from nearby newspaper offices, theatre-goers from the Dublin city centre crowd, and regulars who have been occupying the same barstool for thirty years. There is no background music. Conversation is the entertainment.

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Kehoe’s on South Anne Street: a Victorian pub unchanged

Kehoe’s is the pub that photographers seek out when they want to show what a real Dublin pub looks like. The original Victorian interior is almost entirely intact — mahogany bar, ornate snugs with frosted glass partitions, shelving stacked with old bottles. The upstairs rooms, once the publican’s living quarters, are now used as overflow seating and feel like drinking in someone’s parlour.

It sits just off Grafton Street, which means it is easy to find. Come mid-afternoon on a weekday if you want to appreciate the space. Weekend evenings it fills quickly. Either way, it rewards a slow pint and a bit of people-watching.

The Long Hall: gaslit beauty on South Great George’s Street

One of Dublin’s most beautiful pub interiors belongs to The Long Hall. Victorian mirrors run the length of the bar. The original gas lamps cast everything in warm amber. The mahogany bar stretches back seemingly forever, flanked by barmen who move with the unhurried confidence of people who have been doing this for a very long time.

The Long Hall dates to 1766 and has been a protected structure since 1992. If you are showing someone Dublin for the first time and want them to understand why the city’s pub culture is something genuinely special, bring them here. Order two pints, sit at the bar, and let the room do the talking.

Toner’s on Baggot Street: the pub that even Yeats visited

W.B. Yeats famously disliked pubs. But he made an exception for Toner’s on Baggot Street Lower, and it is said to be the only pub he ever set foot in. The story goes that he accompanied his friend, the poet Oliver St John Gogarty, for one drink — ordered a sherry — and never returned.

The pub itself dates to 1818 and still has its original Victorian snugs, stone floors, and wooden drawers behind the bar that once stored dry goods for the local neighbourhood. It sits in the heart of literary Dublin, surrounded by the Georgian streets and canal walks that defined Irish writing for a century. A quiet afternoon pint here feels like reading a chapter of the city itself.

Where to find traditional music sessions in Dublin

The best trad sessions in Dublin are not scheduled entertainment — they are musicians who turn up, set down their cases, and play because they want to. The Cobblestone in Smithfield is the gold standard: sessions run most nights, the crowd parts respectfully for the musicians, and the atmosphere is as authentic as anything in Doolin or Dingle.

O’Donoghue’s on Merrion Row is where The Dubliners first played in the 1960s. Sessions still happen most weekends. Hughes’ Bar on Chancery Street is smaller, less known, and utterly genuine. Arrive early and find a spot close to the music. The fiddle, uilleann pipes, and bodhrán played in a small Dublin room at close quarters is one of those experiences that stays with you.

For more of Dublin’s hidden character beyond the tourist trail, the city rewards anyone willing to look a little deeper.

Frequently asked questions about Dublin pubs

What is the oldest pub in Dublin?

The Brazen Head on Bridge Street Lower is widely recognised as the oldest pub in Dublin and in Ireland, dating back to 1198. The current building dates mostly from the 17th century, but the site has been licensed for far longer. It sits near the old Viking settlement of Dublin and is a short walk from Christ Church Cathedral.

Do Dublin pubs have traditional music sessions every night?

Many do, particularly in the city centre and in traditional-leaning pubs like The Brazen Head, O’Donoghue’s, and The Cobblestone in Smithfield. Sessions are most frequent Thursday through Sunday but some venues run them nightly. Unlike ticketed performances, these are informal — musicians gather, play, and welcome listeners. There is no obligation beyond buying a drink and listening respectfully.

What time do pubs close in Dublin?

Most Dublin pubs close at 11:30pm Sunday to Thursday and at 12:30am on Friday and Saturday nights. Some venues with late bar licences stay open until 2:30am. Last orders are typically called 30 minutes before closing. During festivals and bank holiday weekends, extended hours may apply. Pubs generally open from around midday, though some historic city centre pubs open from 10:30am.

Dublin’s oldest pubs have outlasted empires, rebellions, and every passing trend in nightlife. They endure because they offer something rare: a room where the past is still present, where a conversation can go anywhere, and where a well-pulled pint is treated as the small act of craftsmanship it is. That is worth raising a glass to.

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