Jjimm has this mostly covered but I can pm you a list of places in Dublin open late seven nights if you like.
More suggestions for Dublin and environs:
A trip out to Howth if the weather is dry is always nice, a wee seaside village with some great restaurants typically specialising in seafood, a few miles north of Dublin city centre. I believe you can take a train.
Glendalough in Co. Wicklow is about 30 miles from Dublin City Centre and one of the more famous tourist destinations on this island.
If you’re visiting Newgrange (which I recommend) you should also stop for a while at Monasterboice which is a short hop off the M1 that brings you to Newgrange.
A bit further way but I really like Carlingford, about 60 miles north of Dublin on the m1, an old town with a castle and some picturesque buildings set amongst scenic mountains and Carlingford lough. It’s got some great seafood restaurants too.
caused two, what stuff are you into seeing? Into drinking? historical stuff? nature? people watching? literature?
With regard to finding pubs with music (if that’s your bag) Dublin Sessions can help. I second The Cobblestone for trad music. I also hear the nearby M. Hughes’ on Chancery St is pretty great too.
Another possibility if you’re into such things is the Ghost Bus Tour. I did it a couple of years ago with my girlfriend and it was good but a tad expensive.
For a pint, Grogan’s pub I mentioned earlier is on South William St. Mulligan’s that Jjimm suggested is also pretty good. O’Neill’s is good for food and has live music and a good drinks selection.
It is sort of a last minute trip and it is four siblings with different interests! But drinking and people watching is a definite. I’m going to make sure we get away from the cities and get in some nature! And another of my group is going to make sure we hit some historical sights.
We would like to hit Knappogue Castle, as we have some vague ancestral ties. So if there is anything else in the area worth hitting, please let me know.
Oh, and An Gadaí, a PM of some late night pubs would be great!
I miss Ireland.
If you haven’t rented a car yet, Enterprise was (by far) the cheapest option when I went several years ago.
Also - assuming you can drive stick, the adjustment to shifting with your left hand is not insurmountable - particularly as the gear locations and pedal positions are not reversed. It really was not a big deal after awhile (although I did yell “LEFT!!!” to myself every time I got on the road). The advantage is a manual transmission was much cheaper.
“Craic!” I haven’t heard that word in years, up in East Tennessee. I didn’t know how to spell it. Another word used was (I’ll have to spell it phonetically) kee-arn. Means “greasy dirt.” Familiar?
It was really nice meeting you that time.
You, too. I was pretty sure Grogans was where we all met, and was going to tell caused two what a great pub it was, what great Irish dopers we have, what fun an IrishDope would be, but just said how much I miss Ireland, instead.
Strong possibility I’m going to Italy this summer, might just have to take a detour…
If you’re coming from overseas, a reselling service is usually the cheapest option.There was someone talking about going to the Italy a few weeks ago who got an unbelievable deal via this crowd. FWIW they got a better deal via phone than online.
Last minute trips are the best!
I’ve been to Ireland now 5 times, and each time I have had no destinations set or anything, just a rental car and my GPS and travel map.
It’s a really easy place to get around and switching to driving on the left is simple (I got behind someone leaving the airport and just followed them for a bit until I felt comfortable).
What I love most is seeing something interesting on a map, inputting it into my GPS and meandering my way there, detouring down any road that looks interesting as I come to it. I’ve gotten some great photos that way, as well as finding nice hotels/inns/restaurants.
I hope to get a trip back this spring, but we’ll see. It is my favorite place.
I used Enterprise last time and the price was excellent and the car very nice (new VW Passat diesel with 6 speed).
I rented this back in 2010: 911. A lot of fun!
I’ve offered a few times to meet up for a pint in threads like these but you were the only person who ever wasn’t weirded out, so I’ve stopped doing that.
I wouldn’t have been weirded out but the offer never came (that and I probably posted my thread too late).
Anyway, you are now top of the list for next time I go. Probably a few years though.
I may have given up by then, where’s the thread? 
In a few years I probably won’t be able to live here anymore :mad: .
Hell if I know- I went to Ireland in November 2010. It would have been nice to catch up with a local as I hadn’t been there for 11 years- and it is always fun to meet someone from the Dope.
And if we can’t have a beer in Dublin, you’ll just have to haul your arse to Australia so we can catch up 
We would be happy to buy you a pint, if you are free while we are there!
PM sent.
Well, you are kind of weird, even for midget…
I really like meeting Dopers from all over. If I have a spare couple of hours, I’ll post a thread. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Don’t take it personally; most Dopers shun actual human contact.
caused two, you’ll find** An Gadai** a charming Irishman to BS with, and the odds of you ending up trussed in his trunk are very low. Car ownership is somewhat rare in Dublin.
There’s a couple other IrishDopers around, they’re pretty good folks, too.
Have fun.
Well, there are more of us than him. So I think ** An Gadai** may be the one in trouble!
God bless Ireland. What a wonderful country and a wonderful people, putting up with a clueless American like me. 
Not a dive site in sight (water’s WAY too cold), and I **still **had an awsome time. 
I pretty much pub-crawled my way from Shannon to Dublin and back and loved every minute of it.
It’s been a decade, but Dublin DID have a bus service that looped throughout the city that you could buy into. You could either buy a quickie ticket for a single stop, or fork over a few more Euros and buy the whole hog, which would allow you to ride from site to site for the day.
The bus service ran continually during the day so you could hop on and off at different sites to see lots of different things such as the Guiness Brewery.
The service was great, assuming it still exists, because you eliminated the need to **drive **in Dublin. The lady that owned the B&B we stayed at recommended it to us, telling us that Americans DID NOT want to drive in the city. She was right. I thought New Yorkers were crazy drivers? At that point in my life I’d never been to Dublin!
Definitely go see the Book of Kells at Trinity and also stop by Christ Church Cathedral to see the crazy leaning wall that’s been that way like forever - about 500 years - and the catacombs below the street level.
Have fun and definitely find a pub or three. Slainte!