Dublin Nightclubs

corkboy38 · 15-06-2019 2:16pm #1

A question I've always been meaning to ask is what are the better nightclubs for people between 18-30 in Dublin?

I've spent a lot of time in Dublin recently for work and anytime I stay up on a Friday evening I end up on harcourt street and tell myself never again every time.

15-06-2019 9:29pm

corkboy38 wrote: »

A question I've always been meaning to ask is what are the better nightclubs for people between 18-30 in Dublin?

I've spent a lot of time in Dublin recently for work and anytime I stay up on a Friday evening I end up on harcourt street and tell myself never again every time.

head three minutes west on foot, and you have some of the most vibrant bars and clubs in the whole city, from The George (you don't need to be gay anymore) down to the Bernard Shaw.

I can't remember the last time I was out on Harcourt Street, I certainly wouldn't head there regularly.

corkboy38 · 15-06-2019 11:27pm

What would the better late bars be then? I'm up there again Friday week overnight for work.

Passenger · 15-06-2019 11:34pm

corkboy38 wrote: »

What would the better late bars be then? I'm up there again Friday week overnight for work.

Anywhere around George's/Wexford/Camden Street. There's a plethora of late bars to choose from.

Fan of Netflix · 16-06-2019 2:41pm

For a city of its size the nightclub scene in Dublin is pathetic. I'm not sure they're even is a scene anymore outside Harcourt Street which is ****e tbf but always were I would end up. Very few decent DJ acts either or anything. Too much drugs, too much trouble, too much insurance seemed to have killed it. Some decent late bars and that but nothing specially, and prepare to be ripped off.

ThunbergsAreGo · 16-06-2019 2:43pm

On the other side I would say the nightlife side if Dublin is far far ahead of alot of cities

Fan of Netflix · 16-06-2019 2:45pm

sugarman wrote: »

Nightclubs are dying out, more and more people prefer traditional pubs and late bars. Aside from the aforementioned clubs on Harcourt street there's very little left in Dublin as a whole.

I don't think thats the case, I think insurance and other costs + licensing hours have killed them in Dublin. The big Harcourt Street clubs and nightclubs outside Dublin are cleaning up. The clubs on Harcourt Street are jammed 7 nights a week.

Fan of Netflix · 16-06-2019 2:50pm

naughtb4 wrote: »

On the other side I would say the nightlife side if Dublin is far far ahead of alot of cities

It's better than Belfast. Not sure it's better than Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool. You don't need to remortgage the house for a night out there either.

francois · 16-06-2019 3:46pm

Ukiyo has late nights both in the restaurant and a bigger space downstairs, on Exchequer St.

L1011 · 17-06-2019 2:21pm

The change to closing times - bar licences now having the same closing time as theatre licences - in 2008 started off the decline. Cost base for an actual nightclub - later opening, usually no food, packed heavier, etc - isn't viable compared to a bar that's making money six/seven days a week and earlier in the morning

The majority of people don't dance anymore so the tiny dancefloors (if any) in bars are sufficient.

The older audience nightclubs that have been mentioned are an entirely different marketplace. They're usually either smaller or a rabbit warren of rooms - no single large rooms, no single large dance floor, many do food. All that's happened is that these are now legally pubs rather than "wine bars" as they used to be, with a tiny few exceptions on Leeson Street.

17-06-2019 2:25pm

Sure who wants to spend 25 minutes in a queue being shouted at by arsehole bouncers to then pay 10 quid for the pleasure of doing laps of the place looking for people and then to not be able to chat to anyone because the music’s too ****ing loud.

I’m 23, can’t stand nightclubs - most of my mates are the same.

ongarboy · 18-06-2019 11:48am

A combination of most things already posted.

- High insurance costs
- the advent of late bars serving as late as the clubs and will often have their own DJs and small dance floors
- the large spaces that nightclubs occupied in prime city centre sites are more valuable for other uses
- younger/millennial generations are not into drinking alcohol as previous generations were
- we are less 100% Irish as a race and alcohol does not figure as a core part of our social and cultural past times as we become more multi cultural
- younger/millennial generations are more into body image and appearance, going to the gym and generally keeping more healthy- alcohol consumption and binge drinking (which go hand in hand with nightclubs) conflicts with that
- smartphones and dating/hookup apps - nightclubs were often the only way to meet members of the opposite (or same depending) sex in the past. Tinder/POF fulfils that role in many cases
- simply more choice for alternative entertainment at cheaper prices. The usual nightclub demographic will not tolerate rip off prices, queues, rude bouncers etc if they can get less hassle entertainment elsewhere

There are therefore a smaller number of clubs. Yes, you'll still get the Harcourt Street meat markets packed 7 nights a week but it's concentrated in a smaller number of locations like Harcourt Street instead of every third street and suburb having a nightclub/"disco" like back in the 1990s.

cson · 18-06-2019 2:54pm

ongarboy wrote: »

A combination of most things already posted.

- High insurance costs
- the advent of late bars serving as late as the clubs and will often have their own DJs and small dance floors
- the large spaces that nightclubs occupied in prime city centre sites are more valuable for other uses
- younger/millennial generations are not into drinking alcohol as previous generations were
- we are less 100% Irish as a race and alcohol does not figure as a core part of our social and cultural past times as we become more multi cultural
- younger/millennial generations are more into body image and appearance, going to the gym and generally keeping more healthy- alcohol consumption and binge drinking (which go hand in hand with nightclubs) conflicts with that
- smartphones and dating/hookup apps - nightclubs were often the only way to meet members of the opposite (or same depending) sex in the past. Tinder/POF fulfils that role in many cases
- simply more choice for alternative entertainment at cheaper prices. The usual nightclub demographic will not tolerate rip off prices, queues, rude bouncers etc if they can get less hassle entertainment elsewhere

There are therefore a smaller number of clubs. Yes, you'll still get the Harcourt Street meat markets packed 7 nights a week but it's concentrated in a smaller number of locations like Harcourt Street instead of every third street and suburb having a nightclub/"disco" like back in the 1990s.

That's patently untrue.

ongarboy · 18-06-2019 3:06pm

cson wrote: »

That's patently untrue.

Just google the words young people drinking less and you will get survey after survey both in Ireland, UK and elsewhere backing up the fact that they are drinking less. The World Health Organization also confirms this.

What evidence can you attest to that would say this is not the case? Personal observation is too narrow a test sample.

odyssey06 · 18-06-2019 3:21pm

If your focus is on drinking not dancing \ doing laps then you'd look for late bars rather than pay into nightclub with cover charge and pricey drinks \ limited selection once inside.

vriesmays · 18-06-2019 5:37pm

Clubs are dying because dance music is dead.

CWF · 18-06-2019 6:13pm

vriesmays wrote: »

Clubs are dying because dance music is dead.

It absolutely it not dead. Look the amount of "dance music" acts at elec) our major festivals, electric picnic, longitude, all together now, forbidden fruit, body and soul

vriesmays · 19-06-2019 4:36pm

These are annual festivals. 20 years ago Dublin had lots of weekly dance clubs. Not anymore because dance music is the dodo.

punisher5112 · 19-06-2019 4:39pm

Still a few in temple bar also...

theteal · 21-06-2019 9:33am

sugarman wrote: »

Nah theres definitely a shift in trends ...nightclubs were mainly popular with the 18-25 crowds when I was growing up in Dublin. You had the likes of Redz, Q Bar, Twenty Ones, Spirit, Bondi, Crawdaddy/Tripod, Barcode to name a few absolutely rammed with students and youths every night.

Now most 18-25 year olds are interested in trendy hipster spots / late bars like the Bernard Shaw, P Macs, Marys, PYG, Bar with No Name, Workmans Club, Cassidys, Whelans, Globe, Chelsea Drugstore, Market Bar, Blackbird etc..

So what's there now in terms of "clubs"?

I'm gone from Dublin 10 years but would have been in all the usual places from my teens to early 20s. The majority of your first list there would have been very familiar back then. Mid 20s was all Whelans or stay in the late bar somewhere.

Special mention to Cassidys there. It used to be an excellent pub. There was a guy who played guitar at the weekend, very good. Had many a memorable night in there. Then it closed briefly and opened up with jenga and board games etc. or so I've been told, I've not been in since the re-open. Not that I'd be against that kinda thing, I think it just coincided with me feckin' off the UK.

L1011 · 21-06-2019 9:54am

theteal wrote: »

So what's there now in terms of "clubs"?

For 18-25, arguably 18-35 - nothing.

The bars have completely replaced it since they no longer need to close earlier than the clubs; and most have no cover charge or if they do its extremely late.

The remaining clubs are mostly targeting either the mad-fecker-culchie-in-the-big-schmoke market and hence hideous for anyone who's been inside the Pale for more than a few months; or are for vastly older people.

There's only a few larger dancefloors even in the city anymore. Tramline, marketed as a pub/event space; The George, still an LGBT venue; Club M - shudder; Button Factory - no regular clubnights; Academy - no regular clubnights; The Hub/Switch - all regular clubnights are LGBT currently.

Lots of dancefloors have been sacrificed for eating areas, or kitchens, or further seating as premises have become late bars instead. Hotels are also ditching clubs due to noise; plenty are gone due to that specifically. Annabels, Break for the Border, the various names of the one under the old Bewleys on Fleet Street etc

theteal · 21-06-2019 10:08am

L1011 wrote: »

For 18-25, arguably 18-35 - nothing.

The bars have completely replaced it since they no longer need to close earlier than the clubs; and most have no cover charge or if they do its extremely late.

The remaining clubs are mostly targeting either the mad-fecker-culchie-in-the-big-schmoke market and hence hideous for anyone who's been inside the Pale for more than a few months; or are for vastly older people.

There's only a few larger dancefloors even in the city anymore. Tramline, marketed as a pub/event space; The George, still an LGBT venue; Club M - shudder; Button Factory - no regular clubnights; Academy - no regular clubnights; The Hub/Switch - all regular clubnights are LGBT currently.

Lots of dancefloors have been sacrificed for eating areas, or kitchens, or further seating as premises have become late bars instead. Hotels are also ditching clubs due to noise; plenty are gone due to that specifically. Annabels, Break for the Border, the various names of the one under the old Bewleys on Fleet Street etc

OK, interesting. Not much of an issue for myself as I was never really a fan, I get fed up trying to hold a conversation in such loud spaces, "sorry what was that?" :rolleyes:

I was just thinking an old work colleague is one of these DJ types and by the stuff he posts up on FB I just had the impression there was quite a busy "scene". Let me have a look and I'll get some specifics. . .

EDIT - also notable mention for Club M, was only ever in it of a Tuesday night (weirdly enough) a few times after working late in Town, strange place

L1011 · 21-06-2019 10:21am

The DJ scene is mostly in late bars now.

Suburban clubs are possibly completely wiped out - I'm sure saying this will cause someone to provide a correction now; but the days of there being a club in each suburb are long gone.

Muahahaha · 23-06-2019 7:49pm

L1011 wrote: »

The DJ scene is mostly in late bars now.

Suburban clubs are possibly completely wiped out - I'm sure saying this will cause someone to provide a correction now; but the days of there being a club in each suburb are long gone.

Was just wondering about suburban clubs when reading the thread. I havent heard of Tamangoes in Portmarnock in years, anyone know what the building is now? And didnt Tallaght have a pretty big club in one of the hotels, is that still on the go?

I think Leopardstown racecourse still have some kind of club nights aimed at 18-25s.

corkboy38 · 23-06-2019 7:52pm

Muahahaha wrote: »

Was just wondering about suburban clubs when reading the thread. I havent heard of Tamangoes in Portmarnock in years, anyone know what the building is now? And didnt Tallaght have a pretty big club in one of the hotels, is that still on the go?

I think Leopardstown racecourse still have some kind of club nights aimed at 18-25s.

Both the Tallaght and Leopardstown clubs are gone.

punisher5112 · 23-06-2019 7:53pm

Muahahaha wrote: »

Was just wondering about suburban clubs when reading the thread. I havent heard of Tamangoes in Portmarnock in years, anyone know what the building is now? And didnt Tallaght have a pretty big club in one of the hotels, is that still on the go?

I think Leopardstown racecourse still have some kind of club nights aimed at 18-25s.

Club 92 shut new years....

jr86 · 23-06-2019 8:19pm

L1011 wrote: »

The DJ scene is mostly in late bars now.

Suburban clubs are possibly completely wiped out - I'm sure saying this will cause someone to provide a correction now; but the days of there being a club in each suburb are long gone.

When I was a student in Dublin in the early-mid 00s Blackrock was absolutely buzzing at the weekends

Wicked Wolf and I think I remember a club upstairs where Wetherspoons is now? 1 or 2 more aswell

Was there earlier this year on a saturday when I was staying in a nearby hotel. The place was absolutely dead

punisher5112 · 23-06-2019 8:57pm

jr86 wrote: »

When I was a student in Dublin in the early-mid 00s Blackrock was absolutely buzzing at the weekends

Wicked Wolf and I think I remember a club upstairs where Wetherspoons is now? 1 or 2 more aswell

Was there earlier this year on a saturday when I was staying in a nearby hotel. The place was absolutely dead

Remember it well and dun Laoghaire also....

Mad to see all these cool spots gone... I couldn't believe it when boomerang was gone from under buskers....
Use to live in there...

God looking back could easily spend €200 or more on a night out and have nothing for the week ... Bank holiday meant 3 nights in a row out and use to be out down the country also....

Memories and here I am few beers living it up in my kitchen with clubland TV and a few others....

Stephen15 · 23-06-2019 11:26pm

As a younger person in my early twenties I do enjoy going to a nightclub but only occasionally and may of my friends are the same. I think they may be part of the reason nightclubs are dying. Many young people are only interested in going now and again but not every weekend or every second weekend even and instead only go once every couple of months or so.

jr86 · 24-06-2019 9:45am

punisher5112 wrote: »

Remember it well and dun Laoghaire also....

Mad to see all these cool spots gone... I couldn't believe it when boomerang was gone from under buskers....
Use to live in there...

God looking back could easily spend €200 or more on a night out and have nothing for the week ... Bank holiday meant 3 nights in a row out and use to be out down the country also....

Memories and here I am few beers living it up in my kitchen with clubland TV and a few others....

Can't put a price on good memories :pac:

Was in Dun Laoghaire maybe two years ago now over the summer. Thursday night, pubs fairly busy aswell, and along comes 12-30 - and not a site of a late spot open. I recall Thursday nights hopping there back in the day, right until 2-30 in the morning or whatever. I was shocked

Anyway we were told we'd have to go to either Bray or into Dublin City to find a place to have a late drink on a Thurs night, over holiday season.

L1011 · 24-06-2019 10:10am

Muahahaha wrote: »

Was just wondering about suburban clubs when reading the thread. I havent heard of Tamangoes in Portmarnock in years, anyone know what the building is now? And didnt Tallaght have a pretty big club in one of the hotels, is that still on the go?

I think Leopardstown racecourse still have some kind of club nights aimed at 18-25s.

I'm fairly sure Tamangos is still going - last one standing - but it's in a hotel anyway

Dublin Nightclubs

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