Morten Andersen is wary of Temple Bar by reflex, and the Oliver St John Gogarty is the exception that earns the corner. It is a tourist pub, plainly, but a serious one, with live trad from lunch to closing and screens for the matches that matter.
The Gogarty stands on the corner of Fleet Street and Anglesea Street, at 58-59 Fleet Street, in the heart of the Temple Bar quarter. It is named for Oliver St John Gogarty, the surgeon, poet and athlete who inspired the character Buck Mulligan in James Joyce's Ulysses, and it spreads across three floors of two of the quarter's oldest buildings (Gogarty's official site). The layout gives it a main bar, a library bar and a music lounge under one roof.
The room is the most photographed pub front in Dublin, all red paintwork and hanging flowers, and inside it leans hard on the traditional. Live Irish music plays every day from 1pm until 2.30am, which is the genuine draw rather than a token gesture (Gogarty's). For the sports crowd, the bar puts up the rugby, the GAA and the big soccer fixtures, so a Six Nations afternoon mixes the session players with the match watchers without friction.
What to order is stout and the carvery. The Guinness is poured for a tourist trade that expects it done right, the daily carvery lunch runs from noon to 3.30pm, and an extensive bar menu of Irish staples like Dublin Bay mussels and beef and Guinness casserole follows until 10.30pm (Visit Dublin). Morten's note: take a pint of stout, the carvery at lunch, and a seat upstairs near the music rather than the crush at the front door.
Who it is for is the visitor who wants the full Temple Bar postcard done competently, and the match-goer happy to watch among a loud international crowd. The Gogarty is right for a first night in Dublin, a trad-music fix, or a rugby afternoon with food on hand. It is wrong for a local after a quiet pint and a fair price, because this is prime tourist real estate and the round costs accordingly. For pubs with a heavier sports focus, our guide to the best sports bars in Dublin points elsewhere in the city.
Best time to go is an early weekday afternoon for the carvery and the first music set, before the evening tour groups arrive. A Six Nations kickoff fills all three floors, so come an hour before for a seat with a view of a screen. Avoid a late Friday or Saturday at the front bar unless a packed, song-led tourist scrum is exactly the night you want.
The Oliver St John Gogarty does the Temple Bar job better than the corner deserves, a three-floor trad house with real music, honest food and screens for the fixtures. For a visitor's first Dublin pint with the rugby on, it is a safe, lively booking. For the wider city, start with our Dublin bar guide, and for a quieter Temple Bar alternative see The Porterhouse in Dublin.
Sources: Oliver St John Gogarty official site; Visit Dublin listing; Yelp venue page.
