This is a post I started writing a long time ago, but the draft has just been sitting in my draft folder and I decided that it was about time to do something about it and get it published and Throwback Thursday seemed like a good time to get it out.
Last Easter in Ireland I decided to go for a Literary Pub Crawl. Dublin is a city known for it’s writers and literature and I have previously visited the Dublin Writers Museum and I enjoyed that a lot. So this time I thought I would get to discover more of the Irish writers and their watering holes. Even if the number of pubs in Dublin have become a lot fewer than the 3000 it used to have, around 850 pubs is still a good number. And in this pub crawl we got to visit quite a few great literary ones.
We met up for the tour at a good old pub called The Duke and the group that was there for the tour was a very varied group with people from all over Europe, America and Canada. The atmosphere was great and the actors that conducted the tour was simply wonderful storytellers and good performers.
Not all the stops was at a pub, we also stopped off in the grounds of Trinity College to hear about all the writers that went to school here. Walking in the grounds of the College in the evening, listening to stories, was really a great experience.
Among the famous writers we heard more about was Joyce, Behan, Yeats, Beckett and Wilde. But also more from the very rich Irish literary history. It’s not without reason that Dublin is called City of Literature by UNESCO.
We visited a pub called O’Neill and after we gathered outside for more information by the statue of Molly Malone. All of the people that joined the tour except for a Spanish family that brought their quite young son and did not have too much English. But everyone else had a really good time. The tour was the perfect mix between interesting facts about Irish writers and visiting good pubs.
I found the tour online at Dublin Pub Crawl and thought it could be fun and it really was. I can recommend it to everyone looking for something to do in Dublin.
this looks like such a great activity in every way –
It really was!
Yes, but was the beer any good? 🙂
Yes, Guinness in Ireland is always good. I had a few other ones in other pubs and they where good too.
That’s an interesting tour.
It really was!
We were signed up for a Pub Crawl, but it was canceled at the last minute. Your post illustrates, beautifully, what we missed.
I am sorry to hear that. Things getting canceled is always annoying.
That sounds like a fun way to spend an evening if someone else is doing the driving. I’d love it.
It was a fun way of spending the evening and there was no driving involved.
This looks like my kind of fun! You had me at Guinness!
Hehe It’s my kind of fun too. And a Guinness or two never goes astray.
Dublin has such a great literary heritage – this must have been great fun – and of course, the Guinness would have helped!
You are so right. It’s a really good thing to do on a Dublin visit.
Sounds like a great idea! I have never been to a literary crawl so I would love to explore that. Thank you for sharing and I will keep an eye if something similar happens in India and the city i live in 🙂
If it commes along it might be worth to go. I’m not too good at doing things like this at home, but much better when I am on vacation.
I’m glad you kept and posted this one. Lots of good atmosphere. Hugs!
Thank you! There was plenty of good atmosphere in the pubs.
Lovely trip and never leave stuff in the draft folder. I do that and end up forgetting to finish them too! Great idea to combine it with a literary roam. It’s a fantastic place for doing that and if the black stuff is involved so much the better, says I!
I have left far to many things in my draft folder, but I have decided to give it a bit of a clean up. Much is deleted and some posts are being finished and publish this year.
Same here, I’ve two in there now from last year myself! Mind you I’m still aiming to re-theme and try to get my blog beyond the starting point. Hopefully that will help have a clear out too!!
It probably will!
I have planned to do this so many times! I have to do it !
I had a great time doing it and think it is well worth it!
Oh that looks & sounds really interesting. I’ve been to Ireland several times, but have yet to make it to Dublin.
I have not been to many places in Ireland, but I have spent quite some time at the west coast and Dublin. And I really enjoy it, I should try to see more of the country.
Yes Connemara is my absolute favourite area.
I went on the exact same tour! I loved it. The stories from the guides were so engaging and we had great fun at each of the pubs. I have to say chatting with the other visitors was definitely part of the fun, too. I’m glad you went and glad you finally wrote the post about it. Neat to know we both went on the same tour! Yeah, Dublin!
Chatting the others from all over the world was a big part of the fun! Glad to hear about others that has talen the tour and enjoyed it. Yeah, Dublin!
Sounds wonderful–except for that poor Spanish family.
Maybe It’s just me, but taking your non-english speaking child to a tour about Irish writers where you visit a fair few pubs, doesn’t sound like a good idea to begin with. Can’t blame him for getting bored.. .
Agreed. A literary pub crawl doesn’t strike me as a great idea even for a kid who speaks the language.
Agreed!
I love Dublin, but didn’t get the chance to do this. How wheelchair-accessible is it, in general?
Not to wheelchair-accessible I think. The tour started in the second story of a pub, and I didn’t see any lifts. And a lot of the other pubs was a few stories or had different levels for different rooms. I may not be the best judge of this as I didn’t look for lifts and such. But from what I have experienced from my man’s sister, who lives in Dublin and is in a wheelchair, it generally is not the best town or country for wheelchair-accessibility.
Love this post! I would love to go to Dublin and visit all those writerly places! You’re photos are awesome, too!
Thank you Lisa!
Huh, I’ve always thought eventually I’d like to visit Ireland/Dublin… but realizing that it’s a literary city makes it even more appealing to me! LOL! If I ever do get around to visiting I’ll have to make sure to do this pub crawl, looks fun!
I can recommend both Dublin and other parts of Ireland. And this tour is defenetly worth your time if you go.
This is fab, I would love to do something like this.
It really was good!
What a great idea, and a fun way of learning more about Dublin’s literary heritage! 🙂
It really was! Beer makes a fun thing even more fun and I enjoy Irish pubs.
A literary pub crawl sounds wonderful!
It was!
Check this Irish podcast out if you get a sec https://crazydiscostu.wordpress.com/2018/02/17/noteworthy-podcasts-mad-notions/
Read and enjoyed agsin. Love it.
That’s a great pub tour. I have been hitting 15 oldest pubs in world
Thank you I found it quite interesting. Visiting the 15 oldest pubs sounds cool.
Ireland..the country of the endless green landscapes, land of the Celtic dance and music, home of beer and whiskey. I am a huge fan of beer. In Ireland, I loved to taste everything. The first time I drunk a pint of Guinness was at the pub crawl in Dublin. But Guinness is not the only awesome beer Irish people have. There are so many of them! Grab a friend and pick a bunch of different bars to go. You’ll find beers for all types of taste. I was pretty excited since everyone told me that pub crawl is one of the highlights in Dublin.