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It’ll hardly come as a surprise that there are some good pubs in Dublin – it’s probably one of the main reasons you came here in the first place – but first-time visitors may be taken aback by the protagonist’s role the pub has in virtually every Dubliner’s social life. The pub is a meeting point for friends and strangers alike, a place to mark a moment and pass the time, a forum for discourse and a temple of silent contemplation. It is where Dubliners are at their friendly and convivial best – and at their drunken and belligerent worst.

There are pubs for every taste and sensibility, although the truly traditional haunts populated by flat-capped pensioners bursting with insightful anecdotes are about as rare as hen’s teeth: the city has been overwhelmed by designer bars and themed locales that could be found pretty much anywhere else in the world. But despair not, for it is not the spit or sawdust that makes a great Dublin pub (although it can help with the setting) but the patrons themselves.

Most visitors will make a beeline for Temple Bar, the city’s concentrated party zone, where giant bars pump out booze and chart-music to a thirsty, animated throng of revellers. It’s not so bad for a midweek drink, but come the weekend it’s strictly for tourists and visitors with T-shirts advertising themselves as part of a hen or stag group. More discerning party animals favour the strip of supersized bars on Dawson St and the bars along Wexford and Camden Sts, southwest of St Stephen’s Green. But don’t worry: you can’t go too far in the city centre without finding a pub with a bit of life in it.

Last orders are at 11.30pm Monday to Thursday, 12.30am Friday and Saturday and 11pm on Sunday, with 30 minutes’ drinking-up time each night. However, many central pubs have licences to serve until 1.30am or 2.30am.

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Traditional Pubs

Dublin still has some good, old-style, traditional establishments.

Flowing Tide (Map; 874 0842; 9 Lower Abbey St) This beautiful and atmospheric old pub is directly opposite the Abbey Theatre and is predictably very popular with theatre-goers – it can get swamped around 11pm, after the curtain comes down. They blend in with some no-bullshit locals who give the place a vital edge and make it a great place for a drink and a natter.

Patrick Conway’s (Map; 873 2687; 70 Parnell St) Although it’s slightly out of the way, this place is a true gem of a pub. It has been operating since 1745, and no doubt new fathers have been stopping in here for a celebratory pint since the day the Rotunda Maternity Hospital opened across the road in 1757.

Palace Bar (Map; 677 9290; 21 Fleet St) With its mirrors and wooden niches, Palace Bar is often said to be the perfect example of an old Dublin pub. It’s within Temple Bar and is popular with journalists from the nearby Irish Times.

Dawson Lounge (Map; 677 5909; 25 Dawson St) To see the smallest bar in Dublin, go through a small doorway, down a narrow flight of steps and into two tiny rooms that always seem to be filled with a couple of bedraggled drunks who look like they’re hiding. Psst, here’s a secret: a certain sunglassed lead singer of a certain ginormous Irish band is said to love unwinding in here from time to time.

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TOP FIVE PUBS

Best for a decent pint and a chat – Grogan’s Castle Lounge (below)

Best for beats and beatniks – Anseo (opposite)

Best for fiddles and bodhráns – Cobblestone (right)

Best for getting jiggy with it – Village (opposite)

Best to see and be seen – Bar With No Name (opposite)

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John Mulligan’s (Map; 677 5582; 8 Poolbeg St) Outside the eastern boundary of Temple Bar, John Mulligan’s is another pub that has scarcely changed over the years. It featured as the local in the film My Left Foot and is also popular with journalists from the nearby newspaper offices. Mulligan’s was established in 1782 and has long been reputed to have the best Guinness in Ireland, as well as a wonderfully