The Best Live Music Bars in Dublin

The Cobblestone is the pub that Dublin's traditional musicians use as their reference point when discussing what a session should feel like. The Smithfield location draws a local rather than tourist crowd, the sessions run Thursday through Sunday from about 21:30, and no one is performing for you specifically. You are welcome to sit near the musicians but the music is for the musicians first. Order a Guinness and stay quiet until the set ends.

Order: Guinness, poured slowly. This is not negotiable.

The pub where The Dubliners first played together in the early 1960s, and the most historically significant live music venue in Dublin that does not charge admission. Sessions run most nights with varying quality, but on a good Wednesday or Friday the back bar fills with musicians who have been coming here for 20 years. The Guinness is well kept and the bar snacks are unremarkable but correct.

Order: Guinness and a glass of Jameson. The classic Dublin combination.

Not primarily a live music venue, but Mulligan's earns its place on this list because the occasional sessions here — usually Thursday and Friday evenings — happen in one of Dublin's most authentic pub interiors. Established in 1782, it pours what many Dubliners consider the city's best Guinness. When the music is on, the combination of setting and sound is genuinely rare. Check ahead before making it your primary destination.

Order: The Guinness. The pint here has been consistently cited as Dublin's finest for 40 years.

A Camden Street institution that pulls in a mixed crowd of South Dublin locals and musicians who have been gigging in the city for decades. Sessions on Thursday evenings are reliably good, the Guinness is fresh, and the atmosphere is exactly what Dublin live music is supposed to feel like: informal, slightly chaotic, and genuinely engaging. No cover charge at any point.

Order: Guinness or a pint of Smithwick's Red

A surprisingly local pub given its central location just off Dame Street. The live music here leans toward folk and singer-songwriter rather than pure traditional, which broadens the appeal and keeps the room interesting across a full week of programming. Friday and Saturday evenings are the most consistent. No ticket required, drinks prices are central Dublin standard rather than Temple Bar premium.

Order: A pint of Guinness or the house cider on draft

A proper South Dublin session pub that hosts traditional music on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings without a cover charge or a tourism premium. The room fills with a crowd that is mostly working Dublin rather than visiting Dublin, which makes the whole experience feel earned rather than packaged. Sessions start at 21:30 and typically run until the musicians decide they have had enough.

Order: Guinness or Jameson with a splash of water

A three-floor venue on Liffey Street that runs the most eclectic live music programme in the city. Jazz on Thursday evenings in the basement bar, indie and folk upstairs at weekends, and a rooftop terrace for drinks between sets. The programming quality is above average for Dublin and the bar is well stocked. Check the weekly calendar before arriving rather than walking in blind.

Order: The craft beer selection is good here. Ask what is on the local tap.

Dublin's only brewpub with a consistent live music programme. The Liffey-facing riverside location is good, the house brews are genuinely worth trying alongside whatever session is running, and the acoustics in the main bar are better than the venue's size suggests. Folk and acoustic acts most weekday evenings, fuller bands at weekends. Cover charges apply for weekend headline acts.

Order: The house-brewed Pale Ale or the seasonal dark ale

A colourful, deliberately irreverent bar on Abbey Street that hosts some of Dublin's most interesting emerging acts across a weekly programme of live music and DJ nights. Less traditional than anything else on this list, but for live music in Dublin that does not involve a fiddle, Wigwam consistently delivers. The cocktail list is creative and the natural wine selection is the best in this stretch of the city.

Order: The house margarita or one of the rotating natural wine specials

The outdoor back garden makes this Portobello bar the best live music venue in Dublin for summer evenings. Acoustic and folk acts play in the garden from Thursday through Sunday from May to September. The bar runs a full craft beer and cocktail programme, the pizza from the converted bus in the garden is good, and the crowd is creative Dublin at its most relaxed.

Order: Craft IPA from the rotating guest tap and a garden pizza