Dublin Travel Forum

Hello,

We are both interested in seeing a play one night while we are in town, but I haven't had any luck finding a listing.

This will be my 4th trip to Ireland and Dublin in the last few years, but my friends first. Since it's such a short trip, I would like to get her out to the Irish country side. I had thought about taking the DART down to Wicklow area(something I haven't done). I vetoed her idea of the Blarney stone as a day trip as it just doesn't seem possible. If I am wrong, please let me know. I have also thought of doing Newgange(something I have done before). I had also thought about doing a trip up to Howth(something I had done via private tour) with dinner at the abby. But I can't find a time table on how late the trains run. So if someone can help me with that.

My friend is a runner and she is wanting to get up in the mornings and run. We will be staying at the Jurys Inn Christ Church area. I have walked that area both at night and in the morning area, but always with a group. I don't know if it's safe enough for her to be running by herself in the pre-dawn?? Running is a must for her, as she is taking part in a half marathon in Glasgow, Scotland on the 6th of Sept. So any suggestions of a safe or better location would be great.

The DART timetable is at http://www.irishrail.ie - last DART from Howth back to city centre is at 23:59 (or 23:47 on Sundays).

Note that the DART only takes you as far as Bray or Greystones in County Wicklow. There is a nice cliff walk between those two places, but it's not part of the Wicklow Mountains if that is what you had in mind. Another possibility is to take a bus (www.dublinbus.ie) to the village of Enniskerry, also in County Wicklow, and visit Powerscourt House and Gardens.

I found a play that is running for you at the famous Abbey Theatre if you're interested: http://www.abbeytheatre.ie/2009season/the-rivals.html

I should think she'll be absolutely fine to run pre-dawn in the Christ Church area. I used to run alone in Fairview without any worries and that is considered a dodgier part of town. (I'm a female runner too). Popular running locations not far from Dublin city include Pheonix Park and Clontarf waterfront. Or she could chuck her shoes in the bag and run in Howth. Beautiful there as you would already know.

I've been to Wicklow town on the DART before. And to Wicklow mountains in a car A nice day trip. A bit hard to see the best parts of County Wicklow without a car, though. Is a car an option for you? You could go to that famous pub that is the highest pub in Ireland or something like that. Can't remember the name of it, but I do remember that it is worth a visit! The Wicklow mountains are spectacular.

You'll find listings for theatres on www.dublinevents.com or www.visitdublin.com
You could also google individual theatres such as the Abbey, the Gate, the Olympia, the Project and look at their sites. There is also a lunchtime theatre venue in Bewleys cafe on Grafton Street which might suit you, www.bewleyscafetheatre.com It's very popular so you'd definitely need to book and then turn up early as you need to get in and choose a good table!
Hope this helps. AM

I forgot about the theatre listings, try this page:
http://entertainment.ie/theatre/

By the way I think you are right to rule out Blarney, it might be technically possible to do it in a day but I don't think it's worth spending the whole day in transit just to see a lump of rock!

Thanks for the listings to the theaters. I'll check them out.

Dublin was a last minute add on to this trip and really wasn't done right. I could shoot myself for not doing it right with a rental car. I would have flown us into Shannon, rented a car for a couple of days, trained it into Dublin and flown out of Dublin. But the phone call wishing to see the Irish country didn't come until the airline tickets were booked.

As for a lump of rock! LOL! That is about what I told my friend. I told her I wasn't taking a day to, stand in line, to climb a 100 in something very narrow stairs to bend over backwards to kiss a rock. I took one look at the lines, the stairs and didn't do the first time and I wasn't interested in doing it this time around.

But Howth is looking better and better! I have never got a chance to do the Cliffs of Mohr, but would love a chance to walk the cliffs in Wicklow.

I'll pass alone the running information to her. Thanks for the information!

Got another question. I was looking at old post and found a Music Pub Crawl from way back, but haven't seen anything recent on it. The website is still up and going. Has anyone done this lately?

Not sure about the Music Pub Crawl but there is a new tour that might be worth trying: www.dublinrocktour.ie