The Black Stuff Trail

Best time: Any day from about 2pm; weekday afternoons are calmest, and Friday and Saturday nights are very busy. Some listings show The Long Hall opening at 4pm Monday to Wednesday. Opening hours change, so check each venue before you set off.

The stops

1. 

   Mulligan's

   8 Poolbeg St, Dublin 2, D02 TK71

   Licensed since 1782 and on Poolbeg Street since 1854: a no-frills newspaper and theatre pub with Joyce and JFK lore, barely changed in generations and regularly named among Dublin's best pints of Guinness.

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2. 

   Kehoe's

   9 South Anne St, Dublin 2, D02 NY88

   First licensed in 1803, with its late-Victorian interior intact: mahogany bar, snugs and the old grocery counter. A haunt of Kavanagh, Behan and Flann O'Brien, known for a creamy pint just off Grafton Street.

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3. 

   Grogan's

   15 South William St, Dublin 2, D02 H336

   The Castle Lounge, an artists' and writers' pub since the 1970s: no TV, no music, original art for sale on the walls, famous toasties and a well-kept pint.

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4. 

   The Long Hall

   51 South Great George's St, Dublin 2, D02 DV74

   Licensed since 1766, with an 1881 Victorian interior of carved wood, mirrors and chandeliers; one of Dublin's most beautiful bars and renowned for its Guinness.

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5. 

   The Stag's Head

   1 Dame Court, Dublin 2, D02 TW84

   A pub site since the 1770s, rebuilt in 1895: mahogany, granite, stained glass and mirrors, hidden down a lane off Dame Street. It has starred in films and a Guinness ad, and pours a famous pint.

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6. 

   The Lord Edward

   23 Christchurch Place, Dublin 8, D08 RK00

   Unspoilt old-Dublin pub opposite Christ Church Cathedral, a pub since the late 1890s on a site licensed long before, with a gas-lit ground-floor bar and a quiet upstairs lounge.

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This route is about the classic pint of Guinness in Dublin's heritage pubs rather than craft beer: come for the stout and the Victorian interiors.

Six pints is a lot. Order halves, eat along the way (Grogan's toasties, food at The Stag's Head until 5pm), drink water between stops and skip a stop whenever you like.

Optional extra stops close to the route: Neary's (Chatham St), Toner's (Baggot St), O'Donoghue's (Merrion Row), Dawson Lounge (Dawson St), The Swan (Aungier St) and The Dame Tavern (Dame Court, beside The Stag's Head).

Worth the trip, further out: John Kavanagh's, The Gravediggers (Glasnevin); Fallon's (The Coombe); The Royal Oak (Kilmainham); Cleary's (Amiens St); Walsh's of Stoneybatter (a stop on the Smithfield & Stoneybatter route); The Blue Haven (Rathfarnham).

Based on Ireland360's list of the best pints of Guinness in Dublin.

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