In honor of St. Patrick’s Day being this past weekend, I figured I’d write something about Ireland. So here we are!

Check out the Dublin Castle

The Dublin Castle is an incredible piece of well-preserved medieval architecture, and it’s well-worth feasting your eyes upon it. It’s a massive castle built around 1200AD, with beautiful grounds outside called the Dubh Linn Garden. The castle is a spectacle you won’t find anywhere else in the world, and you gotta see it for yourself to truly take in its beauty.

Unfortunately it was under construction when I visited, but that didn’t make it any less stunning to look at.

Explore the Temple Bar District

So this might be a little confusing since the part of Dublin with the most stuff to do (at least from my experience) is called Temple Bar, but there is also a bar within the Temple Bar district named The Temple Bar Pub. And it’s also my understanding that any of the pubs within the Temple Bar district are called Temple Bars. So let’s talk about the broader district first.

There are tons of small shops, pubs, restaurants and more to explore in this district, so you’ll have an abundance of things to do here. The area is one of the busiest in Dublin, so most of the businesses are usually very populated (especially the pubs), but this provides you with plenty of opportunities to meet people from all walks of life from all over the world.

When it comes to the Temple Bars within this district, there are plenty of different spots to try. I really liked The Hairy Lemon and the Temple Bar Pub, but there are dozens of other options in the district. Most of the bars usually have live music as well, so that’s a good source of entertainment. Regardless, you’ll be getting the best Guinness in the world. My body still craves that delicious goodness to this day.

Guinness Storehouse Tour

Another option is to cut out the middle man and go straight to the source. The Guinness Brewery at St. James Gate is one of the coolest museums/breweries/places that I’ve toured, with tons of interesting material telling the visitors about how Guinness is brewed, the history of the brand, the story of Arthur Guinness, and much more.

All tours are self-guided, but it never gets to be a bore in my opinion. All parts of the tour are engaging and interesting, with water displays, historical pieces, and numerous other interactive aspects. You work your way up to the top floor of the brewery throughout the tour, and on the top floor you’ll end at a bar with a 360˚ view of Dublin where you’ll receive a free pint of Guinness. It’s a great time.

You can book a tour here.

Pub Crawls

I feel like pub crawls in Dublin are obligatory, like going to a casino in Las Vegas. I got involved with pub crawls through the hostel I stayed at, but I believe they use a 3rd party service so anyone can get involved. The pub crawls I took part in generally consisted of people aged 20-35, but they were amazing ways to meet people from all over the world and make new friends. I met people from Ireland, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, and many other countries.

Throughout the pub crawl you visit 3-4 different pubs, with exclusive drink deals at each, and the crawl ends at a popular Dublin club. It’s a great time if you’re looking for a fun night out.

Here is the link to the pub crawl I took part in.

Trinity College

Dublin’s famous Trinity College is a really cool castle-like university campus, with medieval architecture that you can spend hours observing. For me, it was cool walking around the campus and imagining what the lives of students attending the college are like. It doesn’t take long to explore the campus, but it’s well worth it.

I’ve also heard the library on campus is an incredible place to visit, but I didn’t get the chance to check it out.

Visit Saint Patrick’s Cathedral

St. Patrick’s Cathedral is a medieval castle-like cathedral, built around the same time as the Dublin Castle, that still stands tall in Dublin after all these years. The tours here are super informational and I thought it was super interesting learning about the history of the cathedral in Dublin.

The grounds outside the cathedral are also super pretty, and I highly recommend taking a stroll along the path that runs around the church.

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I’m sure I missed a bunch of stuff because I was only in Dublin for three days, but I can assure you around every corner you’ll find something cool to do.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 🍀