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Join a haunted pub crawl through Dublin’s ancient streets for ghosts and a pint of Guinness. From plotting revolutionaries to somber writers, these pubs and bars are said to be a place where some of the patrons have been lingering for a long time.
Join a haunted pub crawl through Dublin’s ancient streets for ghosts and a pint of Guinness. From plotting revolutionaries to somber writers, these pubs and bars are said to be a place where some of the patrons have been lingering for a long time.
You don’t have to choose between checking out haunted locations and sitting down for a pint in Dublin as the number of haunted pubs and bars around the city will take you around a haunted pub crawl around the streets of Dublin all night.
Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Ireland
For those wanting a printable map and info brochure, you can head over to our webshop for purchase together with other sober versions of haunted city tours. But this one is for the booze and ghost lovers, and here is a list of a mere fraction of the haunted places for ghosts and pints.
John Kavanagh’s The Gravediggers | 1 Prospect Square, Glasnevin
Next to the haunted Glasnevin Cemetery you will find John Kavanagh’s, better known as The Gravediggers, a pub where the living and the dead are said to share a quiet pint. Founded in 1833, this old family-run tavern once served the weary cemetery workers who would signal their arrival by tossing a shovelful of earth against the wall, a ritual that, according to legend, can still be heard on still nights. The pub’s most famous ghost is that of an elderly man in a tweed suit who sits silently with his drink before vanishing through the wall.
Often hailed as Dublin’s oldest pub, The Brazen Head carries with it centuries of rebellion, revelry, and restless spirits. Most famously, it is said to be haunted by the ghost of Irish rebel Robert Emmet, who plotted his ill-fated uprising against British rule in 1803. After his execution and beheading on nearby Thomas Street, legend tells that his spirit returned to his beloved pub, unable to find peace.
The Portobello Bar | 33 Richmond Street, Saint Kevin’s
The Portobello Bar, standing beside Dublin’s Grand Canal, is said to be haunted by the ghost of a lock keeper whose tragic mistake cost innocent lives. The lock keeper’s story dates back to the 19th century, when he accidentally caused a carriage to sink while crossing the canal. Consumed by guilt and disgrace, he met his own mysterious death by the water’s edge. To this day, locals claim his restless spirit lingers near the lock, appearing as a dark figure on misty nights.
One of Dublin’s most famous literary landmarks, patrons say the ghost of James Joyce still lingers in the mirrors of his favorite haunt. Open since 1889, the pub was once a meeting place for revolutionaries like Michael Collins, but it was Joyce who made it immortal through Ulysses, where Leopold Bloom famously ordered his gorgonzola sandwich and burgundy. Over a century later, visitors claim to glimpse Joyce’s reflection moving on its own or hear the faint scratch of a pen in the quiet corners of the bar.
The pub Darkey Kelly is named after a ghostly legend of one of Irelands most notorious killer and rumoured witch that is haunting the neighborhood. In the Dublin’s Liberties, the ghost of Darkey Kelly, known as The Green Lady, is said to haunt the 40 steps leading to St. Audoen’s Church. Once an 18th-century innkeeper and madam of the Maiden Tower brothel, Darkey Kelly became entangled with the Hellfire Club and its notorious member, Sheriff Simon Luttrell. Accused of witchcraft and murder after a bitter dispute, she was publicly burned at the stake in 1761. Her execution, one of Dublin’s most brutal, sparked centuries of rumor and legend, from hidden corpses beneath her brothel to tales of dark pacts and vengeance from beyond the grave. And the bar bearing her name is said to hold her haunting as well.
At the corner of Lord Edward Street, across from Christ Church Cathedral, is the Bull and Castle Pub, a lively haunt with a darker secret. Beneath its laughter and the clink of glasses lingers the ghost of James Clarence Mangan, one of Ireland’s most tragic poets. Born on this very site in 1803, Mangan lived a life shadowed by despair and brilliance. Known for his strange attire, his green spectacles, and his haunting verse, he was both admired and pitied by the likes of Yeats and Joyce. Those who visit say the poet has never truly left. When the music fades and the night deepens, a chill often sweeps through the pub, dimming the lights and stilling conversation.
Once known as Leonards, this centuries-old pub has welcomed revolutionaries, writers, and wanderers alike, including Michael Collins himself. Some blame the ghosts of Dublin Castle across the street, while others whisper of a sealed tunnel beneath the bar, said to once lead directly to the castle’s gates. Though the passage may be hidden according to rumours, strange voices and cold drafts still rise from the cellar.
Across from St. Werburgh’s Church, where the famed patriot Lord Edward Fitzgerald is buried, stands the Lord Edward Pub, a place steeped in both history and haunting. The pub, dating back to 1890, carries the name of the Irish rebel who fought and died for his country’s freedom during the doomed 1798 Rebellion. Locals say his spirit never left the area. Patrons have reported sudden chills, flickering lights, and fleeting reflections of a man in military dress lingering in the mirrors behind the bar.
At the corner of Phibsborough where the North Circular Road meets Doyle’s Corner stands the Victorian Doyle’s Pub. Once called The Arthur Conan Doyle, the pub was built with stones from nearby Saint Peter’s Church and holds a chilling secret beneath its cellar. Frequented in its day by Brendan Behan and the infamous hangman Albert Pierrepoint, Doyle’s was also a neighbor to Lanigan’s Funeral Home. Patrons have long reported ghostly footsteps, shattered glasses, and the apparition of a pale figure on the stairs. Some say it is a spirit from the funeral home, others believe it’s one of Pierrepoint’s victims from Mountjoy Prison, still searching for their executioner.
In Dublin’s literary quarter, John Mulligan’s Pub on Poolbeg Street is known for more than its pints and prose. Since opening in 1854, the beloved Victorian tavern has drawn in journalists, actors, and writers, including James Joyce, who immortalized it in his story Counterparts. Staff have long spoken of bottles flying from shelves, doors slamming on their own, and phantom footsteps echoing above the cellar. Some claim to have seen the ghost of a man perched on a beer barrel, his gaze fixed on nothing, as though lost in thought from another time.
Madigan’s Bar | Connelly Station Amien Street (Closed for now)
Just steps from the ghostly corridors of Connolly Station was Madigan’s Bar, a place where travellers paused for a drink before their journey and where some never seem to leave. Staff have told of strange happenings when the last trains have departed and the station falls silent. Glasses rattle behind the bar without cause. Cold drafts sweep across the floor, even when the doors are firmly closed. In 2011, the Irish Ghost Hunters carried out an investigation at Connolly Station and Madigan’s Bar after countless reports of paranormal activity. The pub has earned its own haunted reputation over the years, although it is unclear if it is the same haunting as the station, or something else. This bar however, is said to have closed down, so who knows what will pop up in its place. Will it be as haunted?
Once a place for executions, the place the Ruffinihaus in Munich, Germany is built upon is said to be haunted. It is said that in the dead of night, the undead rises from their graves, still carrying their heads the executioners took.
Where the former country estate Campagne Mon Repos in Bern once was, the ghostly council of the military leader from General Robert Scipio von Lentulus was given in times of unrest. Is he still haunting the Könizwald woods, even after his estate is gone?
One of the old cemeteries in Munich said to be haunted is the Alter Südfriedhof, or the old south cemetery. According to lore, the ghostly voices of the so-called Eskimo Tragedy are still heard at night.
In the darkness of night and under the foliage cover of the forest, the demonic spirit of Uhaml is said to roam. The only way to escape it is getting out of the forest faster.
In the shadows between ghost, creature and witch, the Welsh Gwarch y Rhibyn has been given many names. Like a Banshee she has been said to be a deadly omen, often called The Hag of the Mist because of her presence in wet areas, or the Hag of the Dribble because of the versions where her mouth is dripping with blood.
Unhappy with the lack of beer in heaven, the Bavarian angel never returned when sent on a mission back on earth. To this day, he sits at The Hofbräuhaus bar in Munich, enjoying his brew.
Sometimes called the Devil’s Stone, the ruins of the former Mödling Castle is said to be haunted by a demonic bird-like entity, screeching at night as an omen of death and disaster.
Could a beer festival be haunted? Many have spoken about the ghost of an old brewer at Nockherberg haunting the beer festival, creating havoc to retaliate to what his descendants did to his brew.
After her public death in the tower of the Munich Frauenkirche, many have claimed to have seen the ghost of Fanny appearing at her death anniversary wearing white.
What really happened around the Pollingsried Chapel, and its supposed plague cemetery? Is there really a curse around the area? As far as the ringing of the bells can be heard?
Searching for its name, the utburd ghost from Norwegian folklore haunts the forests, waters and houses its parents left them to die. For the most part, they remained in folk tales, but sometimes, the stories about the dead children got real life consequences.
Perhaps one of the most well known figures from Irish mythology is the Banshee, the omen of death, wailing as death comes to a house. But where does she come from? And what does she want from the dead?