Morten Andersen has a soft spot for the quayside pub that survives a glass-tower neighbourhood, and The Ferryman is the Docklands hold-out worth crossing the river for. It is a traditional house with a Georgian frame and the Liffey at the door, and it shows the match without trading on it.
The Ferryman stands at 35 Sir John Rogerson's Quay, in two restored listed Georgian buildings on the south quays of Dublin 2 (The Ferryman Townhouse official site). The pub anchors a townhouse hotel and sits among the offices of the south Docklands, which gives it a steady after-work trade and a riverside terrace that earns its keep on a dry evening.
The room reads older than the towers around it. Dark timber, a nautical theme nodding to the quay's seafaring past and the original Georgian proportions give it a settled, low-ceilinged feel. The sports listing service Fanzo files it as a Dublin sports bar, and the screens come alive for rugby internationals, Premier League weekends and the bigger soccer nights, while staying out of the way the rest of the week.
What to order is the quayside standard, done with care. The Guinness pours well and is the pour to lead with, near the six-euro-fifty mark common to this stretch of the city centre, with a Rockshore or a Heineken on tap for the lager drinker and a hot whiskey for a cold night by the water. Morten's note: take the stout, claim a window seat over the Liffey, and let the kickoff come to you.
Who it is for is the office crowd after work and the supporter who wants a fixture by the river rather than in a screen barn. It is right for a Friday wind-down, a rugby afternoon or a pre-concert pint before the 3Arena, and wrong for anyone chasing a late nightclub finish. For the rest of the Docklands and the city, our guide to the best sports bars in Dublin maps the riverside options.
Best time to go is Thursday and Friday after five, when the Docklands empties into the bar and the terrace fills, or two hours before a 3Arena show. A rugby international brings the screens to life without the crush of a dedicated sports barn. Avoid a quiet Monday if you want atmosphere, because the after-work trade is what gives The Ferryman its lift.
Reviewers single out the terrace and the river view as the draw, with Tripadvisor visitors flagging the quayside setting and the restored Georgian rooms as the reason to choose it over a generic city-centre bar. The food trade is steady rather than the headline, so treat the kitchen as a backup to the pints and the match.
The Ferryman is the Georgian survivor on the south quays, a proper Dublin pub holding its ground among the glass with screens for the big games and the Liffey at the window. For a riverside pint with the match on, it is the Docklands call. For the wider city, start with our Dublin bar guide, and for another Docklands sports option see MVP in Dublin.
Sources: The Ferryman Townhouse official site; Fanzo sports-bar listing; The Dublin Publopedia.
