Kiely’s Of Donnybrook

Definitely a sports pub. The football is on now, but it’s a nice place to watch rugby. The best attribute is they always carry some nice craft beers on tap!

Despite the complete lack. of atmosphere… Give it a visit. The staff are friendly/​drinks range great.

We ended our Dublin trip with a meal and numerous drinks at Kiely’s. Since it was the end to a long and exciting trip, Kiely’s at quite a lot to live up to. Luckily for us, they delivered.
The table was evenly split between Fish and Chips and the Lamb. I got the Fish, which might have been the best I had all trip. It came with a decent portion of mushy peas as well. The group that got the lamb was raving about it as well. However, what set Kiely’s apart for me was the extended Whiskey selection, all at reasonable prices. With duty free less than a day away, I was able to determine how much room I needed to save in my bag.

Great bar for a quiet weeknight pint and chat by the fire, can be a bit rowdy on rugby match days but so can most pubs. Lovely staff and parking round the back, the food menu is decent too and you get a proper biscuit with your pot of tea, sure what more could ye ask for?

This is a place my friends and I went to just about every week while I was studying at UCD. Every Thursday there’s live music from some random people who just feel like jamming together. They let me friend join in with them for a few weeks as well. It’s a nice pub to have a couple pints in on a weekday evening. They even bought my friends and me a round of going away shots on our last night there. Definitely check out Kiely’s if you’re in the area.

The BEST Rugby pub in Dublin FULL STOP!
Great place for a pint, and always has a fantastic atmosphere for game day. My wife is from Boston, and we’ve had plenty of visitors over the years. If its ever a six nations weekend, I try and squeeze in a «short» visit to give them some proper rugby atmosphere. Also great to have TV screens in the windows facing onto the smoking area so you can have a pint and a cigarette while watching the match. My Dad’s a regular there, so this is definitely one of the places I’ll really miss as we’re moving to Boston in 2 weeks.

Great pub to watch a rugby match. Lots of room, plenty of seats and TV’s. I watched Munster play North Hampton there recently and enjoyed the place thouroghly.

As a die-​hard Leinster fan I should probably love Kiely’s and spend all my free time here. But I don’t! It’s not because the staff are rude or because Kiely’s is in a bad neighbourhood, it’s just because I’m allergic to UGG boots. Kiely’s tends to be full of D4-​Ruggerheads as Kate, John and Ronan have pointed out before and the posing associated with that ruins the atmosphere a bit. On the positive side, if you don’t go here on a match day– most weekends between September and April pretty much– Kiely’s can be quite enjoyable. The Carlsberg is as good as in any other pub in Dublin and the pub itself is quite nice.

«Kiely’s is, loike, ground focking zero for Ross and all the goys. Can I have two heinos and a carlyberger please?»
But Rónán, it can’t be that bad? Surely your childish caricature is more than a little exaggerated… right?
Wrong. This is a D4 institution. Now, listen and repeat, LEINSTER, LEINSTER, LEINSTER!

Kielys, as many people may know is the spiritual home for Leinster rugby. Yes, Longs is nearer the rugby ground but they just don’t do a good enough appletini for the D4 brigade, its a bit more Carrickstown then Donnybrook! Cue Kielys as ground zero for the hordes of Ross O’Carroll Kelly clones after the match.
Aside from the rugby association and the fact that it just gets way too packed in here on match days, its a pretty decent pub. Ciss Maddens, the bar round the back is a bit nicer, yea its all begorrah bejay but has a little bit more character then the main room.
It wasn’t always like this though. I have a very fond childhood memory of watching Ireland get into the world cup quarter finals in Italia 90 here, when Jack gave it lash, great stuff, never mind that I was there on my own as a 10 year old child, the neighbours were there though so all was good, times have changed alright.
Kieys also does the omipresent carvery and also has WIFI, this is Dublin 4 afterall.

There is no point going to Kiely’s if you like any of the following: gaa, soccer, cricket, tennis, golf or any other sport that does not involve a rugby ball being thrown around by lots of burly men.
Well its location says it all really, it’s located beside a big rugby grounds and it would be hugely supportive of the Leinster and Irish teams. Needless to say, it’s a great place to go for a rugby game. I’ve always had a great time here. They do a good roast lunch too, which always helps!
You can expect to see lots of Ross O’Carroll Kelly’s and lots of Sorcha/​Chloe/​Erika-​esque types swanning around in ugg boats. Well, it is featured heavily in all of the popular books after all, so why wouldn’t they show up? Kiely’s is practically a Southside institution at this stage!