Dublin – meaning ‘Town of the Hurdled Ford’ – is Ireland’s largest and capital city. Located at the mouth of the River Liffey, it has been at the heart of the island’s history. There are many sights to see in this fabulous, vibrant city, as well as in the surrounding areas if you don’t mind the travelling. Dublin is split by the River Liffey, with most of the action taking place on the South Side, in and around Grafton Street and Temple Bar. It has excellent shopping as well as beautiful walks around many of the parks. Temple Bar – located next to the River – has preserved its medieval street pattern, with many narrow cobbled streets. It’s very popular with both the locals and the tourists, and is where a lot of the lively night life happens. Here you will find shops, bars and restaurants. The Irish are known for their hospitality and friendly nature, so you will feel very welcome here.

Male homosexuality has only been legal in Ireland since 1993. In that same year the government lowered the age of consent to 17, making Ireland more liberal than Britain for a while. There were gay and gay-friendly venues here prior to 1993, which were generally tolerated by society and law enforcers as long as a low profile was kept. Since then however, the pink economy has blossomed here, largely aimed at gay men. The gay scene in Dublin is based around the famous and very friendly pub The George on Great Georges Street. In addition to the few dedicated gay venues, Dublin has a lot of bars and clubs that are gay-friendly or they offer gay nights once or twice a week. Wandering around George Street, South William Street or through Temple Bar of an evening, you may well feel as if the entire city is gay or gay-friendly, but don’t be too fooled by this, as there is still a part of Dublin where intolerance, bigotry and even name calling is a possibility! All the hotels listed are gay-friendly, the bars and clubs are either gay venues or gay-friendly. There are not gay restaurants as such, but everything we’ve listed is gay-friendly with good food.