rom a vantage point atop the city, Dublin spreads out as a cluster of green domes,
chic office blocks and red brick terraces, interspersed with the occasional factory
tower, vertiginous relics from the past, preserved for posterity. The yellow streetlights
glow and the dark waters of the Liffey, which bifurcates the city, run fast and true. It’s
a vista you could never tire of, and yet Dublin isn’t made to be admired from afar: it’s
the sort of place you have to live up close. Hands on, glasses up and inhibitions down.
You don’t have to be partial to a drink to appreciate Dublin (though it helps) any more than you
have to be enamoured with ceilidh music (though that also helps). The best way to experience
Dublin is to extend both arms, open your mind and go with the flow. By all means set out with
an itinerary, but don’t feel duty bound by it. You may find, on reflection, that your greatest
memories of your time in Dublin were the unscripted ones; those moments when you deviated
from the script. Taking a wrong turn and winding up in the Writers Museum; ducking in out
of the rain and finding yourself in the Science Gallery. So many happy accidents just waiting to
happen.
Dublin has a rich and tumultuous history, as anyone who’s visited the National Museum of
Ireland will attest. The museum is a fitting starting point for anyone keen to explore the medieval
city. It’s by no means the only option however: it’s equally possible to top up on culture and beer
by embarking on a literary pub crawl that starts in the cobbled square of Trinity College before
weaving through the narrow streets.
Dublin is a city that can be anything you want it to be. For many, the
vibrant night spots around Grafton Street and Temple Bar are the
epicentre of it all, the hub around which the city revolves. Dublin
may be one of the world’s greatest cities for drinking, but not
everyone alights there in search of alcohol, as great as the
Guinness may be. The city is also famed for its culinary scene,
which has produced some of Ireland’s finest restaurants,
places where the sea bass is fresh and zesty, the pork cheek
is tender and the clams are a twist of pepper away from
perfection.
As with any teeming metropolis, the biggest problem
confronting visitors to Dublin isn’t finding things to do:
it’s whittling the wealth of options down into a sensible
itinerary. You can’t eat in every restaurant that takes your
fancy. You can’t dive into every atmospheric pub and tour
every historic attraction. That’s where we come in. The
Entertainment Guide has been designed to separate the wheat
from the chaff, to differentiate the great from the not-so-great.
Think of this guide as your key to unlocking the city. It supplies the
local knowledge. You have the final say.
INTRODUCTION
4
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