hips don't lie: Dublin city breaks: Inspired by Ireland's capital

By
Jenny Coad

PUBLISHED:

12:57 EST, 25 January 2013

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UPDATED:

14:01 EST, 25 January 2013

Dublin is in festive spirit. Not for the first time, you might say, but now the Irish capital is warming up for what it’s calling The Gathering.

And the message is simple: everyone is welcome. There are events throughout the year across the country for redheads, history heads, sports fans and those who just love Ireland.

In Dublin, there’ll be family gatherings (register your clan now), duathlons, a triathlon, the biggest St Patrick’s Day celebrations yet, festivals of dance, horse shows…and on it goes.

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Warm welcome: There are bars a-plenty on Dublin’s popular Grafton St

Book early to avoid disappointment, in other words. And even if you’re not the joining-in type, there are plenty of other reasons to cross the Irish sea. Dublin’s famously rich literary history is a compelling one.

I am in the city’s Duke pub, on Duke Street, where two actors are appearing in Waiting For Godot as part of a literary tour. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the very first performance of Beckett’s enduring play, in the Theatre de Babylone, Paris.

Naturally, Guinness is on offer, but it’s only 11.30am. Dublin has Unesco World Heritage Status. Four of its authors hold Nobel prizes for literature: William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney.

There are high-brow references all over the place, from elegant Trinity College where greats such as Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde studied, to the pubs and gin palaces where they drank.

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The craic: Cheer seems to be on tap in the Irish capital’s watering holes

A first edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses sits in the window of Catach Books off Grafton Street. At 100,000 Euros, you’ll need gloves to turn the precious pages, but it will add gravitas to any bookshelf.

And all that writing seems to have been thirsty work. Or, as the Irish poet, novelist, and playwright Brendan Behan memorably put it: ‘I’m a drinker with writing problems.’

Good cheer is an Irish trait. Drop into an Irish bar anywhere in the world, one Dubliner tells me, and you’ll make friends. Here, your biggest difficulty is which bar to choose.

In the 19th century there were more than 4,000 pubs. Today, the liveliest area is the trendy Temple Bar area.

Apparently, though, the drinking has calmed down, and people my age (30) have turned to
triathlons (or duathlons, for those who can’t quite face that bit in the sea) and have only the odd glass of wine.

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Home of the black stuff: The Guinness factory is a must-see attraction

O’Donoghue’s, on Merrion Row, is
bucking the trend. It’s doing roaring trade, even on Sunday night.
There’s an impromptu singalong and everyone is smoking and drinking with
gusto outside.

This is a friendly place away from the main drag, and
all the better for it.

It’s the shortest of strolls to my hotel, the extremely smart Shelbourne, which has recently been refurbished and where Julia Roberts, President Clinton, Bono and Charlie Chaplin have all stayed over the years.

It is brilliantly placed in the centre of town, opposite attractive St Stephen’s Green, and has very nice, darkly lit bars which buzz away at all hours of the night. Smartly dressed guests from the Scottish/Irish wedding reception are bouncing about, full of beans and lots of couples are on dates.

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Toucan play at that game: A vintage advertising poster for Guinness

The buffet extravaganza the following morning is lively and offers everything from the healthy to the hearty including Irish specials like potato farls.

Walking across the city is easy and the very best sharpener after a heavy night. You can crisscross the bridges over the River Liffey, which was once so black it was said (falsely) to be the source of Guinness.

In fact the water used in the brewing process in the city’s legendary factory is supremely fresh and comes from the Wicklow Mountains that mark the skyline. So precious is the yeast (known as Arthur’s yeast) used to make Guinness, it’s locked away in the director’s safe.

The factory itself is a fantastic interactive warehouse with floors and floors of information, an advertising exhibition and a Guinness bar at the top overlooking the city.

Every visitor to Dublin comes here, including Barack Obama, who is pictured, pint in hand.

There’s even a thank you note from the President’s Air Force One team. Guinness is still brewed on this site, where the yawning industrial brick buildings reminds me of Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.

Winding back across town, we pass along Cow’s Lane, part of Temple Bar’s crafty design district, and come across a book shop with Oscar Wilde’s words in the window, ‘We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars’.

That seems to sum up perfectly this dreamy, gritty but ever cheery city.

Travel Facts

The Shelbourne offers deluxe rooms from £185 per night. The Gathering Package costs £228 a night including breakfast, deluxe room, Dublin Hop On-Hop Off ticket per person and Dublin History Book welcome amenity. Flights with Aer Lingus from £35.99 one way, www.aerlingus.com. For more information on The Gathering, visit www.ireland.com/thegathering.