Pubs and Slang in Dublin Town

Hello again, everyone. I’ve been in Dublin for over a month now (the only way I’ve kept track is that I’ve used up my 30-day bus pass), and I figured I’d give you lot in the States an update on my adventures in Ireland.

First off, “How’s the crack?”

No, I’m not asking about your rear, or the quality of the cocaine. It’s craic, meaning “fun” or “good times”. So when they ask, “How’s the craic?” they just mean “What’s up?”/ “How’s it goin’?”. Little differences in slang like that can be a bit confusing for Americans when they first come to Ireland. You pick them up pretty quickly, but initially the new slang combined with a different accent (and the propensity towards mumbling that some Irish folk exhibit) can make your head spin. “Touch wood” means “knock on wood”, “langered” means drunk, and “takin’ the piss” at something means to poking fun or mocking something (example, my roommate said that “South Park” takes the piss at everything).

Good, our slang lesson is over, now it’s time for a drink! Finding the good pubs is key to enjoying your stay in Dublin. The city has more pubs than churches (a refreshing change from my hometown of Porterville, where there are more churches than bars), and many are rich in history, beautifully appointed, and have killer prices on pints. You just have to know how to find them. The price for pints in Dublin can range from over 5 euro to as low as 3.50 euros, with some places occasionally selling them for as low as 1 euro on promotional nights. Multiply that by about one and a half and you get the dollar price.

Starting at Trinity College, on the South Side of the Leffey River, you have the Pav, the on-campus student pub; I can already sense the jealousy amongst the Gauchos reading this. The building is currently undergoing renovations and expansion, so you’ll have to use to the porta-potties outside, but the inside has a distinguished, academic-feeling ambience, and the pints are a reasonable 4 euro. Heading out from Trinity to Grafton Street, make a left and continue up into Grafton Street proper. Hang a left on Duke St., and you’ll find the Duke, which is the first stop on the Trinity History Society’s pub crawl. Famous alcoholics/writers such as Joyce, Behan, O’Nolan and Kavanagh would come here to down some liquid inspiration, and wrangle with their manuscripts. The interior is like that of many Irish pubs, with wood floors and ceilings, subdued yellowish lighting, and bar counters upstairs and downstairs. The prices are the highest of the tour, at 5 euro a pint, but it’s worth it for the history of it. Just get one pint, sit and chat a while, then be one your way.

Next stop on our magical history tour is the Ginger Man, on Fenian Street behind the Davenport Hotel. If you exit Trinity from the back gate, head right, and then left, you’ll find it. Again, this pub is rich with history, and it’s past clientele included Oscar Wilde, Yeats, Behan, and George Bernard Shaw. The pub is small and low-ceilinged, with dim, yellowish lighting. There’s the main bar up front, with one small table, then a little alcove to the left of the door, with bookshelves on either side of the doorway, and then a small room with tables and a fireplace. On the walls of that last room, partly obscured by a house plant, are the portraits of the bar’s famous patrons. On my last visit with some friends from the Trinity Gamer’s club, the bar and windows were decorated with orange lights and pumpkins for Halloween. Their selection of beers is surprising for a pub their size, including the usuals–Guinness, Guinness’ rival stout Beamish–but also two beers exclusive to the Ginger Man, Writer’s Block and Writer’s Red, both named (obviously) for the pub’s history as a meeting place for famous writers. The Writer’s Block is a very nice pale ale, but the Writer’s Red is scrumptious. A deep red in color, it is rich and flavorful, with a hint of cinnamon, and a smooth, yeasty aftertaste. If you’re in need of a bite, they also serve the standard pub fare: fish and chips, chicken fingers and the like. It’s cheap, tasty, and absolutely horrible for you, but who cares? Given its distance from the main drag of O’Connell Street, its proximity to Trinity College, and it’s low pint prices (3.50 euro), the place is usually filled with local students and business people, not tourists. If you’re lucky, you might even see a politician, as I did on my last visit. I forget his name, but my friend Ciskey told me that he had once run for President, and I could tell by his manner-the broad gestures, the way he went about the room grinning and shaking hands and pretending to be interested in the common folk-that her was indeed a well-versed politician. It’s a lovely little pub,

Heading back towards Trinity there are two more pubs of note: the Granger and the Longstone. The Granger, the final stop on the History Society’s pub crawl, has the feel of a classic pub. It has the dim yellow lighting, wood paneling, old bits of brick-a-brack on shelves in the windows, the whole nine yards. What separates it from the standard pub is it’s pricing: 3.50 euro for a pint, and 4 for cocktails. They have a wide selection of cocktails and liquors, and I’m quite fond of their black Russians. Like the Ginger man, they have all the usual pub-grub, and the last time I was there I got to meet the cook, a very genial Englishman who regaled me and my friend with his stories about his time in the armed forces.

The Longstone is the opposite: pricey drinks, but a very unique interior. It’s hard to describe the décor: the front room looks almost like an old church, while the back room looks like a set from a “Harry Potter” film. There’s an enormous carved head of an old man in one corner, with his open mouth serving as a fireplace. Ancient tapestries hang on the walls, while strange tribal paintings ring the upper part of the wall. There’s a petrified tree near the staircase, with one of it’s branches arching over the stairway. Pints cost 4.50 to 5.50 depending on the variety, and they have a wide selection of food, including some very nice paninis. Definitely worth a visit.

There are dozens of other pubs, clubs, and bars to visit in Dublin, but now at least you know some of the best-kept secrets known to the locals. Until next time, sláinte!