From: emcmanus@gr.osf.org (Eamonn McManus)
Subject: Re: Dublin info, March
Organization: Open Software Foundation Research Institute, Grenoble
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 01:29:11 GMT

Tom Waugh <U55375@uicvm.uic.edu> writes:
>Does anyone know of good discos or gay nights at the others?
>We're planning on Tuesday night through Friday morning, but if it's as much
>fun as London on a Friday night we may stay.

I'm not sure if we have any participants in Dublin right at the
moment, so this expatriate Dubliner will attempt to fill in with some
simple advice.  The first thing to do is to get a copy of Gay
Community News, which is free.  One good place to find it is Books
Upstairs, just opposite the front gate of Trinity College Dublin.
TCD is pretty much Tourist Central so you are unlikely to have
difficulty finding it.  You could also try dropping in on the TCD G/L
society, which meets on Thursday evenings.  I know the treasurer
intimately (by a curious coincidence he is a tall red-head) and could
probably find out before-hand if they are indeed meeting that evening.
Anyway, I happen to have December's GCN here with me, and here's what
they list, with my own possibly out-of-date additions.  All addresses
are in Dublin 2 (funny that), so I've omitted that.

The Parliament Inn, 27 Parliament St.  For students, probably the more
interesting of the two gay pubs.  Quite large, on several floors.
Mixed gay/lesbian.  Particularly busy on Friday to Sunday, though this
is true of all pubs in Ireland.

The George Pub, 5 Gt George's St.  Somewhat older clientele than the
Parly, and pretty exclusively male.  Has an upstairs called The Loft
which is a rather seedy pick-up joint.

The Bailey, 2 Duke St.  Trendy pub where a lot of gay people
supposedly go.  Not a gay pub, however, and I don't like it much.

Shaft Nightclub, 22 Ely Place.  Is that a tacky name or what.  Since I
don't see a listing for the presumably late but not much lamented
Hooray Henry's, I have to suppose that this is now the only gay
nightclub open every night.  Admission free except Saturdays, so you
can't lose.  Has a rather sociable room on the ground floor and a
smoky dance-floor in the basement, or at least that's the way it was
the last time I was there, which must be at least a year ago now.

(The Grotto at) Sides Danceclub, Dame Lane.  Fabulous address, at
least.  Straight during the week, but gay on Sundays, when it is
enormously better than Shaft.  Not much use to you if you are only
around between Tuesday and Friday, though somebody told me they were
expanding their gaiety to the early days of the week too.  This I need
to check.

There are two Saunas which I am too pure to know anything about.
Details in GCN.


The Parliament is worth visiting any night, but such are the
exigencies of Irish licensing laws that you will be turfed out at
11:30, when it would seem that you have the choice between Shaft or
going to one of the late-night cafes.  Last time I was around,
Bewley's of George's St was open quite late, and heavily populated by
queer persons.

Finally, and importantly, I would recommend calling the Gay
Switchboard on 721055, 8--10pm on weekdays.  (+353 1 if you are rich
enough to do this before arriving in Dublin.  Ireland is on GMT except
during summer.)  They should be able to fill in for my lack of
contemporaneity.

(I am sending a copy of this article by e-mail.)

,
Eamonn