Dublin - Lúnasa¹ 2025

It was too damn hot in KC, so a trip north to cooler climes was mandatory.

Irish Breakfast

Bewley’s Grafton Street for a post transatlantic hibernation Stinsonian "Legendary Full Irish Breakfast."² As it contained a cup of baked beans it might have had a little English in it - which is true of most Irish.³ Washed down by an Americano (Dublin doesn't do the drip). All courtesy of a very thoughtful Subscriber. It was so good and proper, we went back to the place the day we left.

Slattery's Bar to sit in the same barstool as Tony Bourdain and eat their "Famous Irish Breakfast." It is one of the few bars in Dublin that can open at 7:00 am (instead of 10:30), which was noted future reference.

The same thoughtful Subscriber took us to breakfast at the Portmarnock Golf Club, that included beautiful views of the world's 37th greatest golf course and Dublin Bay. The joint is private, so if you want the best Full Irish Breakfast in all of Dublin, start your own blog and get a Subscriber to invite you.

Pack accordingly as the place doesn't allow American Express or . . . jeans.

Food/Drink

No matter how sumptuous, famous or wait for it . . . legendary, a man can eat only so many Full Irish Breakfasts, so a reservation at Matt the Thresher was made for some excellent Irish oysters (the Louet Feisser oysters were particularly delectable, especially with the Octo vinaigrette) and a Crispy Octopus with roast garlic pomme puree & Chimichurri sauce (which brought just right amount of heat). The ambiance was most definitely not Irish pub which was a nice change of pace, though the service was a little slow and lacking the typical Irish friendliness.

If you stay in Dublin long enough you're bound to have some vittles in the Temple Bar neighborhood at least once. I checked the box with Fitzsimons Temple Bar, live music on the first floor with a rooftop deck on the fifth that almost offers a view of the River Liffey. A couple from California offered us the remains of their pizza, which we ate followed by some fish & chips as whilst quite gracious, I didn't come all the way to Dublin to eat bad pizza. This could be a great place to visit if you want see Americans.

Dublin has a mass transit system befitting the great city that it is and part of it is the Dublin Area Rapid Transit system (DART) is an electrified commuter rail network serving the coastline north and south of the city. We used it to visit Dún Laoghaire and dine at Casper & Giumbinin's. With a name like that I expected some sort of Wraith-Italian fare but it is actually upscale Irish cuisine: Slow Roasted Pork Belly, and as required by law, Fish & Chips.

Then a walk down the south mole of the harbour stopping at Teddy's for Ireland's best 99, a soft-serve vanilla ice cream cone with radioactive blue syrup and inserted Flake bar. Why is it called a "99?" Nobody really knows. The Royal Irish Yacht Club also had to be reviewed, as it's the oldest purpose-designed yacht clubhouse in the world (1851) and the location of our Irish Subscriber's wedding reception a few years ago.

By far the best meal taken in "The Big Smoke" was at The Winding Stair. The well known bookstore based on its eponymous stairs and of course on the Y.B. Yeats poem has been reinvented as a restaurant serving elevated Irish fare: Think, a Fish Plate with various smoked fish, smoked fish pâté and pickled herring, a Courgette Salad and Homemade Gnudi with pine nut pesto, spinach, pea and aged parmesan. Mrs. AAR really enjoyed the gnudi and with a tittering schoolgirl's delight regaled me with a previous NYC experience that had her savoring gnudi balls (with a girlfriend!).  

The Long Hall

A local recommended the Long Hall Pub, which a he described as "a place for drinking men." When I heard that Tony Bourdain had previously visited and it was the Boss' favorite Dublin boozer, I knew I had to visit. It didn’t hurt that Ireland's first rockstar filmed a music video at the place. It made me realize that the Irish do bars right: A very clubby Victorian atmosphere, tin ceilings, crown molding and plenty of wainscoting, with the walls painted a shade of maroon that says "you are either drinking in a first class establishment . . . or a bordello." Oh yeah, all that and blessedly no TVs.

Per another Subscriber's recommendation a stop at the Brazen Head (Est 1198) for a swift half at the oldest pub in Ireland. Afterwards the Missus asked if the Gents room, like Ladies was dark and dank. I told her it was, "though not bad for facilities that are almost a thousand years old."

Per a third Subscribers recommendation, the plan was to hit Bar 1661 for some of Dublin's finest cocktails, but I called an audible mid way there to instead visit Ryleighs Rooftop Grill for some rooftop sunset views of the River Liffey, but after arriving I realized that the hotel housing it wasn't that tall, and that the bar was reserved for hotel guests. That and an off-putting host led me to switch back to the original play and Uber to where I should have gone in the first place.

Uber in Dublin combines the best parts of Uber; using a cell phone app to be picked up at the exact spot you are located with the worst parts of hailing a taxi; the unknowable fare.

Bar 1661 is one of the "World’s Best Cocktail Menu Finalist Top 4," and if the other three are anything like it, I need to visit each of them forthwith. The finest cocktail bar I've been to a long time. The place doesn't have the typical one page menu but a hardbound book of cocktails, that contains page after page of pure gold. I went with a Twin City (Keeper's Heart Irish American whiskey, Blackwater poitín, Bacardi Ocho, amaro, cacao, banana, amontillado, carob) with some mixed nuts (that included that toasted nuclear Peruvian corn that has become quite trendy) and some liver pate. I thought the place would be a one-er but my drink was so good it became a two-er when I ordered a Merchant Ware (Dunville's 1808 Irish whiskey, Bulleit bourbon, tamarind, sesame, caramel, orange bitters) to wash down some oysters. Wow!!!

The Louët-Feisser oysters weren't as good as the ones at Matt the Thresher as they came dressed with some sort of hot pepper sauce, which is just not coolio, as like a beautiful woman I’d sooner have them nude and then dress them myself.

The Sights

In an effort to convince ourselves that all the money spent on food, drink, flights, and lodging, in the end, actually allowed cultural enrichment and religious enlightenment, the Book of Kells was visited. Dating to 800 AD, it's a Gospel book in Latin, a masterwork of Western calligraphy and the pinnacle of Insular illumination.

If you take anything from reading my travel essays, it should be: don't overpack and don't see the Book of Kells. Too many tourists reading too many placards about a bible they can't even understand. In an effort to make it all more palatable (and expensive) you will also get to view the Long Room which is an exquisitely long and towering library that due to ongoing literary conservation efforts is filled with empty shelves. As The Band would say "Don't Do It."

As it was located on the Trinity College campus, I could also check it off my Dublin to do list. The campus is quite beautiful, with18th century buildings, cobblestones, a Calder stabile, and statues of people you never heard of, if you can block out the view of the balance of the campus and the Brutalist buildings that occupy it, and all the tourists.

BTW: When I visited the Book was open to Mark 15:45 - 16:7 which in Latin leads off with "When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph." I think it's much like the selections read at a Catholic mass, they focus on the same chestnuts and never on Deuteronomy 22:28-29.

I then struck out towards Glasnevin Cemetery, site of Michael Collins grave and the O'Connell Tower. I thought about climbing it, but as a beer would not be awaiting me at the top, only a €10 charge, decided to give it a pass. It didn't help that I was feeling a little gun-shy after the Book of Kells fiasco.

Much like bars, the Irish do cemeteries right . . .

Next, I decided to visit the adjacent National Botanic Gardens and inspect the Orchid House. So that you don't get the wrong idea I did it mainly to burn some time so I wouldn't hit John Kavanagh The Gravediggers Pub prior to noon.

The place is located just outside the gate and shares a wall with the cemetery. I ordered a Harp and some coddle, a stew of pork sausages and rashers with chunky potatoes, sliced onion, salt, pepper, and herbs. It's a Dublin "delicacy" and a favorite of many an Irish writer. I'm hoping that it fortified me with some Swiftian prose, even though they sat me at the kiddie table.

I took the bus back as I had previously purchased a transit card (the Leap Card) and needed to burn the last few euros on it as I am loath to strand any money when I leave a country.

Lodgings

Staycity Aparthotels, Dublin, Mark Street Cultural Centre (I know, it's a mouthful). Nice hospitality but kind of basic, with a two burner cook top with tiny sink kitchenette. Great location a few blocks east of the hustle and bustle of Temple Bar but a little tight.

The place though was spotless which confounded Mrs. AAR, who is always wary when she notices men on the housekeeping staff.

• Just down Mark Street, beneath the above-mentioned DART elevated railroad tracks is the bakery Bread 41 serving a delicious pain au chocolat and an Americano (and a loaf of porridge bread for the room). Dine in or take away, no matter I always get my coffee in a disposable to-go cup (so it stays hot). This place charges a refundable €5 for the pleasure, so I went with a ceramic cup and even though I drank a little bit faster than normal still wound up with a tepid few ounces in the bottom. Now I'm all for saving the planet . . . except when it negatively effects my morning coffee.

• O’Reilly’s Bar built under and into the above mentioned tracks is a good place to blow off some end of the day steam with a dram of Paddy's. Because I'm an American, the barman immediately offered an ice cube which I readily accepted.

See Dublin - Odds & Sods for more Dublin details.

Endnotes: I wanted to provide some very specific details that, while vaguely interesting, did not contribute to the overall narrative. Perhaps just wait until the end to enjoy.

¹ Lúnasa is Irish for "August."

² Irish and English breakfasts share many similarities, please find the finer points at Dublin Odds & Sods.

³ Irish people have about 10% ancestry from Anglo-Saxons.