Dublin's pubs are the best argument for the city. Not the bright, themed tourist operations in Temple Bar — the real ones: Victorian mahogany interiors, a coal fire in winter, Guinness pulled correctly, and a conversation that starts with the rugby and ends somewhere unexpected. The best of them have resisted every temptation to modernise.
Kehoe's on South Anne Street and The Stag's Head off Dame Street are two of the finest Victorian pub interiors in Europe. Mulligan's on Poolbeg Street and Doheny & Nesbitt on Baggot Street are where locals go when they want a serious drink without atmosphere-by-numbers. Davy Byrne's on Duke Street has the Joycean connection. For traditional music, several Temple Bar pubs — the Palace Bar, the Gogarty's — run sessions that attract real musicians. Avoid the obvious tourist traps and you'll be fine.