The Best Sports Bars in Dublin

The Mercantile on Dame Street is the de facto pre-match gathering point for international rugby fans descending on Dublin for Six Nations weekends, and it earns that status. The main bar runs multiple large screens at full volume, the Guinness is poured correctly, and the bar staff manage high-volume game days with genuine proficiency. The upstairs viewing area adds capacity for the biggest events without losing the atmosphere that makes the ground floor worth fighting for a spot.

Order: Guinness, Irish whiskey chaser on big match days

One of Dublin's largest purpose-built sports bar setups, The Living Room covers a massive floor plan with screens positioned across multiple viewing zones so that no seat in the house misses the action. It draws a mixed crowd of locals, students, and visiting supporters — the kind of place that fills from the back forward on match day and reaches capacity an hour before kickoff for any significant Ireland game. The drinks are fairly priced for the city centre location.

Order: Heineken on draft, house cocktail

Grogan's is a Dublin institution that has never tried to be a sports bar, which makes it all the more compelling on All-Ireland final days. The screens go up for GAA and the entire pub transforms from its usual artistic, bohemian atmosphere into something rawer and more tribally Irish. The pints here are consistently among the best-poured Guinness in the city. This is the bar for people who want the real Dublin experience on a match day rather than a purpose-built sports venue.

Order: Guinness, Jameson straight

A converted Victorian church that does everything at scale — the main hall shows sports on large projector screens that work extraordinarily well in the high-ceilinged space. The acoustics, designed for a congregation, handle a full sports crowd without the audio becoming muddy. The beer and cocktail selection is broader than most pubs in the city. For visiting sports fans who want a memorable Dublin experience alongside their match-watching, this is the place.

Order: Craft Irish ale, Church gin and tonic

Temple Bar has a reputation for tourist traps, and Fitzsimmons earns its exception. A multi-floor venue with dedicated sports viewing areas on each level, it handles large groups arriving for international matches better than most venues in the city. The screens are large, the Guinness is properly poured, and the staff understand the difference between a sports crowd that needs to focus and a tourist crowd that needs managing. Six Nations weekends here are genuinely electric.

Order: Guinness, Bushmills on ice

JJ Smyths handles the combination of live music venue and sports bar better than you would expect from a single room. The screens are well-positioned around the stage area, and on Premier League days the music setup clears to give way to full-screen sports broadcasting. The crowd here tends to be locals rather than the Temple Bar tourist mix, and that changes the energy of a match day completely. The Monday Night Football crowd fills this place reliably from September onwards.

Order: Smithwick's Red Ale, toasted special sandwich

Ranelagh's best sports pub, Kehoe's draws the area's professional crowd for Premier League Saturdays and Six Nations Sundays. The pints are excellent, the screens are well-positioned across the main and back rooms, and the kitchen does a solid bar menu that runs through match time. The outdoor smoking area extends capacity effectively on big event days. Locals here are friendly to newcomers in a way that not all Dublin pubs manage naturally.

Order: Guinness, cheese and ham toastie

The Dropping Well is a GAA pub first and everything else second, which makes it one of the finest places in Dublin to watch All-Ireland finals and provincial championship matches. The screens are configured specifically for GAA viewing — large, well-lit, properly sound-managed. The beer garden fills in summer during championship season. If you care about Gaelic football or hurling at all, there is no better sports bar in the city for those specific codes than this one.

Order: Guinness, Murphy's stout pint comparison

Drumcondra is Croke Park country, and Fagans is the pre-match pub that visiting county supporters and Dublin fans alike converge on before GAA finals. The pub has multiple rooms, each with screens, and the experience of watching a big GAA match here — surrounded by supporters from both counties, two hours before throw-in — is unlike anything else in the country. The Guinness is reliably excellent. The bartenders here move faster than anywhere else on a full pre-match morning.

Order: Guinness, full Irish breakfast on match morning

Stoneybatter's independent bar scene produces unexpected sports-watching options, and The Dice Bar is the best of them. An eclectic neighbourhood crowd that takes its sport seriously, good screens in an atmospheric low-ceilinged room, and a craft beer selection that beats most dedicated sports bars in the city. The bar plays music between matches and kills it the moment the game starts. Premier League mornings here feel like watching football in someone's extremely well-stocked living room.

Order: Rotating Irish craft ale, toasted sandwich