Best Dublin beer-gardens

To all ISI students – the days are getting longer and the weather is getting sunnier and warmer! You must all be eager to take a break from studying English in Dublin and start socializing again (just a little bit!). Outdoor socializing is the theme of this summer, according to Ireland’s health authorities, as it is safer and healthier all around for everyone.

With that in mind, where better to meet up and catch up with your friends than in a spacious and friendly beer garden? As of June 7^th, the following excellent examples should be opening up again if all goes according to plan. There are many more that could be mentioned for Dublin is full of them!

Delaney bar

A hidden gem on the top of the Smithfield square. The bar itself is less famous than its nearby neighbor the Cobblestone, which is known for its popular traditional music sessions. This is a cozy and self-contained beer garden, ideal for the sun – in accessing it, one must first pass by a mysterious set of medieval knight’s armour!

James Toner’s

As you enter this beer garden, you can hear the sound of pre-recorded tropical birds squawking, making you feel like you are in the jungle! This is reputedly the only pub in Dublin that Ireland’s greatest poet W.B. Yeats ever visited. It’s a favorite of office workers and students.

Jimmy Rabbitte

Named after a character in Roddy Doyle’s novel The Commitments, the first part of the Barrytown trilogy. This beer garden is notable for its recreation of the facades of many other pubs located elsewhere in the country – it gives you the illusion that you’re traveling all around Ireland while never leaving Dublin!

Madigan’s Horse Show House

This is apparently the largest beer garden in all of Dublin. The clientele tends to be quite a bit richer than average, hence the place’s New York-style nickname: ‘Madigan Square Garden’.

McCloskey’s

This is a quiet, peaceful but spacious pub tucked away in Donnybrook – its beer garden is especially delightful on a good day and feels less like a beer-garden and more like someone’s domestic backyard with deck chairs, grass, trees and hedges.

..So there you are, ISI students – just a few tips for when you have some downtime from studying English in Dublin this summer! Have fun exploring!