Dublin, Ireland

by **Virginia Gentleman** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 3:21 am

I leave for Dublin on Wednesday. Any last minute advice? It does not have to be whiskey related.

Scott

by **Aidan** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 9:30 am

Bring an umbrella.

A trip down to Wicklow would be nice. There are some lovely spots there. Stay away from Bray, though...

Anyway, have a great time.

by **Deactivated Member** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:52 pm

My advice would be to go on a tour bus - they are great at showing you the city and pointing you to attractions you can go to later. I would avoid the Guinness Brewery at St James's Gate as you just get access to a museum - not the brewery itself. This comes as a disappointment to many people. You can pass minutes by going to the Dail (Parliament) and watching a debate from the public gallery - it is free. There are some excellent but expensive restaurants on St Stephen's Green (Brown's is top notch) and you can get excellent hamburgers at the uniquitous Eddie Rocket chain.

by **Aidan** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 10:20 pm

You could also visit the Jameson Distillery on Bow Street.

If you're visiting the Dail, you'll be near the Natural History Museum (one of the few remaining Victorian natural history museums in the world), the National Gallery and the National Museum. You'll also be near Baggot Street, which has a lot of good pubs.

If you like Irish literature, there's the Writers Museum and the James Joyce Museum.

You could go greyhound racing in Shelbourne Park or Harold's Cross.

The Templebar in Temple bar has an excellent whisky selection. Templebar isn't my favourite place, but...

You could go and see the mummys in St. Michan's Church http://irelandforvisitors.com/articles/ ... ichans.htm

There should be traditional Irish music in a few pubs, but I don't know where. Probably O'Donoghue's on Baggot Street.

It might also be worth going up the Dublin mountains to Johnnie Fox's. Lots of stuff going on there and always music. They also do food, which is usually quite good. http://www.jfp.ie/ - there should be buses going there.

by **Deactivated Member** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 10:30 pm

Aidan wrote:If you're visiting the Dail, you'll be near the Natural History Museum....

Who was it who told me about "Insects: an Irish success story"?

by **les taylor** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 12:28 am

Definitely travel Business Class. It is so much nicer to turn left on boarding the plane. So many advantages.

by **Di Blasi** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 2:21 am

I just read about the
http://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com
in Whisky Magazine a few issues back. I'd definitely be visiting there if I was in Dublin.
Have fun!!

by **irishwhiskeychaser** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 2:45 am

A visit to Thrinity College Dublin and the book of kells in the old Library. The Book of Kells is an 8th or 9th centurary book fabously transcribed with celtic art by monks.

Yes the tour bus idea is a good one but you really need the weather so don't be overly excited. Some of the drivers are very witty while others are just boring and matter of fact so it is the luck of the draw.

But contary to what Nick says I think the Guinness Store house is worth a visit if yu are anyway interested in Guinness but that's just a personal thing at the end of the day. It's a historical tour as opposed to a distillery tour and very well put together and you can sample a pint of the black stuff at the very end in the sky bar. The view alone is worth it and a fairly decent selection of Guinness rubbish to buy :wink:

. However it's been 3-4years since I've been there and it was only 7.00Euro but things may have changed since.

Also Dublin Castle has many hiden treasures, there are remains unearthed of a viking settlement under it somewhere and is open to the public, also a police museum which nobody seems to know about plus other unrelated and interesting stuff .... google it.

It may or may not be worth you while checking this out... depends on how much you want to do.....

http://www.dublintourist.com/dublin_pass/

Enjoy your stay

by **Virginia Gentleman** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 3:25 am

Thanks for all the ideas. I actually did buy a Dublin pass.

Scott

by **Aidan** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 10:14 am

Hi Scott

How did your trip go? Did you get to taste any good Irish whiskey?

by **Virginia Gentleman** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 11:13 pm

Aidan wrote:Hi Scott

How did your trip go? Did you get to taste any good Irish whiskey?

Aidan, thanks for asking. It was a great trip. I tried to only drink whiskey that I can not get easily in the States so I drank a lot of Green Spot and Redbreast 15.

I was able to go to the Old Jameson distillery in Dublin, Bushmills in NIR and Old Midleton near Cork. I enjoyed all the tours but the Old Midleton was my favorite. I was selected at each distillery to do the special tasting at the end so I came home with three certificates that state I am now an Irish whiskey expert.

I got tickets to see the three Bruce Springsteen shows in Dublin and the one in Belfast so that was an amazing experience as well. The Guinness tour was a lot of fun. I loved Dublin and look forward to my next trip there.

Scott

by **Aidan** » Wed Dec 06, 2006 9:03 am

Glad you enjoyed it Scott. I never know what people will make of the place when they visit, but most people enjoy themselves.

You've been to visit more distilleries than me in Ireland!