Ireland - Day 6
Today was Phoenix Park & Dublin Zoo and our self-guided pub crawl. We got in almost 20,000 steps walking around Dublin today. We started the morning at Phoenix Park. Phoenix Park is the largest enclosed urban park in any European capital, covering roughly 1750 acres. It began as a royal deer hunting park in the 1660s, established by the Duke of Ormond. The grounds were enclosed by a wall to contain deer and pheasants. The park opened to the public in 1745. One of the highlights is the towering 62 m obelisk, the tallest in Europe, commemorating the Duke of Wellington. It looks very similar to the Washington monument, however, the Washington Monument is over 100 meters taller than the one in Phoenix Park. The park is also home to Dublin Zoo, one of Europe’s oldest zoos. The zoo was established 1831 and is located within the park and remains a major draw to both residents and visitors. Dublin Zoo is deeply involved in international conservation efforts, including breeding programs and research. It manages the European Endangered Species Programmes for species like the golden lion tamarin and Moluccan cockatoo. The Zoorassic Trail, launched in March 2025, features over 40 lifelike animatronic dinosaurs—including a towering 65-ft Brachiosaurus and a roaring T.Rex designed in collaboration with the team behind Jurassic Park.
After our park and zoo adventure, we headed back to rest up before our pub crawl. We older folks need to work up to these types of activities! We started out self-guided pub tour at Oliver St. John Gogarty’s Pub on Fleet Street. This one was not originally on our list, but it looked so cool from the outside, we decided to stop in and we were so glad we did. We found out that Oliver St. John Gogarty was an extraordinary Irishman renowned as a surgeon, poet, writer, athlete, and politician, who was a close friend of James Joyce, inspiring his character Buck Mulligan in Ulysses. A participant in Irish nationalist movements, he served as a senator and later settled in New York, becoming a successful surgeon and a celebrated author. This bar had some great Irish musicians playing when we arrived and it was fun just to sit and listen.
The next stop was Bowe’s Lounge on Fleet Street. It was established in 1880, and is one of the rare remaining Victorian pubs in Dublin. It’s especially cherished for retaining that old‑world charm while resisting the tourist-centric transformation seen elsewhere in the Temple Bar area. It has a traditional snug (a private little room connected to the bar) in the front.
Stop three was John Mulligan’s. Not quite as good of an atmosphere and no music, but Mulligan’s is another historic Irish Pub dating back to 1782. The walls bear showbills, posters, and photographs from the Theatre Royal era, complete with an autographed image of Judy Garland, who once performed nearby and visited the pub. It’s also noted that John F. Kennedy, before his presidency, stopped by while working as a journalist. Mulligan’s appeared in the film My Left Foot and has served as a setting in various movie productions.
Before our last stop, we had a great dinner at Il Vilcoletto, which was a quaint little Italian restaurant on our route. The food and service were perfect and it was good to have some pasta!
Our final pub crawl stop was The Auld Dubliner. The same musician that we heard earlier at Gogarty’s was playing here and we enjoyed having our final drink and listening to him sing American classic tunes. While this bar doesn’t have any major historical significance, it is another traditional Irish pub and has beautiful indoor and outdoor decor.
We are back at our flat and we’ve got everything packed up for our transition tomorrow to Galway. We will take the train two plus hours across the country from the east coast to the west coast. We are looking forward to the view of the countryside on our journey and to seeing the difference in the two cities. More to come!