Trains and Beers: Three Irish Cities in One Day By Rail

I’ve always liked trains. This is probably because I grew up in Carlow town right beside the Goods rail siding and I spent many hours watching Goods trains shunting. It was some time later before I developed an interest in craft beer!

In Ireland, we have a limited rail network and Inter-city services often end around 6pm. This limits the time you can spend in a pub on a day outing from Dublin. I wondered what the possibilities were to have pints in multiple locations by rail. I investigated the network timetable and hatched a plan – to have a pint in Dublin, Galway and Limerick travelling only by rail. This plan would include only having locally brewed beer in each city. Who in their right minds would do such a thing? Me!

My first train was from Dublin Heuston to Galway Ceannt at 07.35 arriving 10.12. My arrival was too early for the pubs, so I had some time to kill. In Galway, most “crafty” pubs don’t open until 4pm and my second train was at 13.45. Galway Hooker came to the rescue as it’s available in the more mainstream and touristy pubs. So, my first pint was in Tígh Neachtain where I received a very nice welcome. I thought my second stop might be Tígh Choilí where I’ve had a house session IPA before brewed by Galway Hooker. It was too busy for me, so I diverted to Taaffe’s and had another pint of Hooker. My last stop was An Púcán which is comfortingly close to the railway station. I had a pint of Galway Girl which is a hazy IPA from the same brewery, but it’s not a patch on the Hooker pale ale. I grabbed a spicy chicken fillet roll from the nearby Centra for the next leg of my trip.

My second train of the day was the Galway to Limerick Colbert station, a line I’d never travelled on (it reopened in 2010). We arrived at Limerick at 15.52 leaving me only two hours in the city, so it was a swift walk to Mother Macs for a Treaty City seasonal brew called Citrus Sour brewed with clementines and oranges. I didn’t delay there and walked to Crew Brewing which opened at 4pm. I had four half pints from these good folk: Merryweather Grisette, Cowboy Frog (Hazy IPA), Oh Hi Marc (Hefeweizen) and Silly Gose. They were all good, but I particularly liked the hefeweizen. I just had time for a bag of chips on the way back to the station (only €2.50 – Dublin chippers take note!).

My third and fourth trains were Limerick to Limerick Junction (15.52 departure) and then directly boarding the Dublin bound train. I arrived at Heuston just after 8pm but I still needed a Dublin brewed beer to complete the day. My last beer of the day was a pint of Whiplash Clearest Echoes lager in Fidelity. It was the perfect conclusion to the days outing – it was now time for the tram home.