A Week in Ireland: Whiskey, Seafood, and Making Dublin My Own

By the time I arrived in Dublin, I had already been traveling for more than a week. There had been a wedding in Greece, a few days in Split and Dubrovnik, ferries, flights, heat, incredible meals, and more than a few glasses of Croatian wine. Ireland was the last stop on the trip, but it would be different.

I wasn’t technically on vacation anymore. I had a full week in Dublin, but I was also back at work. With my workday starting around 2 PM local time, I had mornings to explore and afternoons and evenings mostly tied to my laptop. It turned out to be a pretty great way to experience Dublin.

Instead of trying to see everything in two or three days, I started settling into a rhythm. I’d get up early, find coffee, spend the morning exploring, grab lunch, and make my way back to the Temple Bar Hotel before work. And somewhere along the way, I found myself getting very comfortable in Dublin.

Making Temple Bar Home for the Week

I stayed at the Temple Bar Hotel, which turned out to be exactly where I needed to be for this trip. Yes, Temple Bar is busy and touristy. But when you only have half a day to explore before work, being able to walk out of your hotel and immediately be in the middle of Dublin is incredibly convenient. Sidebar — this is one of those examples of how I earn miles and status! Delta had a Delta stays offer that earned me not only miles, but also status qualifying MQDs! If you are a Delta loyal, be on the lookout for those offers!

I could walk to Trinity College, the cathedrals, restaurants, pubs and coffee shops without wasting much of my morning getting from place to place. And I quickly found my coffee shop.

Copper (yes, Copper!) and Straw became my Dublin coffee spot. I went four times during the week, which is probably the best endorsement this high-expectations coffee snob can give a coffee shop while traveling. I’m usually trying somewhere new every morning. Returning four times means I stopped caring about finding somewhere else.

Guinness, Jameson and the Beginning of a Theme

It probably shouldn’t surprise anyone that a week in Dublin became increasingly focused on whiskey. And my very first planned experience was that: whiskey at Jameson Bow St.

I took a bit of a chance by booking Jameson two and a half hours after landing in Dublin, but it all went perfectly. Luckily, Iwas at my hotel within 50 minutes of landing, which gave me time to breathe and freshen up before heading to the Jameson. I booked Guinness for Monday morning, fitting around my work schedule.

Guinness is one of those places you almost feel obligated to visit on a first trip to Dublin. It’s polished and definitely built for visitors, but I still enjoyed learning more about something so intertwined with the city.

Jameson was more my speed. I have a clear interest in whiskey, so the tasting portion made the experience much more interesting than simply touring a famous name. What I didn’t realize yet was that Jameson would only be the beginning of my Dublin whiskey education.

The Whiskey Tasting I Planned and the One I Didn’t

One of the best whiskey experiences of the week was a tasting at The Whiskey Reserve with Angel. This was the kind of tasting I love. We could slow down, talk about what was in the glass, and actually compare the whiskeys rather than simply moving through a standard tourist experience. It was educational, but it also felt personal.

Then there was Agustin; that tasting wasn’t on my itinerary at all. I stopped at the Temple Bar Whiskey Shop and ended up in an impromptu whiskey tasting with Agustin. One pour became another, accompanied by conversation about what I was tasting and why. It was completely different from the tasting with Angel, and that’s exactly why I loved having both experiences. Agustin is a fellow WSET L3 candidate, so our battle strategies to pass WSET L3 also made it into the conversation.

One was planned, and one happened because I sat down at a bar and started asking questions. And those are often my favorite travel moments.

I Apparently Came to Ireland for the Seafood

I expected whiskey and Guinness in Ireland. And while I do know that Ireland is an island, I wasn’t expecting to spend eight days eating seafood strictly. This island girl was right in her element!

A friend had recommended Oliver St. John Gogarty’s, so I went there for my first night’s dinner after returning from Jameson and had a delicious seafood chowder. It was closer to cioppino in consistency than creamy.

Then I went back and discovered that the lunch version was the creamy version of the seafood chowder I had for dinner my first night. While it was delicious, that dinner version ended up being my second favorite meal of the entire Greece, Croatia, and Ireland trip. So much that I have already recreated it at home, but that is another write-up for a different day!

Then there was The Brazen Head, Ireland’s oldest pub. Since you go to the Brazen Head for its history, I went expecting the pub itself to be the attraction. And then the mussels arrived, and they were amazing. I paired a very generous portion of them, which I sadly couldn’t finish, with a Murphy’s. Suddenly, my historic pub stop had turned into one of my favorite lunches in Dublin.

Breakfast Twice and a Little Bit of Portugal

Not every memorable meal needs to be a big event. I went to Copper Alley Bistro twice on my way from touring St Patrick’s and Christ Church Cathedrals. And then a second time because I was just craving a really good brunch.

The first time, I ordered an Irish breakfast. On my second visit, I had scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, and those eggs were to die for. And that is another recipe that I have been making at home. They reminded me of the French scrambled-egg technique that produces the softest scrambled eggs with pretty swirls. If you are curious, this blog has a very good write-up about it.

Then there was The Port House Bar Pintxo, which gave me a break from Irish food altogether. It was exactly the kind of detour I like when I’ve been eating the same regional cuisine for several days. I had tapas and ordered the Port flight for dessert, because apparently spending a week in Dublin drinking Irish whiskey wasn’t enough alcohol education for one trip. And in my defense, I do need to spend more time tasting different types of port as part of WSET L3 prep.

Dublin Before Work

Working U.S. hours meant Dublin was mine in the mornings. I booked the Book of Kells for 8:30 AM, giving me an early start at Trinity College before moving on with my day. I highly recommend the full Trinity College tour. It is extremely informative and also provides access to the library, which is simply beautiful, and, of course, the Book of Kells.

I visited Christ Church Cathedral and St. Patrick’s Cathedral and spent plenty of time simply walking. They are significantly different in size and scope, and I much better prefered Chist Church. In my opinion they have invested more in the curation of the exhibits and the overall experince.

I appreciated the open mornings that came with having a week instead of a rushed weekend. I didn’t have to make every morning monumental. Sometimes I could wander, and sometimes I could sit somewhere longer than I needed to. Other times I could go back to the same coffee shop and do a bit of work or writing. I wasn’t trying to conquer Dublin; I was living there, at least a little bit.

A Morning in Howth

One morning, I traded central Dublin for the coast and headed to Howth. After Greece and Croatia, you’d think I would have had enough coastal scenery by this point, but no, there’s never too much of that in my book.

Howth was an easy escape from the city and exactly what I wanted for a morning: fresh air, a walk, and time by the water before heading back to Dublin for work. It is a very easy train ride from Dublin, and then a 10-minute bus ride from the stop at the front of the very small Howth train station.

It also reinforced something I’d been realizing throughout this trip. I increasingly enjoy having enough time in a destination to leave it for a few hours. A day trip doesn’t feel like sacrificing precious city time when you know you’re coming back.

The Cliffs of Moher

My weekend finally gave me the freedom to venture farther. The Cliffs of Moher had been on my Ireland list from the beginning, and seeing them required committing to a long day from Dublin, and it was worth every minute. Before heading to the Cliffs, we stopped in Galway for a couple of hours, which was a nice benefit of the Viator excursion.

There’s something about finally standing in front of a landscape you’ve seen in photographs for years. The scale doesn’t quite translate until you’re there. I found them much taller coming out of the water than I expected, based on pictures and documentaries. The trip also gave me a chance to see more of Ireland beyond Dublin, which mattered to me. I loved my week in the city, but I didn’t want to leave thinking Temple Bar represented the whole country.

Yes, I Kissed the Blarney Stone

The next day brought another long Viator excursion, this time to Blarney Castle and Cork. And yes, I kissed the Blarney Stone, which is great news for someone who has absolutely never struggled to find something to say.

What I really wanted, though, was more time in Cork. I had only about 90 minutes there through my Viator excursion, and I spent part of it exactly where you’d expect me to: eating.

I chose Market Lane for lunch, and that decision paid off. Market Lane became my third-favorite meal of the trip, behind Gradska Kavana Arsenal in Dubrovnik and Gogarty’s in Dublin. The hake served over ratatouille paired perfectly with my French white wine, and the restaurant’s overall ambiance sealed the deal. Reservations are recommended, even for Sunday lunch. I just lucked out, but it speaks to how popular it is!

Ninety minutes wasn’t nearly enough time for Cork, but it was enough to make me want to return.

My Last Night in Dublin

After a week of scheduled tours, early mornings, whiskey tastings, workdays, day trips, and a lot of walking, my last night in Dublin didn’t need much of a plan. On a co-worker’s recommendation, I ended up at O’Donoghue’s. A twenty minute walk from my hotel put me on the outskirts of central Dublin and just where I wanted to be: at a real Irish pub filled with locals.

There was inexpensive Guinness, live music, and a room full of people who eventually started singing “Country Roads.” It felt wonderfully local and completely unpolished, and it was exactly how I wanted the week to end.

Ireland Wasn’t What I Expected

I arrived in Dublin thinking of Ireland as the final stop on a much bigger trip. Greece had a wedding attached to it. Croatia had completely caught me off guard and left me already plotting a return.

Ireland was supposed to be the easy part. A week in one hotel, work in the afternoons, sightseeing in the mornings.

Instead, the slower pace gave me something I hadn’t really had during the rest of the trip: time to develop routines. I had a coffee shop and a restaurant that I visited twice. And I had bartenders and whiskey experts whose names I remembered. Some mornings, I didn’t need to race anywhere. And perhaps most importantly, I left with a much longer list of things I still want to see.

Cork deserves more than 90 minutes, and so does Galway. I still have so much more of the country to explore. And my Irish whiskey education clearly isn’t finished. For a place that was supposed to be my final stop, Ireland gave me plenty of reasons to come back.