Dublin--Book of Kells & Pub

[CruisePrincess6]

We will be visiting Dublin the end of June from 7am to 7pm. Have been there before taking the hop on hop off bus and spending time at Guiness. This time would like to tour Trinity College and Book of Kells, walk around the area, have lunch in a pub and a little shopping. Need advice.

[Chloe1500]

Hi, while on a cruise there we booked a historical walking tour of Dublin on our own that we thought was outstanding. It began at Trinity College and covered the major historical sights in that area. (Historical Walking Tours of Dublin, historicalwalkingtours.ie) After the tour, we still had lots of time to walk to the Temple Bar area, explore and have a long lunch in a pub.

 

Our cruise with Princess offered a shuttle that took us directly to Trinity College and we just walked around to the main entrance for our tour. If you want to see the Book of Kells, go very early before the walking tour. It is a very long line to see just a couple of pages under plexiglass.

[Mairnealach]

Hi,

 

Is there any specific advice you require? Trinity College is in the centre of Dublin and pubs, shops, National Museum, and National Gallery are all within five minutes walking distance. You could start your shopping in the Kilkenny Shop, Nassau Street, which is across the street from the entrance to the college library.

 

http://www.kilkennyshop.com/

 

It stocks Irish designed goods, unlike the international brands on sale in most of the other stores. You say you want to have a pub lunch, but I would eat in the Kilkenny Shop café before repairing to a hostelry for drinks. There are always three hot food options as well as salads and quiches, the quality is good and the price reasonable.

 

However, if you want a pub lunch The Bailey or Davy Byrne's are two famous options. They are situated opposite each other in Duke Street, off Grafton Street. They are expensive, but if you manage to grab a pavement table, and the weather is clement, they are pleasant places to pass an hour while people watching.

 

http://www.baileybarcafe.com/home.htm

 

http://www.davybyrnes.com/

 

Grafton Street is Dublin's main shopping street and Brown Thomas is the city's most up-market department store.

 

http://www.brownthomas.com/

 

The area around Trinity College is the nicest part of the city and, unless you have a specific reason, I don't see any point in going further afield. I have limited my advice to eating, pubs and shopping, but if you seek information on anything else about Dublin do please ask.

 

Dermot

[jellybungsters]

Hi Dermot,

We were planning on having lunch at O'Neills Bar & Restaurant. How is The Bailey or Davy Byrne's compared to O'Neills? I'm especially looking for a place that serves good Irish stew.

Thanks,

Joey

[Mairnealach]

Hi Dermot,

We were planning on having lunch at O'Neills Bar & Restaurant. How is The Bailey or Davy Byrne's compared to O'Neills? I'm especially looking for a place that serves good Irish stew.

Thanks,

Joey

 

Hi Joey,

 

You won't be eating in a pub for the quality of the food, and despite including the word 'restaurant' in their titles all these establishments are essentially pubs, but for the atmosphere and ambience. The Bailey and Davy Byrne's are far superior to O'Neill's in these regards. Traffic is the bane of cities and Suffolk Street, where O'Neill's is situated, is a very busy thoroughfare which is permanently clogged with cars and buses. It also has no outdoor, pavement seating area. Duke Street, the location of The Bailey and Davy Byrne's, is pedestrianised and both pubs have pavement seating. The Bailey's outdoor seating area is more extensive than Davy Byrne's and has the advantage of being south facing.

 

I cannot comment of the quality of any of these establishments Irish stew. Far be it from me to undermine long-held beliefs, but, in my opinion, Irish stew is not a traditional Irish dish. I have never eaten it and, to the best of my knowledge, no family member or friend has. Stew in Ireland is normally made from beef not lamb and Irish stew is only found on the menu in places catering for tourists. I have always assumed that Irish stew is, like the modern celebration of St Patrick's Day, an American invention. This ends the cookery lesson. Enjoy your visit to Dublin and let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

 

Dermot

[CruisePrincess6]

Hi Dermot,

 

I read that the Kilkenny restaurant has very good scones. Do they serve them all day or just tea time? Last time we were in Dublin we went into a fish and chip shop on the Main Street where the hop on hop off bus left us off. Very reasonable and good. Don't remember the name. Would you recommend such a place? Surprised Irish Stew is considered American so interested to hear about fish and chips.

 

One other question. Is it worth seeing the interior of Trinity College and the Book of Kells or should we do the Historical Walking Tour.

 

Thanks.

[Peteymil]

Where are The Baily and David Brynes in relation to Trinity College?

[Mairnealach]

Hi Dermot,

 

I read that the Kilkenny restaurant has very good scones. Do they serve them all day or just tea time? Last time we were in Dublin we went into a fish and chip shop on the Main Street where the hop on hop off bus left us off. Very reasonable and good. Don't remember the name. Would you recommend such a place? Surprised Irish Stew is considered American so interested to hear about fish and chips.

 

One other question. Is it worth seeing the interior of Trinity College and the Book of Kells or should we do the Historical Walking Tour.

 

Thanks.

 

Yes, the scones are served all day. A scone, with butter, and a mug of coffee costs €4 odd. The café gets very crowded between 1-2pm with office workers having lunch, so try and avoid this time. For years, when I was at school, I had fish and chips from a chipper twice a week. These were followed by either a jam doughnut or a cream bun and washed down with a bottle of fizzy lemonade. Nowadays my stomach is not able for such things and I find shop-made fish and chips heavy and greasy.

 

The difficulty with advising whether it is worth seeing the Book of Kells is that you are only getting one person's opinion. I would much rather visit the National Museum of Ireland, admission is free, than paying and queuing to see whatever page of the Book of Kells is on display that day.

 

http://www.museum.ie/en/intro/archae...hy-museum.aspx

 

 

Or, if it's a fine day, I would do the walking tour in preference to the Book of Kells. But, again, that is just my view.

[Mairnealach]

Where are The Baily and David Brynes in relation to Trinity College?

 

https://www.google.ie/maps/place/Duke+St,+Dublin/@53.3419107,-6.2590268,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x48670e9b966233eb:0x78d19ef4676d9adb?hl=en

 

From the main entrance to Trinity College, walk up Grafton Street and Duke Street is the first street on your left. From the Nassau Street entrance, cross the road, walk up Dawson Street and Duke Street is the first on your right. Be careful crossing the street, when you leave the college, as there are major road works taking place.

[phabric]

In 2013, I purchased the tickets for the Book of Kells online. There was no discount for purchasing online. We had to wait in the same line as the others and had to hand in the tickets to the same ticket agent as the the others.

 

This year, when I tried to purchase tickets, they are now timed. I will wait until we get there to purchase.

 

I would suggest if going to see the Book of Kells, go as early as possible, we got there before it open and there was a long line ahead of us.

 

I took a taxi to Trinity College from the dock and it was €15 including a tip. It was €15 on the return from a different area of Dublin.

 

Princess did offer for a price a shuttle into Dublin.

 

We took the Hop On/Hop Off bus after, which had a stop around the corner from the College.

[buddha'smoo]

Hi Dermot,

We were planning on having lunch at O'Neills Bar & Restaurant. How is The Bailey or Davy Byrne's compared to O'Neills? I'm especially looking for a place that serves good Irish stew.

Thanks,

Joey

 

 

I'd personally avoid O'Neills for food. The Old Stand on Exchequer Street (u at off Grafton Street) is far superior, and has one of the best pints of Guinness in Dublin. As another poster stated, we don't really do Irish stew here.

 

Not sure if it's the same poster looking for fish and chips, but Burdocks on Werburgh Street (opposite Christchurch Cathedral) is the best chipper in Dublin, it's only a quick walk up Dame Street from Trinity to Christchurch. It's a tiny chipper, nowhere to sit, but head over to either cathedral and sit in the ground to dine. (Only go to the Werburgh Street Leo Burdocks, the others don't compare)

[paddingtonbear]

Hi Dermot,

We were planning on having lunch at O'Neills Bar & Restaurant. How is The Bailey or Davy Byrne's compared to O'Neills? I'm especially looking for a place that serves good Irish stew.

Thanks,

Joey

 

 

I was in Dublin las week and lots of places do an Irish Stew with Guinness in it. The Guinness storehouse does one too.

 

Law got to the library for the book of jells at 9:10 and were 2nd in line. There was a long line by the time it opened at 9:30 but it moves quickly.

 

The pre purchased tickets get you in via an exclusive line. When looking at the library door go to the queue on the left. The were all admitted before anyone on the regular line even though they hadn't been there long and went in straight away while we had to wait to buy tickets.

 

There is a hall of information about the manuscripts, the scribes and the decorations. Then there is a small room with the book of kells under glass. Then you go upstairs to see the old library.

 

As with most attractions it's pretty underwhelming but it's something you feel you should do while in Dublin. Getting there really early made it pretty painless. We went straight to the book of kells room and had it to ourselves for a good while then went back to the info room. Your money goes to help book restoration etc.

 

The Bank bar in temple bar - close to a HOHO stop - has an easily accessible copy.

 

I thought the HOHO bus was good but it's 20e for one day and 22 e for 2 days. We were there for more than 2 days so it was worth it for us. It was cold 50 degrees F when we were there no way would we want to eat outside.

Edited May 29, 2015 by paddingtonbear

[Illyria]

We took the HOHO bus around Dublin and thought it was really good, with well-located stops. We walked around the Trinity College grounds but it was in the afternoon and the line for Book of Kells was so long, we decided it wasn't worth it.

[Pet Nit Noy]

... Trinity College is in the centre of Dublin and pubs, shops, National Museum, and National Gallery are all within five minutes walking distance

 

Here's an enthusiastic vote for a visit to the National Museum. If you have limited time, consider visiting only the Pre-historic gold exhibit (Or -- Ireland's gold). The museum is centrally located, admission is free, and the Bronze Age gold exhibit is located on the ground floor. All these things combine to make a visit to the Museum a great addition to a busy port day in Dublin.

 

Here's a link to information about the gold exhibit:

http://www.museum.ie/en/exhibition/irelands-gold-introduction.aspx

 

My husband and I did Dublin on a multi-day land visit, so we took a tour of Trinity College that included a visit inside the library and a look at the Book of Kells. My memory is that as a tour participant we were fast tracked on the line to get in to see the book.

 

Cruisers visiting Dublin might not have the time to tour the college -- although it was very interesting and the student tour guides were charming and informative -- but the organization that runs the tours also offers an online way to book Fast Track entrance to the book. Here's the link to the page with all the tour/admission information.

 

http://www.tcd.ie/Library/bookofkells/trinity-tours/

 

The online booking feature is on the left of the page.

Edited May 29, 2015 by Pet Nit Noy

[LondonTowner]

My family are Irish, although not from Dublin and we have always eaten Irish Stew. Maybe it is a regional thing and not common in Dublin.

[newgrange]

I would agree that stew in Ireland is usually beef and I can't imagine what mutton would taste like paired with Guinness (not too good I suspect), so Guinness stew will be with beef too.

 

My granny used to make 'Irish stew' with mutton. We never had it as children, in fact we rarely had mutton at all.

[4774Papa]

We took the Celebrity shuttle from the port to an area very close to Trinity College. They have a nice walking tour there, I think it is on the hour or half hour. You can take in the Book of Kells while there.

 

There are pubs all over Dublin. We found a couple of nice Pubs on the same side of the river as the college. Pubs are not hard to find.

[lw7878]

We took the Celebrity shuttle from the port to an area very close to Trinity College. They have a nice walking tour there, I think it is on the hour or half hour. You can take in the Book of Kells while there.

 

There are pubs all over Dublin. We found a couple of nice Pubs on the same side of the river as the college. Pubs are not hard to find.

 

We'll cruise with Celebrity Silhouette in July. So much research to do when planning the shore excursions. I am already exhausted even before the cruise starts!

 

May I ask if the shuttle was free at this port? How long was the ride?

Maybe I haven't looked hard enough. The Celebrity website doesn't give any information about transportation options for any of the ports that Silhouette visits.

 

Thanks.

[4774Papa]

We'll cruise with Celebrity Silhouette in July. So much research to do when planning the shore excursions. I am already exhausted even before the cruise starts!

 

May I ask if the shuttle was free at this port? How long was the ride?

Maybe I haven't looked hard enough. The Celebrity website doesn't give any information about transportation options for any of the ports that Silhouette visits.

 

Thanks.

The shuttle was not free, the cost was small, I think it was 5 or 10 Euros pp.

I don't see walking out of the port, due to the distance and industrial stuff there.