Family accomodation in Dublin

Kelley,
We stayed in Malahide and spent some time in the neighborhood pub listening to the music. My son was 8 at the time. Although this is out of the city the bus ride is fun and easy. This past summer we stayed in Dun Loghaire which was more urban, but didn't find the pubs as friendly to kids down there. To me Temple Bar is a bit adult, but there are a number of family that have music. Check with the place you are staying. They can almost always recommend the right place for you.

Why not consider Howth? There are a number of B & Bs and small hotels there - the King Sitric Guesthouse or the Bailey Hotel. Howth is a bus or DART [commuter train] ride from the city and the Abbey Tavern is well known as a pub with Irish music evenings. Howth is a fishing village but is now considered to be a suburb of Dublin - lovely harbour and view of Dublin Bay.

I stayed at Trinity College in a private room (the college rents rooms to tourists during the summer) which was absolutely great.

It was incredible to be able to stay overnight on the grounds after all the other tourists had left for the day. The room I had was enormous (even though it was a single, it had 15 foot ceilings, a marble fireplace, leather sofa, desk and wardrobe).

Trinity throws in a free breakfast daily. It is continental - but it's more than enough food and you have the option to pay a few dollars and get the full, hot breakfast if you want.

As for location, you can't beat rolling out of bed to see the Book of Kells or walking 2 minutes to Grafton Street or 4 to Temple Bar.

Except in very small towns, Ireland doesn't let young teens in the pubs at night now (unless your 15 yo can pass for 18). Temple Bar is really touristy and lots of drunks on the weekends at night. Look for an afternoon session of Trad somewhere else.

Hi Kelley,
I took the musical pub crawl in Dublin a couple of years ago and I think there were kids on the tour. Anyway, in each pub, we went into a private room in the pub ... there was no one else in the room except those on the tour. The tour was somewhat of an education on Irish music. A couple of musicians would give some background and then play some music. At the end, there was some group singing. There were definitely no rowdy drunk crowds to deal with ... just other tourists on the walk. However, it has been a few years since I took this tour so I cannot remember if there was anything that might be considered inappropriate for children... I don't think there was but just cannot remember. Anyway, this is their website ... you might send an inquiry to them http://www.discoverdublin.ie/musicalpubcrawl.html

As far as a hotel room - call a few places, describe your situation and ask what they have available. It sounds like your 15 and 13 year old are different sexes, which at that age makes it harder.

I liked the smaller towns and cities much better for Irish music. I was disappointed by Temple Bar. It is dominated by large bars/discos similar to what you would find in any city and probably don't admit minors.

I met some locals who took me on a crawl of some pubs in the area. They were mostly in basements, dark and more like small bars.

If you ask around for a pub with traditional music that is okay for kids you'll get a lot of suggestions and end up at a good place. I would try to eat dinner there and stay for music. Most trad music sessions end early (9pm) unless you're lucky.

No kids in Temple Bar. The atmosphere is basically a bunch of drunk tourists, and you might as well be in New York

There are a ton of great places to stay depending on your price range and needs. Several nice hotel lounges have music for the family. Call a concierge and they'll give you updated info.