112) The Cobblestone of North King Street, D7

A traditional Irish music bar and venue located on the edge of Smithfield Square and famed for playing host to some of the finest traditional music in Dublin. Well attended gigs are plentiful if not nightly. Owner Tom Mulligan has confessed that the Cobblestone is ‘a drinking pub with a music problem.’ (One thinks of Behan on the banjo). It usually opens at 4pm to a blend of Irish and tourist folk.

On entry one will notice immediately on the left a section serving as a stage which is in perpetual reserve for musicians only. Many signs on the wall surrounding this area read: ‘Listening area. Please respect musicians. Thank you’. They’re serious - this really is a musician’s bar! The small and narrow wooden bar itself is with no frills, and a large photo of O’Connell street in the ‘rare auld times’ hangs behind it - a continuous source of small talk. Political leanings are no secret, a framed newspaper article from The Irish Press reads in celebration: ‘Blast Wrecks Nelson Pillar,’ and Irish Citizen Army plaques commemorating those who served in the war are on display inside and out.

A large separate backroom houses gigs and trad sessions and has its own entrance onto Red Cow Lane. An impressive collage of photos shows various Coblestonners young and old captured mid-session. Being in Smithfield it’s far enough outside of the city centre to be overrun by tourists. At weekends it will be packed, loud, and hot, but as long as you’re willing to tap your toe as well as tap your Visa debit, a lot of the great Irish craic can be had.

Drunkard singing - or is he yawning? - as gremlin looks on

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