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Palace Bar
- Price Range:
-
€€€
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Best Nights:
- Fri, Sat
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- Outdoor Area/ Patio Only
- Coat Check:
- No
16 reviews for Palace Bar
16 reviews in English
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Review from Annie L.
9/4/2012 1 Check-in Here
"It's great to see a woman drinking a pint," smiled the Don Juan of Irish men chat up lines.
"Thank you."
"Tis great," he added and leaned in for dramatic effect as he passed our table.
I wouldn't come here expecting to be captivated by poetry by potential partners.
I would come here if you want a great pint of Guinness and if you wanted to have a good conversation with friends.
At the back there is a Victorian styled dome which opens up the space a lot versus older pubs with smaller ceilings that can be rather claustrophobic. The ladies loos are wonderful - seriously wonderful. So clean, plants, moisturisers... I was not expecting that very feminine side to what is a very masculine bar.Listed in: Dublin Southside pubs!
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Review from Onur U.
23/11/2011
After hitting a lot of classic Irish pubs, I was looking for a place to try a nice variety of Irish whiskies. After looking through the Irish Whiskey Trail website, I learned about Palace Bar which is right in Temple Bar. Jackpot!
The whiskey selection is formidable and well organized. They have a section called "desert island whiskies" which was an excellent road map for the inexperienced. Though all the whiskies we tried were interesting , I particularly enjoyed the Bushmills 1608. Though I would've liked it if we could have talked about the whiskey with the bartender, the tasting notes in the whiskey menu was good enough.
The place was filled with locals and we got to chat with a couple of them. Also in the back room a band was playing traditional Irish music and people were singing along. This may be in the tourist district, but the vibe was decidedly local. An excellent spot! -
Review from Pia M.
20/3/2012
Definitely a cool and low-key watering hole to check out if you're visiting Dublin as it was the unofficial meeting joint for Irish writers in the past.
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Review from Aidan S.
Dublin
16/3/2011 ROTD 26/7/2011
The Palace is one of the most traditional pubs in Dublin, and although it's on the corner of Temple Bar, it is most definitely not part of the rip-off tourist trap that is Temple Bar.
It may be a cosy little bar, but good goods come in small packages!
This is a bar is as it was, and unspoiled by the passages of time, unlike a lof of Dublin. It was also the favourite watering hole of a lot of the Literati of Dublin in the late 19 and early 20th Centuries. Frequented by the likes of George Bernard Shaw, Flan O'Brien, and James Joyce
Still one of the best pubs in Dublin, and it serves a fantastic pint of Guinness. -
Review from Donal F.
Dublin
10/1/2011 ROTD 27/11/2011
This, in the time of Joyce and O' Brien, was The Pearl bar. It was, for decades, the pub for Irish Times journos to drink in. There was once a great saying in the capital that if you missed The Irish Times, you missed a part of the day, yet if you went into The Pearl, you'd miss a few days!
This pub is located unfortunately close to the bus stop, and on many occasions I've missed the 11:30pm for another pint. The pint is up to scratch, and this is one of the only pubs that gets away with selling t-shirts.
Like O'Donoghues, the walls here are like those of a museum, giving great insight into the history of the premises and perhaps even bragging about a few famous ex-punters.
Two pints, a pint a piece, is all we have time for when I drop in. On the way out I drop them back to the bar, something anyone who spent any amount of time working in a pub seems to develop a habit of doing, and the barman gives thanks. I haven't been in here in a while, but the atmosphere is just as I remember it on a previous visit, with conversation king here.
Go visit. -
Review from Kelly T.
Dublin
13/12/2009
I normally steer clear of Temple Bar because it's a bit of a tourist trap and the drinks are over-priced, but on the edge of Temple bar on Fleet Street this pub is a real gem. Whenever I have friends visiting from America I always bring them here for its authentic Irish feel. In the downstairs section of the pub, there's an old-fashioned snug, which are hard to come by in a lot of pubs in Dublin these days. It's normally locked so you just have to ask the bar men to let you in and voila you have your own private seating area plus direct access to the bar, as one door leads right to the bar. My favourite thing about this snug though is the history behind it. It's rumoured that Michael Collins used to meet other co-patriots to discuss secret plans and the politics of the day! I always feel like I'm conducting some sort of espionage whenever I'm sitting in there.
In the upstairs section bar most nights they have a great trad music session. The lads who play are great fun and are Dubs through and through. The crowd is a good mix of locals and out-of-towners and the many nationalities present are a good representation of those in Dublin today. It's definitely worth a stop if you want an authentic Irish feel with a lot of history! -
Review from Rónán C.
Dublin
8/7/2009 2 photos
Only been in once. Nice traditional pub, central enough to get a crowd but far enough away from Temple Bar to have some of them actually be from Dublin.
They do get respect points for the Jem Casey 'pome' printed on the front window though. The Workmans Friend "a pint of plain is your only man"-brilliant! -
Review from Alexandra M.
Dublin
9/2/2011
Kinda small, expensive for Dublin on a Tuesday, and no music (which I have come to expect in Temple Bar). It was pretty nice inside though.
Listed in: Dublin Pubs!, Temple Bar
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Review from Susan D.
19/7/2009
I'm a non-drinker because of my diabetes. If I was back in my native Pittsburgh, PA, I would almost never go into a pub (the ironic thing was that I was the bassist in a bar/covers band). But on a recent trip to Ireland, my husband and I did venture into a few of the famous pubs.
I am, however, an avid reader. I was interested in this place because it was frequented by writers of the Irish Times. The bar also draws a fair amount of both locals and tourists. It's a fairly lively place, and is fun to stop in at any time. -
Review from Kate M.
Dublin
4/7/2009 1 photo
Traditional, cool pub. Very popular with the rugger crowd.
This would be more of a lads spot than a night out with the girls. It's always very busy and packed, but you're pretty much guaranteed a night out!
Great location in temple bar too - just around the corner from trinity college. -
Review from Aoife O.
Dublin
22/7/2009 1 photo
I nipped into the upstairs of Palace Bar in Temple Bar (not to be confused with the other, very different Palace on Camden Street) when my friend was playing a trad session there. It's a very intimate little place - so much so that it feels like they just rammed a bar into someone's living room and you're chilling there like Billy-o. It was cramped (as it would be if you had a session in your living room!) but great craic and the session was intense and rowdy, in the best possible ways.
The Palace has a long association with Irish Times journos and literary types like Flann O'Brien and Patrick Kavanagh. Despite this and its proximity Temple Bar, it has somehow escaped the fate of becoming a total tourist trap - perhaps this is because it hides shyly in the corner under an array of hanging baskets. Whatever the reason, when I was there, there was a very healthy ratio of tourists to locals! -
Review from Glen M.
4/1/2011
Solid pub with solid pints and well worth a visit. The downstairs gets a bit mad, but the upstairs is almost always seat-having, even during matches. Haven't experienced the loud music that Lynne's suggested.
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Review from Tony B.
12/1/2010
Decent pub well worth a visit.
Now that the Daniel O'Connell pub is closed this is the place I always stop in for a pint when I am back in Dublin.
It is always packed and the crowd is good.
It hasn't changed much since the late 80s early 90s, but it is more international now and less college students.
I usually go early in the day, so I have not heard the trad music.
i will check it out the next time I am in town.
I also stick to the downstairs area. I did not even know their was an upstairs.
Some interesting memories here.
One of my favorite is a mother with a baby in a carriage.
She was drinking a pint and smoking while rocking the carriage in the snug at last call.
Even an odd site in those days (89).
I think she might be arrested these days, and not just for smoking. -
Review from Toni F.
16/9/2011
what a great place. Forget all the reviews of 'real feel' pubs. This is the real deal. very laid back and great, quiet traditional music in Dublin. This was a highlight of our trip. It was a big hang out for Irish writers and their photos and drawings of them are in the backroom which is great.
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Review from Enda W.
Dublin
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Review from Lowell H.
27/9/2009
they have an actual Irish music session upstairs most nights. Very much a "public house". Felt more like a party in someones house than a bar. Nice, specially in super touristy Temple Bar.
