← All Dublin tours via Viator · From €740 · 3 hours 
Private Dublin Irish Musical Pub Tour
Free cancellation 4 traveller reviews Booked securely via Viator
Check availability & prices →
From €740 per person
There’s traditional Irish music happening all over Dublin on any given night, but knowing where to go, what you’re listening to, and what the neighbourhood around you actually means - that’s a different thing entirely. This private three-hour tour with your own local guide gives you Temple Bar properly, not just a wander through it.
Your guide knows this part of the city well. They’ll take you through classic pubs, tell you who Sir William Temple was and what the Vikings had to do with this stretch of the south bank, and fill in the stories behind what you’re seeing - including some world-famous events that happened right here, among them a Guinness World Record. Two pints are included along the way, and the pace is social rather than rushed.
Because it’s private, the evening is really yours. Your guide adjusts to what you’re curious about, and if you want to linger somewhere and just take in the music, that’s absolutely fine.
Meeting point: Meet your guide beside the Molly Malone Statue.
Temple Bar is at its best in the early evening. The area gets very busy later at night, particularly on weekends, and it can lose some of its character when it’s packed wall-to-wall. Starting a tour like this at 6pm or 7pm means you get the atmosphere without the crush - and the music is just as good.
The Temple Bar Pub and Temple Bar the neighbourhood are two different things. The pub takes its name from the area, which in turn takes its name from Sir William Temple, the Provost of Trinity College in the early 1600s who owned land along this stretch of the Liffey. Your guide covers the full story, but it’s useful context to have going in.
Traditional Irish music in Dublin pubs works differently from what people sometimes expect. It’s not performed at - it’s played in a session, where musicians sit together and play tunes that can go for twenty minutes without stopping. There’s no setlist. If you ask your guide what they’re playing, they’ll know.
The Viking connection to this part of the city is real and recent in archaeological terms. Wood Quay, just a short walk from Temple Bar, was the site of one of the most significant Viking settlements ever found in Ireland. Much of it is now underneath Dublin City Council’s civic offices, but your guide can fill you in on the full story.
Two pints is a reasonable social pace for three hours. If you want to buy extra drinks along the way, that’s entirely your call - the included pints just take care of the baseline so you’re not worrying about it.