dublin layover: is five hours enough time to go into town for lunch

Oh boy I would say it is too risky, but depends where you are coming from/flying to?
We just flew home to PHL from DUB last month- we were on the airport bus at O'Connell street stop just before 8 am for an 11:20 flight. Arrived at airport in about 45 min. We figured we would have time to check bags, grab bkft etc, but with the new security clearance going to US we were directed to get immediately in line for all of that after checking in and good thing we did. If I recall we had just less than a hour to wait for boarding once we got thru security. This was on a Mon am.

If you do decide to risk it- we had a delicious Irish stew lunch at a pub just off O'Connell St called the Oval Pub. However as good as it was it was not worth the stress you might be under to get back on that bus to get to the airport on time!

Thank you! I'm not going to risk it. But I sure would have loved that Irish lunch.

I want to emphasize an important point in the above reply.

Exactly what "formalities" (customs, immigration, security) you have to go through in Dublin depend on where you are coming from and where you are flying to. But if you are flying nonstop from Dublin to the US, you go through "preclearance," meaning you do US immigration and customs in Dublin. Your arrival in the US is then like a domestic arrival. In this scenario, there's NO WAY I'd take the chance of leaving the airport, since preclearance can take some time, and you can't opt out of it (if you're running late, you can't just elect to go through formalities on arrival in the US; you can't even get to the US bound gates without going through preclearance).

As has been mentioned, no way going all the way into Dublin - too many variables (traffic, security, etc.). But if you're determined to have an Irish lunch, a quick google search found a list of pubs very near the airport. If your flight was not late and your bag is checked through, you could conceivably walk (one pub is very close) or take a taxi , eat, and return (allowing 2 hours minimum for security, it really is bad).

We've connected through Dublin, both coming from and returning to U.S., twice, each time with a window of about two hours, give or take. We've had no difficulties at all getting through preclearance security and customs, ending up with plenty of time at our gates.

That said, I'd also be nervous about trying to leave the airport midday and make it to the city and back. While we felt we had time to kill after security and such, your mileage, as they say, may vary.

Are you flying to the USA? It appears everyone above assumes that but if you're flying to, say England it won't take long to go through all the checks and go.

However, i have an alternative! A restaurant in Dublin Airport recently won best airport restaurant in the world (or something similar to that). I go every time I have a layover (August, next month, 3 or 4 times a year). It's called Marqette Dublin Airport. Mostly organic, locally sourced, just a fantastic place. I think they've opened a second one in the past weeks, in the airport....

A real Irish dining experience!!

Susan
Expat in waterville.

Susan and all others who helped, thank you! I have some really good ideas now. I am not traveling to the US on that leg, just coming from Munich to Dublin to London Heathrow, overnighting there, and then taking a nonstop to Austin. Yes, this is a squirrelly flight, but was super cheap! I may live to regret booking this, but it's great to know that the Dublin airport has a nice restaurant and it will be fun to try it out.

Glad to help! post us your experience so we know what works!!

:-)

Susan in Waterville