10 Spooky Things to do for Halloween in Dublin

You may not know this, but Halloween started in Ireland as a Celtic festival called Samhain (I share a brief history of it at the end). I personally think spending Halloween in the place where it started is really cool, especially in Dublin. The city has centuries of dark history, from executions and body snatchers to pubs with ghosts that still haunt those who sit down for a pint.

Dublin doesn’t go quite as wild for Halloween as some US cities, like New Orleans, but there’s still a lot to do. After all, Ireland is the home of Halloween, and it’s leaning more and more into its spooky roots.

In this guide, I’m sharing 10 spooky things to do for Halloween in Dublin, from a ghost bus tour and a haunted castle to some of the city’s oldest and creepiest pubs.

Things to do for Halloween in Dublin

Take a Ghost Bus Tour Through Dublin

Dublin Ghost Bus Tour

📍 Meeting Point: Upper O’Connell Street, Dublin 1, Ireland

🕒 Departure Times: 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. | Runs year-round, with extra departures around Halloween | About two hours

🎟️ Good to Know: Tickets are €35, and you have to be 14 or older, with anyone under 16 accompanied by an adult. The bus is not wheelchair accessible, and parts of the tour are outside, so dress for Irish fall weather.

Let me start by saying this tour blew my mind. I have been on tons of ghost tours over the years, and this one easily ranks in my top three. The tour begins before you even sit down.

You board through a narrow corridor set up like a haunted house, with smoke and a laughing doll that made all of us jump. The driver also has a collection of masks and a habit of jumping out at people.

Upstairs, red velvet curtains cover every window, so the only thing to focus on is the guide and the stories he would be telling. Ours was an actor, which didn’t surprise me. He knew how to tell a story that grabbed everyone’s attention.

He had music, props, and sound effects to accompany the stories. I have ADHD and get distracted by basically everything, but I was sitting on the edge of my seat the entire time.

You only get off the bus twice, at a hidden graveyard and at St. Audoen’s Church in the medieval quarter, where you hear the story of Darkey Kelly. Without giving too much away, you will hear about body snatching, where Bram Stoker got his inspiration for Dracula, and a sinister Dublin surgeon named Dr. Clossey.

If you love all things spooky and macabre, this tour is worth booking.

BOOK THIS SPOOKY GHOST BUS TOUR

Have Drinks at a Creepy Cocktail Bar

Peruke & Periwig

📍 Address: 31 Dawson St, Dublin 2, D02 DR58, Ireland

🕒 Hours: Monday to Wednesday 5:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. | Thursday 4:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. | Friday and Saturday 3:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. | Sunday 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

🍸 Good to Know: The ground floor bar is walk-in only. The upstairs lounges take reservations and have their own cocktail menu. Tables for two are booked for one hour and 45 minutes.

Peruke & Periwig is a three-story cocktail bar on Dawson Street, done up like a Georgian-style Dublin townhouse that has been filled with wigs, velvet, and portraits of strangers. If you are looking for a place in Dublin with spooky vibes, this is where I would go.

Peruke and periwig are both old words for the powdered wigs Georgian gentlemen wore, so you would assume this place used to be a wigmaker’s shop. However, according to the bar itself, it was a pedal harp maker’s shop.

Rumor has it the harp maker had “a curious penchant for wigs and headpieces,” which is where the bar’s name came from. When you walk into the bar, you’ll spot rows of mannequin heads in powdered wigs perched up high.

If you visit, I recommend heading to the back and getting seated upstairs. The two upper floors are lounges with their own cocktail menus. If there are more than two of you or you go on a weekend or holiday, make a reservation.

I got there early and was lucky enough to get a table without a reservation, but I would book one just to be safe.

Anyway, the host will walk you up a narrow staircase. At the top is a room full of dark wood, plush velvet chairs, gilt-framed portraits, and fringed marble tables lit by tiny lamps. It looks like the perfect place to have a séance.

The cocktails are as strange as the decor. One of mine came with gold-dusted lychees as a garnish, but my favorite was a drink called Siren’s Curls, made with wasabi, pickle-infused gin, and melon foam. It sounds weird but was so good.

The menu changes, so the cocktails I had may not be on it when you visit. The ground floor bar was crowded when I arrived, and I thought the decor upstairs was much better and creepier.

Discover Your Inner Artist at a Halloween Neon Painting Class

The Dublin Art Bar

📍 Address: Pawn Shop, 15 Dame St, Dublin 2, D02 KD74, Ireland

🕒 Class Times: Thursday and Friday 6:30 p.m. | Saturday 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. | Sunday 5:00 p.m.

🎨 Good to Know: Tickets start at €29.93, classes last about two hours, and no experience is needed. Your ticket covers the UV paints, black lights, and an artist who walks you through the whole painting. Drinks are from the bar upstairs.

BOOK A NEON PAINTING CLASS

I’ll be honest, I am probably the least artistic person out there. I have a neurological condition called ataxia that affects my fine motor control, so my drawing skills peak at stick figures, and even those are a struggle. That being said, I like to challenge myself, so when I found a UV painting class with a sugar skull theme for Halloween, I signed up.

The classes are run by the Dublin Art Bar and held downstairs at Pawn Shop, a bar on Dame Street. Once you’re inside, head down the stairs to the painting room (it’s by the bathrooms). It’s a paint and sip, so you can run up to the bar and bring a drink back down with you.

Before I started, I wandered around the room looking at the example paintings glowing on the walls. I was determined to make something like these.

Mine did not look anything like them, but it was so much fun anyway. Our teacher walked us through the whole process and painted along with us. We started with photocopied skull outlines that we traced onto our canvases, which was the hardest part for me. If you are wondering, “Where is your painting, Marika?” I didn’t get a photo, and I left it behind because there was no room in my suitcase. Also, it was not my best piece of art.

Around Halloween, they have spooky themes like sugar skulls, UV pumpkins, and a Day of the Dead night. The rest of the year, they do themes like SpongeBob, Shrek, fireworks, and even paint your pet.

BOOK A NEON PAINTING CLASS

Have a Halloween Afternoon Tea on a Vintage Double-Decker Bus

Vintage Tea Trips Halloween x Glasnevin Tour

📍 Meeting Point: St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland

🕒 Dates and Times: October 3 to November 1, 2026 | 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

🎟️ Good to Know: Adult tickets are €65, with cheaper youth and child tickets. The first 90 minutes are afternoon tea on the bus, followed by a guided tour of Glasnevin Cemetery. The bus does not bring you back, so you’ll need to make your own way home from Glasnevin.

I have been dying to take a vintage tea bus tour ever since I saw one in a video on social media years ago. I was especially excited when I found out Vintage Tea Trips in Dublin had a Halloween one.

The Halloween tour combines afternoon tea with a guided walk through Glasnevin Cemetery, where about 1.5 million people are buried and which is said to be one of the most haunted places in Dublin. It starts at St. Stephen’s Green, where we boarded a beautifully restored 1960s Routemaster double-decker bus.

Our host for the bus portion was Hannah, and she was incredible. As we drove past Dublin’s landmarks, she told us how Halloween started in Ireland as Samhain, the Celtic festival marking the end of the harvest.

A lot of what we still do on Halloween started here, like dressing up and going door to door. The Irish also carved turnips instead of pumpkins. When Irish immigrants brought the tradition to America, they switched to pumpkins, probably because they are way easier to carve.

Hannah is also from Sleepy Hollow, New York, so she knows quite a few spooky stories. She even told us the legend of the Headless Horseman.

While we soaked up all the Halloween commentary, we were treated to a full afternoon tea spread:

Freshly cut finger sandwiches (egg mayonnaise, coronation chicken, ploughman’s pickle)
Warm scones with Irish fruit jam and clotted cream
Desserts and pastries (carrot cake, lemon and raspberry tart, passion fruit mousse)
Unlimited tea, coffee, hot chocolate, juice, and water
A souvenir reusable cup to take home

This year’s Halloween menu also includes barmbrack, the traditional Irish Halloween fruit bread.

We drove for about an hour and a half before arriving at Glasnevin. There are no bathrooms on board, so pace yourself with those bottomless drinks.

Once we got there, we said goodbye to Hannah and the bus, and a cemetery guide took us on the Dead Interesting Tour. We walked through the grounds learning about people who shaped Irish history, as well as a few of the cemetery’s hauntings.

The tour finishes at The Gravediggers, a pub right next to the cemetery. If you’re not ready to head back to the city yet, it’s a great spot to grab a pint.

Tour One of the Most Notorious and Haunted Prisons in Ireland

Kilmainham Gaol

📍 Address: Inchicore Rd, Kilmainham, Dublin 8, D08 RK28, Ireland

🕒 Hours: October to March 10:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. | April to September 10:30 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. | Closed December 24 to 27

🎟️ Good to Know: Visits are by guided tour only, and tours last about an hour. Tickets are released online 28 days in advance at midnight Irish time, with extra same-day tickets released at 9:15 a.m. Adult tickets are €8. Only buy from the official website, since third-party tickets are not valid.

Kilmainham Gaol is a former prison that operated from 1796 to 1924, and it’s one of the most important historical sites in Ireland. With 128 years of suffering and death inside its walls, it’s no surprise that it’s also said to be one of the most haunted places in the country.

Kilmainham opened as a “modern” replacement for Dublin’s overcrowded prisons, and it quickly ended up just as overcrowded. Men, women, and children were crammed into candlelit cells, sometimes five to a cell. Some of the prisoners were children as young as seven, locked up for stealing food. There was no separating anyone by crime either, so someone arrested for petty theft could end up sharing a cell with a murderer.

Kilmainham is most famous for its role in Irish independence. Many of Ireland’s revolutionaries were imprisoned here. After the 1916 Easter Rising, 14 of the Rising’s leaders were executed by firing squad in the prison’s Stonebreakers’ Yard.

One of the saddest stories here belongs to Grace Gifford. She married Joseph Plunkett, one of the Rising’s leaders, in the prison chapel just hours before he was executed. Seven years later, during the Civil War, she was imprisoned at Kilmainham herself and painted a Madonna and Child on her cell wall. You can still see it through the peephole of her cell door, although what’s there now is a recreation of her original.

The prison closed in 1924 and sat abandoned until the 1960s, when volunteers with the Kilmainham Gaol Restoration Committee started fixing it up. Almost as soon as the work began, people started reporting strange things.

One of the first reports came from Dan McGill, who lived on site with his family while overseeing the restoration. One night, he looked out his window and saw the lights on in the chapel, the same chapel where Grace and Joseph were married. He went down, found it empty, and turned the lights off. When he got back to his room and looked out the window, the lights were on again. He went back and forth several times before finally giving up.

Another volunteer was repainting the dungeon when he said a sudden, strong wind threw him against the wall and pinned him there. Once it let go, he left and never went back.

The reports haven’t stopped. Staff, guides, and visitors have described:

Footsteps and voices in empty corridors
The sound of soldiers marching
Children refusing to go into certain parts of the prison
A dark presence in the chapel

I didn’t know you had to book ahead and tried just showing up, but the very nice security guard told me extra tickets are released online every day at 9:15 a.m. If you don’t have a ticket, be online at exactly that time. They go fast! The tour takes you through the cells, the corridors, and the yard where the executions took place.

I would say, if you are short on time and can only pick a few things to do in Dublin, this should be one of them.

Watch Scary Movies at an Independent Theater

Light House Cinema

📍 Address: Market St S, Smithfield, Dublin 7, D07 R6YE, Ireland

🎃 Halloween Season: Silver Scream runs October 15 to 31, 2026

Every October, Light House Cinema runs a Halloween film season called Silver Scream. The lineup leans toward classic horror, with movies like Dracula, The Mummy, The Bride of Frankenstein, and Creature from the Black Lagoon. When I went, they were also showing some Tim Burton movies. As much as I love a classic horror movie, I absolutely love Tim Burton, so I decided to see Frankenweenie for the first time, and it was so good!

Irish Film Institute

📍 Address: 6 Eustace St, Temple Bar, Dublin 2, D02 PD85, Ireland

🎃 Halloween Festival: IFI Horrorthon runs for five days in late October. The 2026 festival ran October 22 to 26.

I found out about IFI Horrorthon during the last few days of my trip. I was touring a distillery that happened to be making a signature Halloween gin for the festival, so I looked up what was playing and went to see The Descent.

Horrorthon is the Irish Film Institute’s annual horror film festival. It shows horror movies from around the world, along with cult classics and films that haven’t been widely released yet. Check the IFI website in early fall for next year’s lineup.

Visit Ireland’s Biggest and Most Famous Cemetery

Glasnevin Cemetery

📍 Address: Finglas Rd, Glasnevin, Dublin, D11 H2TH, Ireland

🕒 Museum Hours: October to March 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. | April to September 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. | Closed January 1 and December 25 to 26

🎟️ Good to Know: The Irish History Tour runs daily at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., lasts 90 minutes, and includes the museum. The Dead Interesting Tour runs on weekends and bank holidays at 1:00 p.m. Adult tickets are about €14.50, or €22 with the O’Connell Tower climb. Kids under eight can’t climb the tower.

Glasnevin is Ireland’s largest cemetery, covering 124 acres with more than 1.5 million burials. It opened in 1832 and was founded by Daniel O’Connell, who is now buried there under his own 55-meter tower.

O’Connell founded Glasnevin because Irish Catholics had nowhere to bury their dead with their own rites. Under the Penal Laws, Catholics were heavily restricted from practicing their religion, so they were stuck holding limited funeral services in Protestant churchyards. Glasnevin was created as a non-denominational cemetery where people of all faiths could be buried.

It quickly became the final resting place for some of Ireland’s most famous figures, including Michael Collins, Éamon de Valera, Charles Stewart Parnell, Countess Markievicz, Brendan Behan, and Luke Kelly of The Dubliners. Today, it’s known as Ireland’s National Cemetery.

In the 1840s, the Great Famine and cholera outbreaks killed so many people that nearly 800,000 were buried in unmarked mass graves at Glasnevin.

All those fresh graves made Glasnevin a target for body snatchers. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, Dublin’s medical schools needed bodies to study, and grave robbers would dig up the newly buried to sell to them. To stop them, the cemetery built high walls and watchtowers, and watchmen let bloodhounds roam the grounds at night.

The cemetery’s museum has displays on some of the more inventive (and gruesome) methods grave robbers used. One diorama shows a man who, instead of digging up the whole coffin, dug a tunnel to the head of it, put a noose around the corpse’s neck, and pulled the body out.

Glasnevin is still a working cemetery, and there are a few tours to choose from. The Irish History Tour covers the people and events that shaped Ireland, The Dead Interesting Tour focuses on some of the cemetery’s lesser-known residents, and the Women in History Tour shines a light on the extraordinary women buried there. You can also climb the 198 steps of the O’Connell Tower.

If you’re visiting with kids, Glasnevin runs a Children’s Samhain Tour every Halloween that covers Celtic culture, superstitions, ghost stories, and grave robbing.

Tour One of the Most Haunted Castles in Ireland

Malahide Castle

📍 Address: Back Rd, Malahide Demesne, Malahide, Co. Dublin, Ireland

🎃 Halloween Event: The Traitorous Tale: A Ghoulish Feast | October 9 to 30, 2026 | 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

🎟️ Good to Know: Tickets are €120 and include an after-dark theatrical tour of the castle and a feast. Book early because it usually sells out!

Malahide Castle, just north of Dublin, was home to the Talbot family for almost 800 years. In that time, it saw its fair share of battles, betrayals, and executions, so it’s no surprise it’s said to be one of the most haunted castles in Ireland.

The most gruesome ghost story starts with a man named Miles Corbet. Corbet was one of the people who signed the death warrant of King Charles I, and after Oliver Cromwell conquered Ireland, he rewarded Corbet by giving him Malahide Castle. The Talbots were kicked out of their home.

But when the monarchy was restored in 1660, King Charles II went after everyone who had signed his father’s death warrant. Corbet fled to the Netherlands, and the Talbots moved back in.

In 1662, Corbet was tracked down, sent back to England, and hanged, drawn, and quartered in London. He never made it back to Malahide, but legend says his ghost did. People claim to see a figure in armor that suddenly falls into four pieces.

Another ghost is Puck, a jester who worked for the Talbots. Puck fell in love with Lady Elenora Fitzgerald, who was being held prisoner at the castle. When he was found out, he was stabbed in the heart, and with his last breath, he swore to haunt the castle forever.

Puck is now said to be the castle’s most mischievous ghost, and he likes moving things around. Even Lizzo claims he messed with her. While visiting the castle on a tour stop in Dublin, her phone went missing, and it turned up in her dancer’s pocket.

The saddest story belongs to Maud Plunkett. On her wedding day, her new husband, Lord Galtrim, was called away from the celebration to fight in a battle and was killed within hours. She became a maid, wife, and widow all in one day. His ghost is said to wander the castle, pointing to the spear wound in his side.

Maud married again and is buried in the ruined church right next to the castle. Legend says her ghost still chases her last husband through the halls.

The last ghost is a mystery. In the Great Hall hangs a portrait of a woman in a white dress, and nobody knows who she is. People say she steps out of her portrait at night and wanders the halls.

Every Halloween, Malahide Castle runs an event for adults called A Traitorous Tale. When I went, it was a murder mystery tour through the castle. We had to solve a murder by choosing between three suspects, who each told their side of the story and tried to convince us they were innocent. Before the show, we got canapés and a themed Halloween cocktail, which were all so good.

This year, it’s been expanded into The Traitorous Tale: A Ghoulish Feast, with an after-dark theatrical tour and a full feast. When I went, it sold out weeks in advance.

Take a Ghost Walking Tour

Dublin: Dark Walking Tour of Haunted Dublin

📍 Meeting Point: Outside the Old Storehouse bar in Temple Bar. Look for the guide with the green umbrella.

🎟️ Good to Know: The tour lasts about two hours and runs rain or shine, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before. It covers murder and torture, so be careful if you are bringing kids.

Dublin’s haunted history goes back centuries, and I would go as far as to say it’s one of the most haunted cities in Europe. There are so many ghost walking tours to choose from, but in the end, I went with this one. Our guide was great, and we learned all about Dublin’s spooky legends and myths, along with some of the city’s most notorious serial killers and brutal murders.

The tour starts in the city center and winds through Temple Bar into Dublin’s medieval streets, down cobbled lanes and alleyways. Along the way, you hear about the real-life inspirations for Bram Stoker’s Dracula, body snatchers, the banshee, witchcraft, and the Hellfire Club, a secret society of rich men in 18th-century Dublin.

BOOK THIS DARK WALKING TOUR OF DUBLIN

Have Food and Drinks at Dublin’s Historic and Haunted Pubs

Darkey Kelly’s

📍 Address: 19 Fishamble St, Christchurch Pl, Temple Bar, Dublin 8, D08 PD8W, Ireland

🕒 Hours: Monday to Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. | Friday and Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. | Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

🍀 Good to Know: There’s live traditional music every night, and food is served from noon to 9:45 p.m. They don’t take reservations, so just walk in, but it gets busy.

Darkey Kelly’s looks like any other lively Irish pub, with live music, Guinness on tap, and tourists and locals packed in together like sardines. But the woman it’s named after has one hell of a dark backstory.

In the 1750s, Dorcas “Darkey” Kelly ran a brothel called the Maiden Tower on Copper Alley, just off Fishamble Street. According to legend, one of her clients was Simon Luttrell, a member of the notorious Hellfire Club.

The story goes that Kelly became pregnant with his child and asked him to help support the baby. Instead of helping her, Luttrell accused her of witchcraft. He claimed she had bewitched him and then sacrificed their baby in a satanic ritual. No one ever found the baby’s body.

But according to court records, Kelly was actually convicted of murdering a shoemaker named John Dowling on St. Patrick’s Day in 1760. Then, almost 30 years after her death, a newspaper reported that the bodies of five men had been found hidden in the vaults of her brothel.

If that were true, it would mean she killed at least six men, which is why some people call her Ireland’s first serial killer. However, historians are skeptical, because the bodies aren’t mentioned in any records from her trial or execution. So whether she was really a serial killer, no one knows for sure.

What is known is how she died. On January 7, 1761, Kelly was taken to Gallows Road, today’s Baggot Street, where she was partly hanged and then burned at the stake. Her fellow sex workers held a wake for her on Copper Alley, and authorities arrested 13 of the women and threw them in Newgate Prison.

More than 260 years later, people say Darkey Kelly still hasn’t left. Patrons at the pub report strange sounds and objects moving on their own, and some claim to have seen a shadowy woman drifting toward Copper Alley at night before vanishing.

Unfortunately, I did not have any run-ins with Darkey, but I did have a great meal and a Guinness while listening to live music, so I recommend stopping in and staying for a bit. The staff know her story well, so if you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask!

Bull & Castle

📍 Address: 5-7 Lord Edward St, Dublin 2, D02 P634, Ireland

🕒 Hours: Monday to Thursday 12:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. | Friday and Saturday 12:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. | Sunday 12:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

🥩 Good to Know: The steakhouse is downstairs, and Dausie’s Bar is upstairs. It’s on the pricier side, and you can book a table through OpenTable.

On Lord Edward Street, across from Christ Church Cathedral, you’ll find an upscale steakhouse that’s said to be haunted by one of Ireland’s most famous poets.

The poet is James Clarence Mangan, who was born right on this spot on May 1, 1803. Back then, the address was Fishamble Street, and the building that stood here was both his family’s home and their grocery shop. His father, a former schoolteacher from County Limerick, had taken over the shop from his wife’s family.

That building was torn down in the 1970s, and a new one went up in its place. The new building is now the Bull & Castle.

Mangan’s father was better at spending money than running a business, and the family eventually went bankrupt. As a teenager, James went to work copying legal documents as a clerk to help support them. He hated it, but he taught himself German on the side and went on to translate poetry.

He was also hard to miss. People who knew him described a skinny man in green spectacles and a witch-like hat, who padded his shirts so he wouldn’t look so thin.

Unfortunately, Mangan struggled with depression for most of his life and turned to alcohol and opium. He worked at Trinity College’s library for a while, but his drinking made it hard to hold down a job, and he spent his last years very poor. When cholera hit Dublin in 1849, he was too weak to survive it. He died on June 20, 1849, at just 46 years old, and he’s buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.

Staff and visitors at the Bull & Castle say Mangan still hangs around. If you suddenly feel cold or sad in the middle of your steak, it might just be him.

I didn’t feel any sad chills while I was there, just very full. I had a lovely steak dinner, and the interior is really beautiful, so it’s definitely a place I recommend checking out.

The Brazen Head

📍 Address: 20 Bridge St. Lower, Usher’s Quay, Dublin, D08 WC64, Ireland

🕒 Hours: Open daily from 12:00 p.m. until late | Food served until 9:00 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, and until 9:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday

🍀 Good to Know: There’s live traditional music in the evenings. They don’t take reservations for groups under eight, so just walk in, but expect it to be busy.

The Brazen Head calls itself Ireland’s oldest pub, and it’s also said to be one of the most haunted pubs in Dublin.

According to the pub, it’s been serving drinks since 1198, but the earliest record of a Brazen Head is from 1613. It got a license to sell ale in 1661, and the building you see today became  a coaching inn in 1754. Even so, that still makes it one of the oldest pubs in Dublin.

In the late 1700s, the Brazen Head was a meeting spot for rebels who wanted to end British rule in Ireland. One of them was Robert Emmet, who planned his 1803 uprising here. He even had a favorite desk that faced the entrance, so he could keep an eye out for anyone coming from Dublin Castle.

The uprising failed, and Emmet was hanged and beheaded, just up the hill from the pub. He was only 25. His body was buried, but it later went missing, and to this day, no one knows where he ended up.

Staff at the Brazen Head say Emmet still lingers. People claim to have seen a young man in old-fashioned clothes sitting in the corner where he used to sit. Some even say his executioner hangs around here too.

Over the years, the Brazen Head is said to have hosted some famous regulars, including Gulliver’s Travels author Jonathan Swift, playwright Brendan Behan, and Michael Collins, who led the fight for Irish independence. James Joyce even mentions the pub in his novel Ulysses.

It’s still just as popular today, and the pub fills up the minute it opens, so I’d get there early. I went for lunch and had bacon and cabbage with a Guinness, which was fabulous. Every inch of the walls is covered in old photos and artifacts, so you could easily spend an hour just looking around.

The Bleeding Horse

📍 Address: 24-25 Camden Street Upper, Saint Kevin’s, Dublin 2, D02 NP22, Ireland

🕒 Hours: Monday to Wednesday 12:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. | Thursday 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. | Friday and Saturday 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. | Sunday 12:30 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.

🍔 Good to Know: It’s a gastropub with Irish food and burgers, and most mains are €30 or under. You can book a table through OpenTable.

The first thing I noticed about the Bleeding Horse was the painting of a white horse on the front, with “1649” written under it. That’s the year of the Battle of Rathmines, and it’s tied to the most popular story about how the pub got its name.

On August 2, 1649, a Parliamentarian army of about 5,000 men, led by Michael Jones, launched a surprise attack on a Royalist and Irish Confederate army of about 11,000 camped just south of Dublin. Jones claimed his men killed or captured around 4,000 soldiers, and two weeks later, Oliver Cromwell landed in Dublin unopposed.

According to legend, a wounded horse fled the battlefield and stumbled into a tavern that stood right where the Bleeding Horse is today. Some versions say it collapsed and died on the tavern floor.

Another theory is that the name came from a farrier, someone who shoes and cares for horses, who worked at the inn. Back then, if a horse got “the staggers,” an illness that made it wobble and lose its balance, often from eating poisonous plants, farriers would drain some of its blood because they thought it would cure it.

The pub has been around since at least the 1600s. It sat where two major roads out of the city met, so it was a natural stop for travelers. The building you see now dates from 1871, and the inside was renovated in 1992, with balconies on different levels looking down over the main bar.

The Bleeding Horse has some literary history too. Gothic horror writer Sheridan Le Fanu described its old sign, a white horse with blood spouting from its neck, in his 1845 novel The Cock and Anchor. James Joyce mentions it in Ulysses, and James Clarence Mangan, the poet said to haunt the Bull & Castle, drank here too.

Today, the Bleeding Horse is a bustling spot with good food and drinks. I had a burger and fries and enjoyed wandering around, since every room is so different. Even the bathroom was cool, with a cabinet full of vintage soaps, perfume bottles, and old photos.

Davy Byrnes

📍 Address: 21 Duke St, Dublin, D02 K380, Ireland

🕒 Hours: Monday to Thursday 12:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. | Friday to Sunday 12:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. | Food served 12:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

🍸 Good to Know: It’s just off Grafton Street, and most mains are €30 or under. You can book a table through OpenTable, and the gorgonzola sandwich from Ulysses is still on the menu.

Davy Byrnes is one of Dublin’s most famous literary pubs. The building dates back to at least 1722, but it got its name in 1889, when a publican from County Wicklow named Davy Byrne bought it for £2,300.

Over the years, it became a hangout for Dublin’s writers, including Oliver St. John Gogarty, James Stephens, Patrick Kavanagh, and Brendan Behan. Michael Collins, who led the fight for Irish independence, was a regular too, and the room upstairs was used for secret meetings of the Irish Republican Brotherhood.

But the pub’s most famous fan was James Joyce. In Ulysses, which takes place on June 16, 1904, his main character, Leopold Bloom, stops into Davy Byrnes for lunch and orders a gorgonzola cheese sandwich with mustard and a glass of burgundy.

Today, June 16 is celebrated as Bloomsday, and every year, Joyce fans come to Davy Byrnes to order the same lunch Bloom did.

The walls are covered in murals, including scenes of Joyce’s Dublin painted by Liam Proud. Some ghost stories even claim Joyce lurks around and that you can catch a glimpse of him in the pub’s mirrors, so keep an eye on those while you’re here.

In 1942, the pub became one of Dublin’s first cocktail bars, so I had to try a cocktail while I was here. I skipped the gorgonzola sandwich and went with a pie and some chicken wings instead. Sorry, Joyce.

John Kavanagh (The Gravediggers)

📍 Address: 1 Prospect Square, Glasnevin, Dublin, D09 CF72, Ireland

🕒 Hours: Monday to Thursday 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. | Friday and Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. | Sunday 12:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

🪦 Good to Know: There’s no TV, no music, and no singing allowed. Tapas are served in the evenings in a separate room, and the kitchen is closed on Sundays and bank holidays. It’s easy to pair with a Glasnevin Cemetery tour.

Right next to Glasnevin Cemetery, you’ll find John Kavanagh’s, a pub that has been serving pints since 1833, just a year after the cemetery opened. Most people know it by its nickname, the Gravediggers.

The pub got that name because the cemetery’s gravediggers would come in for a pint after their shift. According to legend, they didn’t always use the front door. They would knock on the cemetery wall, and the bartender would pass a pint through to them.

For nearly 200 years, the Kavanagh family has run this pub. They’re now on the eighth generation, with the seventh still behind the bar most days.

Being right next to a cemetery with over 1.5 million people buried in it, the pub has its share of ghost stories. The most famous is the man in tweed, an older gentleman who’s been seen sitting quietly at the bar with a pint before disappearing.

There’s also a story about a dog that was brought into the bar and started freaking out at something no one else could see. It refused to go near that part of the room again, and I would trust the dog on this one.

Anne Kavanagh, one of the family members who runs the pub, says she has seen the ghost of a young girl. The family takes these stories seriously enough that they’ve held séances here, and ghost hunters even came to film in the early 2000s.

The pub has also been in a few movies, including Gene Wilder’s Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx and Michael Collins with Liam Neeson, and Lonely Planet once named it one of Europe’s 50 hidden treasures.

Today, it’s a lively spot that’s popular with both tourists and locals. I recommend trying their tapas, which come with an Irish twist. I had the black pudding arancini, which are fried rice balls made with Irish blood sausage, and the meatballs. Both were really tasty!

Doyle’s Corner

📍 Address: 160/161 Phibsborough Rd, Phibsborough, Dublin 7, D07 R26N, Ireland

🕒 Hours: Closed Monday | Tuesday to Thursday and Sunday 12:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. | Friday and Saturday 12:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.

🍺 Good to Know: Irish singer-songwriter Gavin James took over the pub in 2024 and added live music. Downstairs, there’s the main bar and a smaller, quieter room with a fireplace, and upstairs is a sports bar. They also serve pub food.

Doyle’s Corner was built in 1873, supposedly with leftover stone from St. Peter’s Church down the road. Back then, it was called Dunphy’s Corner, and it even shows up in Ulysses, when Paddy Dignam’s funeral procession passes it on the way to Glasnevin Cemetery.

The pub is also just down the road from Mountjoy Prison, and it’s said to have been a favorite of Albert Pierrepoint, Britain’s most famous hangman. Pierrepoint hanged somewhere between 435 and 600 people, including more than 200 Nazi war criminals.

He also hanged William Joyce, known as Lord Haw-Haw, who broadcast Nazi propaganda to Britain during World War II, and Ruth Ellis, the last woman hanged in Britain. Pierrepoint was known for being incredibly quick, and it took him no more than 12 seconds to get from the prisoner’s cell to opening the trapdoor.

Ireland didn’t have its own hangman, so Pierrepoint was brought over to Mountjoy whenever there was an execution. He carried out Ireland’s last execution in 1954, and after his work in Dublin, he would supposedly stop by this pub for a whiskey.

In the early 2000s, people started reporting a noisy ghost upstairs. No one knows who it is, but since the pub is near both a prison and a cemetery, it could be just about anyone.

The bar is really nice and has a vintage feel to it. I’ll be honest, the wings and pizza weren’t great, so I would stick to a pint. And if you’re feeling brave, head upstairs while you’re there.

A Brief History of Halloween in Ireland

Halloween started in Ireland as Samhain (pronounced SOW-in), a Gaelic festival that marked the end of the harvest and the start of the darker half of the year. It fell on November 1, but the celebrations began the night before, since the Celtic day started at sunset. Samhain shows up in Irish writing as far back as the 800s, and it’s likely much older than that.

People believed that during Samhain, the line between our world and the Otherworld got thin, so spirits and the souls of the dead could cross over. To stay on their good side, families left out food and drink and even set places at the table for relatives who had passed. People also dressed up and went door to door, a tradition called guising, which eventually turned into trick-or-treating.

Bonfires were a big part of Samhain too. The Hill of Ward in County Meath, known as Tlachtga, is traditionally linked to a Samhain fire festival, and archaeologists have found signs of feasting there going back to the Bronze Age. People also carved faces into turnips and used them as lanterns to scare off spirits.

When Christianity spread through Ireland, the church started celebrating All Saints’ Day on November 1. The night before became All Hallows’ Eve, which was eventually shortened to Halloween.

Food was part of the fun, too. Barmbrack, an Irish fruit bread, was baked with small objects hidden inside, and whatever you found in your slice was supposed to predict your future. A ring meant you’d be married within the year, a bean meant you’d be rich, and a rag meant you’d be poor. Today, most barmbracks just have the ring.

In the 1800s, Irish emigrants brought these traditions with them to America. Turnips were hard to come by, but pumpkins were everywhere and a lot easier to carve.

Final Thoughts on Halloween in Dublin

Between the ghost tours, haunted pubs, and all the dark history, Dublin turned out to be a great place to spend the spooky season.

Since I wasn’t in Dublin for Halloween itself, I missed out on the Bram Stoker Festival, so I can’t say for sure if it’s worth it. It does look like fun, though. It takes place every year over the October bank holiday weekend (in 2026, it ran October 23 to 26), and many of the events are free. This year’s festival had a nighttime parade, a screening of the 1958 Dracula at Light House Cinema, theater shows, and a free family area called Stokerland, which is geared more toward kids. If you do check it out, let me know how it is!

Where to Stay in Dublin

Most of the spots in this guide are in or near Dublin’s city center, so it’s easy to walk between them. Glasnevin Cemetery and Malahide Castle are farther out, but Glasnevin is a short bus ride away, and Malahide is easy to reach on the DART train. Here are the best neighborhoods to stay in for Halloween.

City Center/Temple Bar is the most obvious choice if you want to be in the middle of everything. You’re within walking distance of tons of pubs and bars, Darkey Kelly’s, the Irish Film Institute, and the meeting point for the ghost walking tour. The downside is that it can be loud, crowded, and more expensive.

Grafton Street/St. Stephen’s Green puts you near shops and restaurants while being a bit more upscale and quieter than Temple Bar. Peruke & Periwig and Davy Byrnes are both right around the corner, and the Vintage Tea Trips bus leaves from St. Stephen’s Green.

Smithfield is still central but more chilled out than Temple Bar. It has good access to public transportation, some cool bars and restaurants, and Light House Cinema, and the Brazen Head is just across the river.

Stoneybatter is right next to Smithfield and has more of a local, neighborhood feel, with great pubs and cafes. It’s a little farther from the main action, but it’s still walkable or a short bus ride to the city center, and it’s a good pick if you want somewhere less touristy.

Rathmines or Ranelagh are farther south but well connected by bus. These are more residential areas with plenty of pubs and restaurants, and accommodation might be cheaper. Rathmines is also where the Battle of Rathmines took place, and the Bleeding Horse is on Camden Street, on the way into the city.

Book accommodation in Dublin by searching for hotels below!

Halloween in Dublin: FAQs

What is the weather in Dublin like in October?

October in Dublin is cool and damp, with average temperatures between about 7°C and 14°C (45°F to 57°F). It rains on roughly 12 days of the month, but it’s usually drizzle or scattered showers rather than nonstop downpours.

The weather can change quickly, so pack a waterproof jacket, an umbrella, and layers. You might get lucky with some crisp, clear days, or you might end up with gray skies all week.

The good news is that a lot of Halloween events happen in the evening anyway, and the clocks go back at the end of October, so it gets dark around 5:00 p.m. by Halloween. The cool, misty weather just makes wandering around Dublin’s old streets feel even creepier.

How do you get around Dublin?

Dublin’s city center is compact, so you can walk to most places, which in my opinion is one of the best ways to explore. For longer trips, you can use the bus, the Luas tram, or the DART train, and a Leap Card makes all three cheaper.

The Dublin Bus network covers pretty much everywhere you’d want to go. The Luas has two lines, Red and Green, that connect different parts of the city, and the DART runs along the coast, which is handy for getting out to places like Malahide.

If you’re going to use public transportation more than a couple of times, get a Leap Card. It’s a reusable card that works on buses, the Luas, and the DART, and it can save you up to 30% compared to paying cash. With a Leap Card, an adult fare is €2 for 90 minutes of travel thanks to the TFI 90 Minute Fare, and you can switch between the bus, Luas, and DART during that time. You can buy one at most convenience stores and newsagents, then top it up as you go.

Taxi apps like FreeNow, Uber, and Bolt all work in Dublin, but in Ireland they only connect you with licensed taxis, so you will be paying more. They’re handy late at night, when public transportation runs less often.

How busy does Dublin get during Halloween?

Dublin gets pretty busy around Halloween, especially in popular areas like Temple Bar. The last Monday of October is a public holiday in Ireland, so the weekend before Halloween is a long weekend, and it’s also when the Bram Stoker Festival takes place. Irish schools usually have their midterm break around the same time too, so expect more families out and about.

That said, it’s not uncomfortably crowded everywhere all the time. During the day and in the lead-up to Halloween, things are busier than usual but still manageable.

If you’re not a fan of crowds, go to popular spots earlier in the day, book restaurants and tours in advance, and try to visit pubs like the Brazen Head on a weekday instead of the bank holiday weekend.

Do I need to book Halloween events and tours in advance?

Yes, book as early as you can. Most of the things in this guide sell out around Halloween, and if you wait until you get to Dublin, you’ll either find them sold out or be stuck with whatever time slots are left.

The ones to book first are Kilmainham Gaol, which releases tickets 28 days ahead, Malahide Castle’s Halloween event, and the Vintage Tea Trips Halloween tour. If you want a table upstairs at Peruke & Periwig, reserve that too. The same goes for any special Halloween events at bars, clubs, or other venues, since these usually need advance tickets or reservations.

Is Dublin safe during Halloween?

Dublin is generally safe during Halloween, even with all the crowds, and the Gardaí (Irish police) increase their presence over the holiday.

Use the same common sense you would in any busy city. Keep an eye on your belongings in crowded areas. Stick to well-lit, busy streets if you’re out late, and watch your drinks. Temple Bar and other nightlife areas can get rowdy later in the evening.

If you’re out exploring quieter areas at night, I’d stick with a group or join a ghost tour instead of going alone. In case of an emergency, call 112 or 999.

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Travel Resources

First off, if you want to browse all my favorite travel resources, check out my Travel Resources page.

Trip Planning: I have put together the ultimate trip planning guide that will walk you through everything you need to know to plan your perfect trip.

Book your Flight: Check out Momondo! They are my go to for booking flights. Airfarewatchdog is also a favorite of mine. I get notified by email every time there is a good deal from my local airport. WayAway is also a good option. They list mistake fares so many times; you can get an international ticket for as little as $300!

Book your Transportation: Busbud is usually where I check first. They check hundreds of different transportation companies all over the world and find you the best bus deal. Flixbus is one of my favorite cheap options for Europe. The buses generally aren’t too bad, and they go to most countries around Europe. It’s the perfect option for short distances. Train travel is my favorite mode of transportation, and I always use Rail Europe to book my tickets. If you need a transfer from the airport or if you are going somewhere where transport is limited (like a festival in the middle of nowhere or even a day trip), Welcome Pickups is a great option. I have used them on multiple occasions, and you can book a ride 5 hours in advance!

Book your Accommodation: My number one is Booking. If you book enough hotels from them, you can get huge discounts and perks like free breakfast and room upgrade. On a budget and looking for cheap accommodation? Hostelworld is my preferred site to book cheap and reliable hostels. Hotwire has a fun mystery to it. It’s a great site to use for last-minute bookings. They don’t actually tell you the name of the hotel when you are browsing. You will just get the area of the city it’s in, the price, and how many stars it has. I love the surprise aspect of it! Traveling to Asia? Agoda is the best accommodation booking site! If you are traveling with a big group, Vrbo is a good option. They have a huge selection of vacation rentals. Hotellook allows you to compare hotel prices around the world, so you can find the best deal!

Book your Travel Insurance: Getting travel insurance is such a crucial part of preparing for a trip. You never know what could happen, and why take the risk? Before I travel anywhere, I always book my insurance through Visitors Coverage.

Book your Activities: Now, you have planned all the logistics; time to think about what you will do once you get to your destination! These are a few of my favorite trip planning sites. I always use Get Your Guide and Viator when I am looking for tours. If you are traveling to Asia, Klook is widely used to book activities. Go City sells tickets to top attractions for up to 65% off. Eat With allows you to book dinners or cooking classes with local families. If you enjoy self-guided walking tours, We Go Trip has audio guides you can download. Big Bus Tours offers open-top sightseeing tours.

Store Your Luggage: Do you have a long layover or a late flight and need to store your luggage? Radical Storage has got you covered.

Get an eSim: Airalo has been an amazing way for me to stay connected on the road. They have eSims in 200 countries, and the setup is super easy.