How to Meet Singles in Irish Pubs, on your Holiday in Ireland

People from Ireland are well known for their friendliness and love of life. Not least of its attractions is its unique pub tradition which can be a great way to meet singles as well as get to know the culture and its people. So if you are planning to go to Ireland for your next holiday, here are a few tips on how to meet Irish singles in their pubs.

Know what a pub stands for

For an American, a pub may only be another name for a bar with some eats thrown in. in Ireland though, a pub is much more than a place to drink and pick up a casual date. The Irish pub lies at the very center of the community – it is a place where not only the college student and the office-goer would drop in after a hard day’s work but where families gather to mark births, deaths, birthdays and Christenings. Here sports fans come to cheer on their teams just as many Irish couples first meet one another amidst the jolly chatter and clinking mugs of the pub. In order to reach out to singles in an Irish pub thus you need to keep the basically social nature of the pub in mind – don’t come here merely looking for a hook-up or drink yourself to oblivion. Mingle around, be friendly and you may be rewarded for your good cheer with the acquaintance of a comely Irish lass or a handsome Irish lad.

TIP: Match Affinity has many members from Ireland and UK.

Follow pub etiquette

Since the pub is at the heart of Irish social fabric, it has its own rules and etiquettes – and if you are keen on making a good impression on a single you need to be aware of them beforehand so as to avoid making a pub-lic faux pas. The first time you arrive at a pub, you may be overwhelmed by the friendliness of the crowd and offered a drink since here usually one person goes to be bar for everyone. But keep in mind that soon it will be your turn to return the favor – this is known as “getting your round in”. What makes the rounds culture difficult for foreigners to grasp is that no one at the pub would remind you or even explicitly mention that it is your turn to order the drinks – you simply need to be cued into the scene and quick on the uptake. And even if you are here with a partner, keep in mind that for the purposes of rounds you are two, distinct people – in other words, unless you are sharing a drink you both, not just the boyfriend, will have to get a round in.

Keep it social

Since pubs in Ireland are places of social get-togethers, you may see families troop in here as well. In rural communities especially pubs may have children running in and out. So if you endear yourself to a local single, don’t create a drunken ruckus to disturb the family atmosphere. At the other extreme, complaining to the barman about noisy kids will be ineffectual and even embarrassing to your local date. Indeed in Ireland, it is technically, an offense to be drunk in public so don’t try and get wasted thinking it will be cool enough to attract the hot looking girl/guy at the corner table.

How to order

If you are keen to attract a single at an Irish pub, you would do well to keep certain tips in mind about the correct way of ordering a drink. Spying on someone else’s drink and announcing ‘I’ll have what he/she’s having’ is frowned upon and will hardly endear you to nice looking single sitting next to you. Here you need to make up your own mind or indirectly invite the bartender to come up with suggestions.  Also seasoned pub-goers suggest that you wait for your drink until the bartender hands it to you.” In case of Guiness, the “perfect pour” is a time-tested tradition in Ireland, consisting of two pours – one to let the Guinness settle, and another to top it off. If you grab the glass from the bartender, you may end up looking a fool or
desperate to impress.

Know what to expect

If you are keen to meet local singles at pubs in the Ireland, it may be worth your while to have reasonable expectations from the men and women here. Irish men are on the whole fun-loving, outgoing and with a wonderful ability to make you laugh. At the same time though the Irish guy is a man’s man; this is most clearly noticeable in their affinity to the bottle and the fact that they think spending time at an Irish pub counts as the highest form of recreation. Other than that, an Irishman enjoys all the so-called male pursuits like sports, tinkering with carpentry tools or even washing the car – he is rather unlikely to suggest an evening at the opera or an afternoon at the fine arts museum as date ideas. Also Irish men are notoriously reluctant to get into a “relationship” with a woman. He would much rather charm and make her laugh rather than “settle down” to exclusive dating. While this is not to mean that all Irish guys are incapable of being faithful, they do like to take their time before they decide that a woman is right for them.

Irish women love it when men court them in a traditional way. So take care to open the door for your Irish girl and don’t be stingy on your first date. One characteristic that Irish women have in common with their male counterparts is a love of a good discussion. Irish girls are quite loquacious and you will find them eagerly talking about sports, the weather, the Twilight movie series, their former boyfriends and a whole lot of other things and the place to do all this is of course the neighborhood pub. Women here like a man who goes easy on the alcohol and does not drink to show off – indeed chances are that she can and will drink you under the table. So take it one drink at a time and ensure that you know your limits. Nothing is more pathetic to an Irish woman as a man who cannot hold his drink and gets all sloshed in a public place. Also when taking your girl out, remember that in Ireland a light beer is considered to be a woman’s drink so don’t end up ordering a Bud Light for her at the pub.

Finally keep in mind that the Irish have traditionally been simple people and still look askance at ostentatious living and excessive spending, especially when the latter is to show the locals down. So while you should treat your Irish girl to a nice date, there is no need to go overboard by flashing your credit card all around or tip large amounts unless you have gone in for table service. Tipping in Irish bars is not compulsory since workers here earn a decent wage and if you overdo it, your date or a prospective partner may think you are trying too hard to impress.