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Image by Damian Byrne
One would assume that, as the home of the black stuff, a good pint of Guinness in Dublin was virtually a given. Sadly this is far from the case; thus, given the considerable time, money and effort I’ve invested in researching this subject over the years, I thought I’d share my findings with the readers of Spotted by Locals on where to find the best pint in town.
I have heard various theories over the years as to why some pubs have excellent Guinness and others don’t. As a general rule of thumb, the older and more traditional the pub, the better the pint is likely to be. Of course, I can’t claim to have been to every pub in Dublin – despite my best efforts, so my conclusions can only be based on partial evidence.
There are certain pubs which rarely let you down on the Guinness front – Mulligans of Poolbeg Street, Nearys of Chatham Street and the Sackville Lounge just off O’Connell Street are a few that come immediately to mind. My vote for best pint in Dublin, however, goes to O’Connells of Portobello.
This is an old-school, friendly locals’ pub, well off the tourist trail, although it does attract a few younger types at weekends en route to the trendier joints in nearby Camden Street. Not only are the pints of Guinness consistently good, but at € 4, they are a bargain for this part of town.
J. O’Connell’s | Bars | Guinness (pint) € 4.00
29 South Richmond Street
Mon – Thu 16:00 – 23:30, Fri – Sat 16:00 – 00:30, Sun 13:00 – 23:30
sorry to read your comments about this pub. My friends and I
go to this pub on a regular basis. We normally go there when we
get together for chat and find the service and hospitality
excellent. The staff you describe sound like the weekend staff
perhaps you should go early in the week when the owner is there.
I,m sure you will leave there with a very different view of this
bar
This is ownd by a family,about 7 brothers,some of whom are /were Prision officers in Mountjoy prison.Rudeness and inhospitality are always on the menu.They should be grateful to have come to Dublin from the country all those years ago and made a very good living from selling drink to locals and visitors alike.It goes back to the old Dublin Jackeen /Culchie syndrome and the bigotry of old on both sides.They’ve never moved on from that and I’ve seen them shouting at the musicians at closing time very obnoxiously to stop playing and singing etc…they don’t pay for the music or even throw a few pints to the players so this speaks volumes in itself.An attitiude of ingrattude is the order of the day here.They don’t mind getting rough either and throwing a few slaps at drunks when they feel like it.Bullys and bogots.They can shove their Guinness where the sun doesn’t shine.Mulligans in poolbeg st,Keohes and “proper” establishments like that are polite and friendly and professional.One of the brothers bought a pub in inchicore 20 years ago,the “Tyrconnell House”.They don’t pull the “hard men” act up there,too close to BAllyfermot and Bluebell for that crack,they’d be closed down and in hospital real quick with the locals up there If they tried it.Selective about where they try the heavy stuff ,Porabello is more a cosmopolitan mixture of students and civil servants who rent flats in the area..easy to be rude and obnoxious to a “Cool” and inoffensive crowd like that.Stay away.
I arrived in at 9pm on Saturday and the owners had a zero tolerance policy on Christmas jumpers. Which was to be applauded. Yes the woman behind the bar was grumpy but it was understandable given the night that was in it. After being in two pubs down the road it was an absolute joy to be sheltered from the carnage and banality of the “Christmas jumper” apocalypse. Humbug indeed.
Good Guinness, good people.
Hi Jane, I am sorry you had a bad experience in O’Connells. Its true this pub takes a hostile attitude towards large groups in December. And by the sounds of it they could handle the situation a lot better.
On the other hand, their regular customers are very grateful to them for taking this approach, and I admire the fact they look after their regulars rather than just cashing in.
I think your experience would be very untypical of this pub at any other time of the year.
I was extremely embarrassed after bringing some friends to this pub who were visiting Ireland for the weekend. They had come a very long way (from Australia) and I had told them about how fantastic and hospitable the Irish people were. This pub 100% proved the opposite. They people working behind the bar were incredibly rude and refused to serve us we were wearing red jumpers , I quote one of the barmen as saying ‘I’m not serving this 12 pubs shit’ and he then proceeded to ignore us. A female member of staff then accused me personally of ‘shouting’ when in fact I entered the pub, sat on a stool and spoke privately with my friends. I felt incredibly humiliated and wouldn’t recommend this establishment to anybody in a million years.