From remotest Donegal, we drive back east across Ireland (mostly avoiding Ulster this time) to Dublin where we’re staying for the weekend with Bob & Anne. Bob, a mostly Irish (and a bit of Italian!) American has been a full time or part time Dublin resident for more than a decade and he and Anne now know the city like natives! Their apartment is directly across the River Liffey from what has become Dublin’s Silicon Valley, a once derelict section of the city now resurrected and revitalized.

So who better to lead us around some of Dublin’s finest haunts to sample its liquid delights. We skip the Guinness Brewery this time in favour of what was until several decades ago, the Jameson Whiskey Distillery. Corporate mergers and the need for more distilling capacity took the operation to somewhere in County Cork. So the historic site is now a tourist showcase for Jameson’s products where we opt for the short tour and some product tasting.

And then on to what can best be described as a “pub crawl”, or at least what passes for that in people of our age demographic! At the weekend, from mid-morning until the early hours of the following morning, every crowded pub or bar in Dublin’s city centre (and particularly in Temple Bar, Dublin’s party district) has live music (of varying quality and “Irishness”) and large TV screens showing Ireland’s favourite sports - rugby, hurling and Gaelic football. So it’s a day knocking back Guinness (which tastes so much better here) and Irish whiskey tempered by Irish pub food

That was a boozy day…..