The Harbour Bar: Wicklow, Ireland — A Girl's Guide to Drinking Alone

After Dublin, my travel buddy Tom and I headed to the Irish countryside to stay with his family friends in Wicklow. Don’t worry, there are still bars out in the country, I made sure of it.

1 Strand Rd, Ravenswell, Bray, Wicklow, Ireland

The Place: A large maritime-themed pub that apparently has many different sections to it.

The Time: Wednesday May 18, 3pm (lol). Tom lived in this part of Ireland for a while around 2015, so he has plenty of people he wants to say hi to. Instead of tagging along, I decide to go for a pint. When in Ireland, right?

*Smithwick’s red ale at The Harbour Bar*

The Vibe: So I get fully lost just trying to locate the bar. I walk into three different places before I find it. First, I go through a big-ass beer garden in front that’s totally empty; no bar. Then I open a door leading to a staircase, head up the stairs and see just a bunch of empty chairs; no bar. I go back down the staircase and open another door to an empty stage area; no bar. Finally I go outside again, find another door and enter, aha!, a BAR! It’s pretty empty and a little eerily quiet but I feel accomplished for making it here so I pull up a stool. The dimly lit space is filled with stuff: the obvious nautical decor like ropes, life vests, ship wheels, anchors, a giant fish. But then there’s also plenty of things hanging from the ceiling, like pots and pans, bottles, lamps of different shapes and sizes, other metal things I can’t identify. The walls are covered in signs, photos, keys, postcards, plaques. The seating is a mix of couches and comfy-looking chairs. From a quick glance around, it seems like there are only old Irish men in here. The two next to me have accents so thick it takes me a while to figure out they’re speaking English. The bar stools make an absolutely terrible squeaking sound against the tile floor. And again I notice that it’s so quiet in here and realize there’s no music playing. Do any bars in Ireland play music??

The Bartender: Is nowhere to be found. But people have drinks so I figure someone must come back at some point. When it feels like 10 minutes have gone by, I overhear a guy ask for a drink and a bartender’s voice reply, and realize there’s yet ANOTHER room to this place, so I go to that bar. But then the bartender disappears so I’m just standing there for a while, next to the guy, in this small room with a fireplace. The bartender appears at last and she asks me what I want so I tell her and she disappears again. After a while, I go around to the side where I was sitting before EXACTLY as she comes back to where I was just standing and somehow I’m all turned around and feel like an idiot. Usually ordering a beer at a bar is a pretty straightforward endeavor but I seem to be everywhere at the wrong time.

The Drank: A Smithwick’s red ale, when I finally get it and settle back in my bar stool. It’s an Irish beer that’s not Guinness because variety is the spice of life. They also have a snack called “cheese flavored moments” which I don’t get, but just had to mention.

Was I Hit On?: Again, no. I definitely feel like a fish out of water but no one seems to pay me any mind. I haven’t seen any woman drinking alone in a bar in Ireland so far. There’s an American couple sitting in armchairs behind me, who don’t speak much, but at one point I hear the wife say to the husband, “you’ve been talking about this incessantly, just drop it!” Then she storms out. And suddenly I’m pretty happy to be alone, tbh.

Should You Drink Here Alone?: I suppose there’s no reason not to. It’ll help if you know where you’re going, though.