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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?
As a place of dubious drug testing and the place where most lobotomies were done, the Lier Hospital and former asylum was left with a haunted rumor lingering in the decaying walls. Although most of the buildings are now torn down, it is still remembered as one of Norway’s most haunted places.
The Danish ghostly horse spirit Helhest is said to roam around St. Canute’s Cathedral in Odense, Denmark. It is believed seeing the three legged horse is an omen of imminent death.
According to old legends and Danish folklore, there are stories of three legged horses haunting the churches and graveyards in the country. in Saint Olaf’s Church, the spirit of the helhest is said to be the omen of death.
Could it be that the oldest church in Oslo also has the oldest haunting? From legends about a dragon’s den underneath the structure and the ghostly silhouette haunting, the Gamle Aker Church perhaps has more activity than what meets the naked eye.
During a time when Bulgaria was under the Ottoman Empire, there was talk about a vampire haunting the streets of Veliko Tarnovo. The rumours got so bad, that the Islamic rulers had to turn to pagan belief to rid themselves of the bloodthirsty creatures.
In the windswept landscape of Norway’s west coast lies the Utstein Monastery, a site steeped in history and haunting tales. Known as Norway’s best-preserved medieval monastery, its ancient stone walls and iconic Gothic windows whisper stories of faith, love, and loss as well as the ghost of a Lady in White.
In the ancient St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, there are said to be restless spirits still lingering. One of the more well known is said to be the ghost of Jonathan Swift, perhaps best known as the author of Gulliver’s Travels.
In one of the city’s oldest buildings, the freshest food is served in the ancient locale. For years though, there have been talks about Stortorvet Gjestgiveri restaurant being haunted, and even made it as one of the most haunted clips in the national ghost hunting show.
Haunting Jone’s Road in Dublin, a headless horseman is said to roam after his life turned dark after scheming peers. And the former Dublin Sheriff, Buck Jones has become one of Ireland’s most well known headless horseman ghosts.
Next to the Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin, there is a pub called John Kavanagh’s ‘The Gravediggers’, where they went to have a pint after working at the cemetery. Rumor has it that the pub is haunted by those buried next door.
Said to be a protector of the Valleys in Armenia, the Dakhanavar vampire hides in the caves in the mountains, waiting for intruders to quench his thirst.