It depends what you're looking to get out if it really
Lived and worked in the city all my life. As you've probably heard steer clear of Temple Bar as it's a real tourist trap, if you are looking for some good pubs for food and great pints of Guinness I'd recommend any of the following (in no particular order):
-The Bull and Castle (near Christ Church)
-The Gravediggers (near Glasnevin Cemetary, about 10 minutes by bus out of town (or €15 max in a taxi) but if you have any interest in Irish history the cemetary would be a good place in itself to visit)
-Hogans (George's Street)
-The Porterhouse (Temple Bar (the only pub worth going to in Temple Bar in my opinion)and there's one on Nassau Street)
-O'Neills (Suffolk Street, at the end of Grafton Street)
-The Gravity Bar (an obvious choice, its the pub in the Guinness brewery)
-The Baggot Inn (Baggot Street)
-The Gingerman (Fenian Street, behind Trinity College)
-The Stags Head (just off Dame Street, down a little alley on the left hand side with a mosaic of a stag on the ground)

That should do you for a few pubs. Also, if you find Baggot Street, there's a pub crawl called The Baggot Mile (for approx 1 mile along Baggot Street and various side streets you'll find about 15 pubs) if you feel up to it. If you're interested in a venue for indie music etc. then I'd recommend The Village on Wexford Street. There's often good gigs there for a reasonable price.

In the city centre, places I would definitely recommend are The Guinness Brewery, Christchurch, Dublin Castle and Trinity College. You could go to the Jameson Distillery but I found it very dull to be honest. There are plenty of museums etc if you're into that kind of thing. Check out www.dublinks.com/ for more info on that, I wouldn't be much help cos its not really my scene.

Completely agree with Baz too, if you find the time try get out of the city. Places like Glendalough, Powerscourt Gardens, Newgrange (which predates both Stonehenge and The Great pyramids of Egypt) are all within 2 hours and you should be able to make your way out fairly cheap. Then Howth or Malahide are nice places to walk about on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

If you want any more info then dont hesitate to give me a shout
(BigFatPaulie, Thu 26 Mar 2009, 14:50, Reply)