Ireland Honeymoon Suggestions

It's about 2 hours drive from Dublin to Kilkenny, and then another 2 to Cork. From there it's about 3 hours up to Galway so keep that in mind.

In Dublin I'd try to find The Stag's Head, and visit almost any pub in the Temple Bar (The Temple Bar, The Porterhouse, Bad Bobs) and ask around who's got the best craic and live music for the night. I'd do the Guinness tour just because you have to.

As I recall there's not that much in Kilkenny, and even less in Cork although I haven't been in years. Near Cork you might want to visit a charming little town called Cobh.

You might want to check out the Dingle peninsula on your way to Galway, as well as the Cliffs of Moher. On your stops in smaller towns try to find a pub where you can watch some hurling.

 

Hey Teddy,

So I’ve taken the below from a bunch of messages that I’ve posted before and updated a few bits


Dublin


I live in Dublin so I can probably give you the best information on it compared to Kilkenny and Galway.


Currently the best craft beer bar in Dublin is probably Underdog https://taplist.io/taplist-269059 it has a great selection and is also very central.


Urban Brewing is a cool place https://www.urbanbrewing.ie I personally don’t rate their own beers very highly for the most part but they’ve a huge selection of other stuff and their food is excellent.

The Galway Bay Brewery http://www.galwaybaybrewery.com/bars/ have a large number of bars in both Dublin and are all good bars with a mix of their own beers and guest taps. In Dublin the most central Galway Bay Brewery Bars are


The Brew Dock - http://www.galwaybaybrewery.com/brewdock/


The Black Sheep - http://www.galwaybaybrewery.com/blacksheep/


The Beer Market - http://www.galwaybaybrewery.com/beermarket/


Against the Grain - http://www.galwaybaybrewery.com/againstthegrain/


Alfie Byrnes - http://www.galwaybaybrewery.com/alfiebyrnes/


The Porterhouse http://www.theporterhouse.ie/bars-dublin-temple.php is a long established bar in Temple Bar and also another one near Grafton Street I personally find them both not great these days but the one in Temple Bar can be good for live music if you’ve had a few drinks already.


If you want a quality craft beer bar that does good food I’d strongly recommend L Mulligan Grocer http://lmulligangrocer1.weebly.com/ it’s not exactly central but a quick taxi ride or 20 minute walk from the city centre.



Some other bars in the city that are not linked directly to a brewery but all very good for craft beer are


P Macs - https://www.facebook.com/pmacspub/


The Bull and Castle - http://www.fxbuckley.ie/the-bull-and-castle/


Beerhouse - http://www.beerhousedublin.com/


Cassidy’s - https://www.facebook.com/Cassidys-Bar-27-Westmoreland-Street-


In terms of bottle shops depending on where you’re staying you might need to jump in a taxi to go to some of the better ones but the ones I’d recommend are Martins http://www.martinsofflicence.ie/ McHughs http://www.mchughs.ie/ Redmonds http://www.redmonds.ie/ Drinkstore http://www.drinkstore.ie/ and any of the Fresh stores. If you’re staying centrally then Stephen Street News across the road from P Macs has a great selection of beers for a small shop.


Irish breweries to look out for Whiplash, Galway Bay, Kinnegar, Trouble Brewing, Whiplash, Rascals, Whitehag, 8 Degrees are just a few of the Irish breweries. Most of the Irish breweries are making styles similar to what you’ll find in the US so you’ll still see plenty of canned NEIPA’s even in Ireland!


Also other Euro breweries to look for are Cloudwater, Lervig, Northern Monk, Magic Rock, Wylam, and many more. We get some 3F and Cantillon but probably best to message me directly about that so I can give more specific advise if you want to get some lambic.


One thing to note in terms of the Irish breweries is that due to ridiculous laws here most of them can’t sell directly from their breweries unless they have a bar license so tap rooms aren’t really a thing Rascals https://rascalsbrewing.com/ is the only one currently in the city if you want to visit - this is in the process of changing but it won’t be in place for the next couple of months anyway. You’ll be able to find the better breweries in most of the bars I’ve linked and in all the off licenses if you want to bring some home.




Traditional Irish bars:


These are all pretty central and should be a good mix of locals and tourists and will be less crazy than Temple Bar


The Long Hall - https://www.yelp.ie/biz/the-long-hall-dublin


Grogans - https://www.facebook.com/groganscastlelounge/


The Stags Head - http://www.louisfitzgerald.com/stagshead this is great for traditional music as well.


Mulligans - https://mulligans.ie/ this is a different place to Mulligans Grocer which I’ve linked above.


Cobblestone - https://www.facebook.com/thecobblestone/ if you want to see real authentic traditional Irish music this is the place to go it’s also a great bar and if you go to Mulligans Grocer this is only around the corner from it.


A bit further afield but if you’re feeling adventurous you could try The Grave Diggers - https://www.traditionalirishpubs.com/company/john-kavanagh-the-gravediggers/ it’s called this because it still has the hatch in the back where they served pints to the guys digging the graves in Glasnevin Cemetery – the cemetery is a good tourist attraction in its own right.


Temple Bar


I’ll be honest most local people dislike The Temple Bar area and don’t really go out in it as it is very touristy, expensive and can be crazy busy. Now I actually don’t mind it and you can have a lot of fun in Temple Bar it tends to be better mid-week were the pubs will be lively but not too crazy. The Temple Bar pub is probably one of the better places if you’re going for the touristy type pubs and it’s worth going in for a pint at least. Some people love the area and will spend days in it but I’d recommend taking a look yourself and seeing if it’s for you.


If you’re looking for an area with a variety of bars and restaurants that local people go then I’d look at the Wexford St/Camden St area these are 2 streets that lead into each other that are about 15 minutes’ walk from the city centre. Up here you’ll find loads of places to eat and drink for bars Against the Grain, Whelans (Great live music bar with good beer), Ryans (Traditional old school bar), Jimmy Rabbitte’s, Camden Exchange and the Bernard Shaw https://www.facebook.com/thebernardshaw/ to name just a few.


Also nearer the city center the area bordered by Georges St, Stephens St Lower, Wicklow/Exchequer St and Clarendon St is full of nice bar/café/restaurants.



I’d have a huge amount of restaurant recommendations depending on what kind of food you like just let me know what you’re into and I’ll get some info for you.


Galway

So unsurprisingly the Galway Bay Brewery bars are good over here with the Salt House and Oslo (This one is actually in Salthill which is about 2 miles outside the city) are good options. There’s also Bierhaus, Caribou, Universal and McGinn’s though I’m not overly familiar with Galway so this is based mainly on a weekend I spent over there recently. I’m not really sure what the best option for bottle shops is but McCambridges https://mccambridges.com/ has a decent selection of beer and wine.



Galway is a very compact city and you’ll be able to get around and figure it out very easily having a quick look at Tripadvisor I think it looks solid in terms of restaurant recommendations depending on what you like



https://www.tripadvisor.ie/Restaurants-g186609-Galway_County_Galway_Western_Ireland.html



Cork

I’m not overly familiar with the craft beer scene in Cork but I do know Franciscan Well brewery, Rising Son brewery, The Bierhaus, Abbots Alehouse and Elbow Lane seem to feature highly in any searches that I can see. Bradley’s Off Licence should be good for a bottle shop in Cork.


Kilkenny


I don’t have too many recommendations here but I’m sure you’ll see the castle and then hit the town – it’s a great fun town and you’ll be well sourced for bars and restuarants – there’s some talk of it in this thread https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...-27-what-to-look-out-for.571244/#post-6040685



In terms of touristy things there’s so many but I’d say just a few based on your itinery I can think of


Dublin – Guinness, Teelings/Jameson Distillery, Trinity College, Kilmainham Gaol, Viking Splash Tour, Phoenix Park, Dublin Castle, Christchurch Cathedral, National Gallery, National History Museum, Howth.


Galway – Cliffs of Moher (I’m guessing you’ll go here), Connemara, Aran Islands, Doolin


Kilkenny – Kilkenny Castle, Smithwicks


Cork – English Market, Fitzgerald Park, Cork City Gaol, Blarney Castle


I know that’s a huge information dump but just shoot me a message if you want any specific information – more than happy to help.