Quick answer: Start with Bar 1661 on Green Street, the first bar from the Republic to make The World’s 50 Best Bars extended list. After that, try its sister The Sackville Lounge, 9 Below on St Stephen’s Green, the hotel bars at The Leinster and The Westbury, and the speakeasies: Vintage Cocktail Club, The Little Pig and Peruke & Periwig.
The best of Dublin’s cocktail bars now win awards at home and abroad. Our list mixes award winners with places we’d send a friend for a good drink in a nice room. Most are within a short walk of Grafton Street, with two on the north side.
The best cocktail bars in Dublin
Bar 1661
Where: 1-5 Green Street, Dublin 7
Bar 1661 is proudly Irish. Its cocktails are built around poitín, and it’s the home of the Belfast Coffee. It was the first bar from the Republic of Ireland to make The World’s 50 Best Bars extended list, and it has also been named Bar of the Year. If you only have time for one cocktail bar in Dublin, make it this one.
Instagram: @1661bar · Visit Dublin listing
The Sackville Lounge
Where: 16 Sackville Place, Dublin 1
Bar 1661’s sibling, just off O’Connell Street, looks like an old Dublin pub with its walls painted black. The drinks are classics and twists on them; try the olive oil martini. It’s walk-in only, with DJs late in the evening, and it won gold for Best Newcomer at the Bar of the Year Awards.
Website: thesackvillelounge.com
9 Below
Where: 9 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2
Down in the basement of the old Hibernian Club, 9 Below has four small rooms and menus themed on surrealism and colour theory. There are rare whiskeys too, for anyone who’d rather drink theirs neat.
Website: 9below.ie
The Collins Club at The Leinster
Where: 7 Mount Street Lower, Dublin 2
The cocktail bar in The Leinster, a Georgian hotel by Merrion Square, is named after the Dublin-born designer David Collins. The menu is built on reinvented classics and martinis. It won gold for Hotel Cocktail Bar of the Year at the Bar of the Year Awards.
Website: theleinster.ie
The Sidecar at The Westbury
Where: The Westbury, Balfe Street, Dublin 2
A 1930s Art Deco room where the martinis are mixed at your table from a trolley. It has picked up silver in both the hotel cocktail bar and five-star hotel bar categories at the Bar of the Year Awards. Good for a special occasion.
Website: The Westbury
Vintage Cocktail Club
Where: Powerscourt Townhouse, 59 South William Street, Dublin 2
One of Dublin’s first speakeasies. It started out behind a black door on Crown Alley in Temple Bar and has since moved into the Powerscourt Townhouse, a few steps from Grafton Street. Look for the black door marked VCC and ring the bell. The ground and first floors are candlelit and full of vintage pieces, and downstairs is a new Punch House and Whiskey Caverns. It’s over 23s only.
Website: vintagecocktailclub.com
Peruke & Periwig
Where: 31 Dawson Street, Dublin 2
Three floors of Georgian-themed rooms in an 1846 building that once belonged to a harp maker. Its themed menus have won awards, and the rooms suit a long evening.
Website: peruke.ie
The Little Pig
Where: Glendenning Lane, off Wicklow Street, Dublin 2
A password-entry speakeasy with red velvet walls and a copper ceiling, blues and jazz, and an absinthe fountain. It also runs cocktail classes. Check its website for how to get in. Its sister bar is The Blind Pig.
Website: thelittlepig.ie
No Name Bar
Where: Fade Street, Dublin 2
You’ll know it by the wooden snail over the door. Inside are Chesterfields and armchairs, cocktails chalked on a blackboard (a smoky Old Fashioned and a pistachio Mai Tai among them), and a DJ-led late crowd.
Website: noname.bar
The Sitting Room at Delahunt
Where: 39 Camden Street Lower, Dublin 2
Upstairs from Delahunt restaurant, The Sitting Room is set up like a Georgian drawing room, with fireplaces and chandeliers. The drinks are retro classics such as the Sazerac and the Sbagliato. It’s the grown-up choice on Camden Street.
Website: delahunt.ie
Sophie’s at The Dean
Where: The Dean, 33 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2
A glasshouse bar and restaurant on the roof of The Dean, with views all round the city. It reopened after a renovation with a New York-Italian menu. The one to choose if you want a view with your drink.
Website: thedeanhotels.com
A few more worth knowing
The Cellar Bar at The Merrion won gold for Best Five-Star Hotel Bar at the Bar of the Year Awards. Bow Lane on Aungier Street does a bottomless brunch and good-value cocktails. And if you like your cocktails with craft beer and pizza, the Animal Collective bars (Caribou in particular) and the dive bar Riot on Aston Quay both do them well.
Planning a cocktail night
Most of these bars are close to each other on the south side. Peruke & Periwig, The Little Pig, No Name Bar and 9 Below make an easy route between Dawson Street and Fade Street. Bar 1661 and The Sackville Lounge are on the north side, so pair them up on another night. Smaller bars fill up at weekends, so book where you can, and check opening times before you go.
Want to learn how a spirit is made first? Our listing for the Accelerated Gin School at Stillgarden Distillery in Dublin 8 lets you make your own bottle. For more ideas, see our best wine bars in Dublin, our hipster bars guide, and our Dublin by Dusk guide to late openings.
Getting there
The south-side bars are all close to Grafton Street and St Stephen’s Green, which is on the Luas Green Line. Bar 1661 is near the Four Courts and Smithfield stops on the Luas Red Line, and The Sackville Lounge is just off O’Connell Street. Use our live bus, train and Luas times for the trip home, and browse our places to stay in Dublin if you’d rather walk back.
Cocktail bars in Dublin: FAQs
What is the best cocktail bar in Dublin?
Bar 1661 on Green Street in Dublin 7 has the strongest claim. It was the first bar from the Republic of Ireland to make The World’s 50 Best Bars extended list, and its menu is built around poitín. Its sister bar, The Sackville Lounge, and 9 Below on St Stephen’s Green are close behind.
Where are the best speakeasies in Dublin?
Vintage Cocktail Club, behind a black door in the Powerscourt Townhouse on South William Street; The Little Pig, a password-entry bar off Wicklow Street; and 9 Below, in the basement of the old Hibernian Club on St Stephen’s Green.
Which Dublin hotel bars are best for cocktails?
The Collins Club at The Leinster on Mount Street Lower, The Sidecar at The Westbury, where martinis are mixed from a trolley at your table, and The Cellar Bar at The Merrion.
Is there a rooftop cocktail bar in Dublin?
Sophie’s, on top of The Dean on Harcourt Street, is a glasshouse bar and restaurant with views over the city.
Do I need to book a cocktail bar in Dublin?
For the smaller bars at the weekend, booking is a good idea. The Sackville Lounge is walk-in, and for The Little Pig you’ll need the password, so check its website first.
What is poitín?
Poitín is a traditional Irish spirit. Bar 1661 builds its cocktail menu around it, and it’s also the home of the Belfast Coffee.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Conoronmaps (CC BY-SA 4.0); William Murphy (CC BY-SA 2.0); DubhEire (CC0).
