dublin

April 2015

* DUBLIN

By Gareth Perry

Over 12 years ago I left Ireland, with €100, a girlfriend waiting in Staines and a dream of working for Precise (only some of this statement is true). When I say Ireland, I really mean Dublin, the capital city. The city I spent 22 years in has been through economic boom and bust since I departed. I have watched it change with every subsequent visit.

But the one thing I have always liked about Dublin has not changed. Despite the city’s small size compared to London, Dublin’s cultural life can equal it. Museums, music and food, it is not all just alcohol and rain, there is something to do every night of the week (Disclaimer, apart from Easter and Christmas Day; not good times to be a tourist).

So rather than bore you with some nostalgic dross about where I used to drink or the economic dire straits of a country hit as hard as Greece by the 2008 banking crisis, here is a small selection of great places to hide from the rain on a trip to Dublin.

Museums

Kilmainham Gaol is just a short tram ride west of the city centre and is one of the most unique places to visit in Dublin. Opened in 1796, this prison has been home to many of the major figures of the Irish nationalist movement. Today, it is a museum with daily guided tours detailing day-to-day life and the historical figures, like the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising that were incarcerated here. However, you may think stories of small cells and buckets for toilets are all things of the past but at Mountjoy Gaol across the River Liffey there is at times six prisoners to a cell and they are still, in 2015, ‘slopping-out’.

Just across the road from the gaol are the building and grounds of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. This building has been home to the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA)since 1991. IMMA has both a permanent collection of both Irish and international artist and several exhibitions. And if contemporary art is not your thing, the grounds themselves are pretty enough for a stroll.

An impressive collection of artefacts from across the globe can be found at the smallChester Beatty Library. Housed in one of the buildings that makes up Dublin Castle, the library houses a collection of 6,000 books, manuscripts, prints and drawings. My own favourites being the Japanese drawings and prints by Francisco Goya. And it’s free.

Music

Now if you must seek out some traditional Irish music (or whatever your fantasy of that is?), try The Cobblestone in the Smithfield area. This hosts traditional Irish music seven days a week and, despite my sarcastic tone, they can be quiet lively and fun affairs. Alternatively, try Bowes Lounge on Fleet Street (right in the centre of the city) during the week. Often a group a musicians can be found in the corner. If not just sit and soak in the atmosphere of a proper Irish pub. Meaning it’s not a Wetherspoon; there’s no food just drink and talk.

For the jazz freak (no shame in it), there is JJ Smyth’s. This pub has a long history on the Dublin music scene and Thursday nights upstairs is jazz night. Small and perfectly formed, the room screams ‘intimate’. Alternatively, The International Bar hosts jazz nights, as well as being a renowned comedy venue. In the past, the pub’s (there’s that word again) comedy improv night has seen famous comedians, such as Eddie Izzard, turn up to try out some new material.

For the more popular beat combos, Dublin boasts many great venues that see major international artists play, along with the strong independent Irish singers and bands that many of you have probably never heard of. Vicar St is a mid-level venue but designed in such a way to ensure no one in the audience has an obscured view of the stage. Upcoming acts included Sharon Van Etten, Father John Misty and Henry Rollins.

Another long running music venue is Whelan’s. This is a smaller venue that also does club nights. Nevertheless, the quality of acts that play here has been unchanged since the days when I spent twice a week attending either unknown US bands playing to 10 people or getting sweaty as people crammed in to watch Cat Power disintegrate on stage. A music mecca.

Finally, for those looking to club until 4am, try The Workman’s Club. Every musical taste is catered for by at least one of its club nights across three floors. On the second a veranda, generally packed with those people who just can’t accept the smoking ban.

Food

I’ll leave you with one recommendation for some traditional Dublin food. Why not try the best Korean food in the city at Parnell Street’s Hophouse/Kimchi? Two separate entrances open into what is a connected pub/restaurant. So if Korean is not to your taste, step into the bar and have some Guinness, it’s one of your five a day.