"Orlikins sa bhaile" a Dublin Travel Page by orlikins

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Malahide Estuary, Co Dublin

D for Dublin, D for Drink! ;-)

I've lived in Dublin since 1996 so I know it pretty well. I'll have to prune a few tips soon, as some of the tips need to be updated/removed (e.g. pubs closing), but I will save that for a rainy day and I've nowt better to do.

This page is not written to be a straight blah-blah tourist guide. If that's what you want, then buy a guidebook - This page is written from a local Point of View. If that is the kind of angle you want, read on! :-)

If there is one thing I have learnt from living in Dublin is to NEVER ask for directions, because Dubliners have the crappiest sense of direction ever. They only know "their" side of the river and they don't want to know anything else after that - they can be even more parochial than some culchie mucksavage for all their talk. The day after I moved to Dublin, I asked someone what bus I needed to take to get to Dublin City University. 'Get the #11 from O'Connell St' they reply. 'Great' methinks and I stand at the stop. I get the # 11 but instead of DCU, it takes me to UCD, the uni on the other side of town. :) Duh....

USEFUL DUBLIN WEBPAGES

Dublinks: an excellent and well-written page about Dublin's history, amenities & services. It has maps of Dublin, lots of entertainment and shopping listings ... and no, I havent been paid to say any of this ;) Go and have a look, once you've finished reading my Dublin page, of course ;-)
DublinPubScene An excellent and well-researched site on pubs in Dublin city and county.
Talking about pubs, don't forget that you may not smoke in pubs or clubs. This has led to a new social treand, to find out more, please see my Local Custom tip on "Smirting"...;-)

DAFT If you are moving to Dublin and need to find a place to live, check this accomodation database.

If you are thinking of coming to Dublin to work, please check this site out. Monster Ireland Recruitment or Nixers
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Remember, Dublin, fun as it is, is the 18th most expensive city in the world (up three places from 2005!), so if you want to come and work here for the summer, you will have to work very very hard indeed to cover the high rent and other outgoings. According to The Economist magazine, it is more expensive than New York, Beijing and Rome!! If your aim is to earn loads of money or to learn/improve your English, it would probably be best to work in another Irish town, where it is cheaper and there are more native Irish people to speak English to. But if you want to go back home with a lot of fun memories, then go to Dublin ;-)

What DublinThey have plugged and praised dear old VT in previous editions and they produce a free magazine every month with tips to ex-pats on how deal with Irish job/accomo hunting etc.

45 Useless Facts About Dublin

Overheard in Dublin This is class stuff - rips the p1ss out of skangers! (Skangers is the Dublinese for Chavs, white trash - you know the type - greasy hair, tracksuits, lots of schunky cheap gold jewellery, common as muck) Endless hours of entertainment there :-)

I check the Ireland & Dublin forum every day and always answer questions to the best of my ability. I don't bother looking at my VT Email, but if you post a Q on the appropriate forum, I'll see the question soon enough.

PLEASE NOTE I never answer accomodation questions in the Dublin or other Irish forums, there is no point in e-mailing me accomodation questions. I live here, so I could not possibly recommend a hotel that I've never stayed in. Instead I recommend that you check the Official Irish Tourist Board's Accomodation listings if you want to see official accomodation listings and ratings.

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The Dublin Spire

The Skewer in the Sewer

Subject to much local controversy, the Spire was supposed to be erected in O'Connell St in time for the millenium, but it was only completed in Jan 2003! And they only screwed in the lightbulb at the top in July 03! Sheesh!!

Of course, Dubs have called the Spire all sorts of things, not all of them complementary....

* Stilleto in the Ghetto
* The North Pole
* The Spike in the Dyke
* The Nail in the Pale
* The Spire in the Mire
* The Needle
* The Pole in the Hole
* The Stiffy near the Liffey

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Temple Bar Square, Dublin 2

Temple Barf

Oooooh I swore I wouldn't do anything on Temple Bar if I could help it, but then I figured that wouldn't be fair, so I've put this into a separate section.

Basically, as you will notice from this page and my various forum postings - I HATE TEMPLE BAR with a burning passion. It is so fake, overpriced, trashy and full of drunken English stag and hen parties (which is why you will now see signs in the pubs saying "No hens or stag parties"). No wonder it's called "Temple Barf"...

To be honest, most Dubliners will not bother going out in Temple Bar (TB) as the pubs serve poor quality beer at astronomical prices, are full of tourists (sorry VT!) and is pretty damn expensive! However most tourists end up in TB because their guide books tell them to and then they go home thinking that this is what Dublin and "craic" is all about - IT'S NOT!

Dubliners might, on an average night out, have a drink in a TB pub but then they will move on to another part of town. Or maybe go for dinner in TB if it was a special occasion - there are some good restaurants there, after all.

There is really nothing specifically Irish or genuinely Irish in Temple Bar. It's as fake as Pamela Anderson's mammaries. What you see today only came into effect in the early 1990s, before that, it was going to become a bus depot. Up until the late 80s, it was a very nondescript part of town that you would not want to hang out in.

Go across Dame St towards South William, Georges, Dawson, Camden and Wexford Streets instead, that is where the locals go.

Temple Bar was originally modelled on the Parisian Rive Gauche (Left Bank) with a raffish, bohemian air in the time of the restorations and reconstructions, but I guess there are some things money can't buy.

It is a pity, there is so much potential in Temple Bar, but they've taken the easy option by stuffing it with touristy Oirish pubs.

One thing I do like about TB is the Food market there on Saturday mornings. Yum! Try the waffles stand and the Apple Glow juice stand :) I also enjoy visiting the Irish Film Institute nearby in Eustace St and Tante Zoe's restaurant.

Pubs
The most popular ones are: The Turks Head, Porterhouse, Isolde's Tower, Bad Bobs, The Quays,
Buskers / Boomerangs (best chance of hearing corny chat-up lines from home-grown sleazy gits),
Norseman, Oliver St John Gogartys (RIP-OFF!! DO NOT GO INTO THIS PUB!!)
I recommend Zaytoon's in Temple Bar after a night on the lash, they do amazing Persian kebabs, yummy :) Packed out after closing time, when you need some food to soak up all that alcohol!

Look around any pub in Temple Bar and see if you find any locals - you'll have your work cut out for you!