How often do you go to the pub?

My last experience with rugby at one of my locals, (not a rugby fan ). Popped in on for a pint, match had 10-15 minutes to halftime. bar mobbed with rugby supporters, even had chairs brought in to sit in front of the telly. Many with no drinks in front of them, the bar crowd ordered maybe 1 pint while I was the there till the end of the match. Full time whistle——poooffff-all gone.

I was in a popular pub in D6 on Sunday and got seats no problem, but ive no doubt Keoghs, Stags, Long Hall etc were busy as always.

In my 40s with kids, mortgage etc. I would be in a pub drinking alcohol maybe 10-12 times per year, if even, at this point..probably less. I'm also drinking considerably less than I did 20 years ago on those pub visits(as well as in the pub less).

I think that's probably normal as people get older, more responsibilities and less disposable income.

I do think that the pub scene has been dying for 25 years or so at the point. Many reasons including:

There are many more entertainment options available.

People generally have more on.

Younger people are generally more fitness conscious or simply don't have the money, nor do they need to socialise as much as back in the day.

There are better job options for those who own bars(I'd be looking at the more country side pubs here) running a pub is hard work.

I mean, if you're in a pub less than once a month you might not be in a great position to assess how pubs are doing these days 😁

I'd be out in the pub at least once a week, maybe twice a week with the weather being nice. Too many on my cycle home from work not to stop in. They'd always be fairly packed. This is Dublin city centre mind you, I'm sure they're a bit quieter in the 'burbs.

There were 50 odd in Clonmel in mid 90s and probably 20 odd now. Not sure there's a pub doing all that interesting stuff now mind you

You don't need to be in the pubs to know how they are doing.

I can't believe that you aren't aware of significant loss of pubs nationally over the past number of decades.

https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2025/0714/1523333-pub-closures-report/

The ones I tend to go to tend to be city centre Galway/Dublin - these generally seem to be doing okay.

The area I am originally from has gone from 25 pubs in the mid nineties that were open pretty much year round to approximately 7, only 4 of whom are open year round. Another village I am very familar with has gone from 10 pubs in the early 2000's to 1 and it will no doubt close once the owners retire.

Rural areas have been stripped of pubs over the past number of years.

Many towns have lost tens of pubs as well and those that are left have relatively limited opening hours.

Nightclubs are almost extinct nationally.

Yeah, city centre Dublin/Galway/Cork/Limerick are doing okay but these cities are losing pubs as well outside of the centres.

I am of an age where having done the busy career thing and having the kids raised it feels like a privilege to be able to go to a pub (or a cafe/restaurant/cinema/gig) on my own and just be able to do as I please on a whim!

Anyone wants to judge me negatively - that’s more on them than me.

People generally have more on.

Younger people are generally more fitness conscious or simply don't have the money, nor do they need to socialise as much as back in the day.

@kippy

SOme young people are more into fitness but we were actually fitter as a whole 30 years ago than now. Look at old footage of italia90 or USA94 and you will see how thin everyone was then compared to now. We also looked alot happier even though we were actually drinking more back then.

Younger people might not be drinking as much in pubs but they are doing other stuff like taking cocaine and other drugs which will have far more damaging health affects. With the working from home phenomenon and addictions to social media younger people really should be socialising more in real life not less.

Soo OP, (who joined boards about a week ago) you work in a pub and are just interested in peoples pub going habits out of curiosity??

Are you shilling on behalf of a survey company or on behalf of some corporate by any chance.

Thin doesn't mean healthier though. A lot were skinny fat. There were a lot more smokers back then too.

But yeah they were happier and much more care free compared to now alright.

You said 'the pub scene is dying' - when I suppose we probably need to determine what is meant by that phrase. Do we mean the whole country? Do we mean people's specific experiences in specific areas? It's all a bit vague really.

There's been a significant loss of pubs nationally in rural areas, true. Dublin is still thriving though. I was out the other night on Parnell Street - went into The Big Romance, couldn't get a seat, went across the road to Mema's - bookings on all the tables. You'll see the same in bars all around that area, Fidelity, Bonobos etc. All packed to the point where you can't get a seat (or will be waiting for one) if you don't arrive early.

The way some folks are talking about the pub scene, you'd think there'd be tumble weeds rolling through all these bars - which might be the reality in rural areas but definitely not in Dublin city.

Last couple of years maybe once a month for a pint but once a week or so for food and pints. My local pub doesn’t have the people I knew to chat to anymore, so I rely on ‘er indoors to drive me. Local hotel is ok for food but not the kind of place for pints.

I dunno though, we might have been thinner on average but we were't living as long. And I get thats a combination of medicine and science as well as fitness levels but I generally think, as a whole we are more health conscious now.

Were we happier? Thats the big question. I was in my teens, so I definetly was. Was my father who worked away from home 60 hour weeks supporting a big family in a very manual job? Maybe he appreciated the time away from work more, I dunno.

I don't disagree with your last couple of sentences, very true.