25 Wexford Street, Dublin 2

Tel: (01) 478 0766 

whelanslive.com

Over quarter-of-a-century old, Whelan’s remains at the heart of the Irish live scene. Its iconic status long assured, the Wexford Street venue continues to go from strength to strength, and captured the Dublin Live Music Venue of the Year gong at the 2018 IMRO Awards. With great sound and a warm atmosphere, there are few better places to catch an act about to go interstellar. The venue excels at spotting future heavy-hitters – the likes of Jeff Buckley, Nick Cave and a fresh-faced Arctic Monkeys have all played. In addition, a host of Ireland’s biggest names, Damien Rice and Glen Hansard included, got their start here. Indeed, a young Ed Sheeran caught Rice back in the day – and it made such an impression that he picked Whelan’s as the place for his superb VH1: Storytellers special.