In every city there’s a bar that is not well known, with a queue that stretches for a few kilometres, well…this is not that place. Known as the place with the ‘sticky carpets’ and has a growing reputation as being the marmite of pubs with students either loving it or hating it. Usually drawing an alternative crowd.

What makes this place stand out from the others in pint city is the atmosphere. A typical night in Costellos tavern, affectionately known to regulars as ‘Costies’ starts with owner and hero of pub culture ‘Flan’ Costello. After paying him 5€ entry and making small talk whilst getting a firm handshake, you are then greeted with fading music from the 80s and décor that you would find in a movie if an American made a film about 1960s Ireland. Think old typewriters, signs as gaeilge, and books that haven’t been printed since smoking was allowed in pubs. This brings you to a downstairs smoking area and plenty of booths for a group of friends and a lonely corner which is considered as the coat room. Not forgetting the highlight of the first floor of this two-storey haven – the beer pong tables. You’ve read that right, for 10€ you get a pitcher of Fosters (known among students as a rich mans Galahad) and plastic cups and ping pong balls.

Perhaps you may be feeling hungry at this point in the evening, after putting in a workout playing beer pong. Costies has you sorted with a ham and cheese toastie including a side of garlic bread. I can tell what you are thinking after reading this and the answer is…no, Costellos is not a gastro pub. At this point you may feel like this pub is your #1 choice of pub already but there reaches a moment in every trip to Costies when one of your friends will usually formally invite you to join them upstairs by stating “mon, we head upstairs”.

Heading up the stairs by the entrance the aroma of stale cider and teen desperation fills the air, as ‘smells like teen spirit’ fills your head. As you go to move you struggle as your feet are glued to the floor or the ‘sticky carpet’, whilst you overhear regulars debate when it was last changed. (I can confirm the answer is never). Costies proves it has everything once again by blaring the same playlist of pop and rock it has played since the 90s’, and the beautiful artwork of a dreadlocked Bob Marley or a Ziggie Stardust version of David Bowie complete the vibe with the option of an inside or an outside smoking area. What more would you want… maybe a bathroom with locks on the stalls and soap in the dispenser, but what do you expect for a fiver?! Costies, or Costellos tavern to give it its birth name is a must.

Opening times:

Monday	8:30p.m.–3a.m.
Tuesday	9:30p.m.–3a.m
Thursday	10p.m.–2:15a.m.
Friday	10p.m.–3a.m.
Saturday	8:30p.m.–3a.m.
Sunday/Wednesday	Closed

Costellos is situated on Dominic street