How I Spent a Long Weekend In Dublin
Besides drinking pints.
I don’t know if you guys know this about me… But I love traveling to Italy, eating Italian food, wearing Italian designer clothes, and writing about how much I love Italy, Italian food, and Italian designer clothes. I’m only half Italian-American, though. I’ve also got some Irish in me from my mom, who at one point had long, curly red hair. There was a chance I could’ve arrived in this world a ginger, too. Had that happened, I would’ve been named Charlotte. (Instead, my middle name is Cumings.) So, my Irish-American-ish-ness is a wee bit of an alter-ego. In January, I finally decided to indulge it with a trip to Dublin. I went with my friend Allison, who was actually born a ginge and, as one gregarious grandmother correctly guessed at a pub, is at least a little bit Celtic.
Thanks to Sally Rooney and Paul Mescal, movies like The Banshees of Inisherin, and shows like Bad Sisters, Derry Girls, and Say Nothing, everyone’s into Ireland right now—even people who aren’t at all Irish, or people like me who just decided to be one day. I know how to pronounce Barry Keoghan, Cillian Murphy, and Saoirse Ronan. I watched Kneecap, a movie about the real-life Belfast rappers who write in the Irish language, twice. But before I left, I’m sorry to say I knew little about Ireland beyond the obvious pop culture references.
Within ten minutes of being in the city, we ran smack into Paul Giamatti, which felt right. (Plus graffiti that said something like: “Our lives are not for your entertainment.”) We were only there briefly (I will be back), but we tried to fit in as much as possible and had loads of craic, or a jolly good time. Below is everything we did.
Guides I read before I left:
DAY 1:
Check-in at Townhouse on the Green and power walk to Fish Shop for lunch before it closes.
Go back to the hotel for a nap. Wake up and get Chinese food for dinner at Little Dumpling. (We’d eaten too many meat pies the week before in London.)
Perfect fish and chips at Fish Shop. Try and fail to go to The Hacienda, a bar that Ed Sheeran frequents, where you have to knock on the door and ask for a guy named Shay, who put framed posters of himself and Ed all over the outside. (Cool, Shay.) No one answered. Seemed like it was closed?
Drown our sorrows at Bar 1661 with a nice whiskey cocktail.
Get a pint at Swan Bar and chat up the friendly bartender. We should have gone here earlier.
End the night at Neary’s, where an older woman explains to us what it means to have notions or notions of grandeur. Generally speaking, this is not considered a good thing in Ireland. It means you think you’re better than others or give off an air of self-importance. You’re too big for your britches, etc. This helped explain the style in Dublin, which was, for the most part, pretty average, I thought. The American in me has to say: Maybe it’s okay to have a little bit of a notion?? I argued with a lad about this one night and didn’t get very far.
DAY 2:
Allison has a family tradition of starting every trip with a tour bus ride. I’d never done one before, but I was indoctrinated after our delightful ride with Martin, who cracked jokes the entire time and was full of fun facts. Did you know that the wife of the founder of Guinness had 23 children?? I guess it does make you stronger. (Martin’s joke, not mine.)
We got so lucky with the weather. 50-degrees and sunny! Hop off the bus to visit Jennifer Slattery, a designer who makes beautiful Irish linen clothing and table linens. Allison got a shirt with a Simone Rocha-esque collar, and I spent way too much money on gifts (plus one for me-self). The woman working there, Anna Rave, also has her own eponymous brand. She told us about Caolum McCabe and Ryan Koenig. I wish I’d had time to meet them, too!
Allison in a Jennifer Slattery shirt. 
Jennifer Slattery napkins.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Shop Rat by Emilia Petrarca to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.