The good, bad and ugly sides to Dublin for tourists – great music and drinks, friendly people, but it’s expensive
The Irish capital is a drinker’s paradise, but with the tourist hordes homing in, prices are shooting up and elbow space is going down
The Good
If all went according to plan, Pope Francis arrived in Ireland yesterday for a 36-hour visit. He was due to attend two events in Dublin: a festival at Croke Park Stadium and a Mass with 500,000 people in Phoenix Park. The leader of the Catholic Church would have expected a warm welcome – it’s a rare World’s Friendliest City poll that doesn’t feature the Irish capital somewhere near the top. And who knows – perhaps his stopover was influenced by National Geographic Traveller magazine, which included Dublin in its Best of the World 2018 countdown, describing it as Europe’s largest village.
The best way to explore any village is on foot, so consider joining one of the numerous Dublin walking tours. Many start from Ireland’s oldest and most prestigious university, Trinity College, with its distinguished roll-call of alumni that includes literary giants Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker and Samuel Beckett. Not to be missed is the Harry Potteresque 18th-century Old Library, home to the medieval Book of Kells.
A few minutes away, Ha’penny Bridge is an unofficial symbol of the city, and is so named as it once cost half a penny to cross. Some superstitious locals refuse to set foot on the cast-iron span ever since renovations were carried out in 2001 by Harland and Wolff, better known for having built the Titanic.
More people are buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, jokingly dubbed the Dead Centre of Dublin, than are currently living in the city; although it’s unlikely that many get to rest in peace with so many curious tourists stomping around. Guides bring the place to life, so to speak, with tales of bodysnatchers, ghosts and thirsty gravediggers who used to order sneaky pints via a secret serving hatch at a nearby pub.
Ah yes, alcohol. We had to get there sooner or later. Four Irishmen have won the Nobel Prize for Literature and many a Dublin watering hole claims a connection to one wordsmith or another. Sign up for a literary pub crawl and raise a glass in the same taverns in which renowned writers and poets sought inspiration.