Six of Ireland’s best traditional pubs

The classic Irish bar, whose hallmarks evoke the qualities of an earlier era, has been in steady decline – but recently its future has started to look a little brighter

There’s more to traditional Irish bars than their vernacular design or their location on almost every street corner and village green inIreland. Behind their distinctive facades is an elusive character that has barely changed over the centuries: the rustle of the newspaper on a Sunday afternoon, the banter from the bartender or the gentle thud of a perfectly drawn pint of stout on solid, time-smoothed timber.

Yet, they have never been at greater risk. Despite thwarting the epidemic of McPubs on Irish shores, or even the arrival of global chains with localised shamrock branding, the traditional pub is in steady decline with more than over 21% of premises having closed since 2005. However, their future has recently started looking a little brighter. In 2022, the Cobblestone Bar in Dublin scored a minor victory against the big guys by successfully battling developers’ plans to turn it into a hotel.