April 6, 2025

162. Ireland - My personal Ireland favorites - From Belfast's Black Cabs to Dublin's Perfect Pint and why it's not Guiness

TRIP IDEAS: Best one is the Black Cab Tour to Belfast! Link to all: https://vi.me/3ULrc

Join Johnny Mac as he shares his favorite Irish experiences before leaving the Emerald Isle behind. Discover the emotional impact of Belfast's Black Cab tours...

Show Notes
Transcript

TRIP IDEAS: Best one is the Black Cab Tour to Belfast! Link to all: vi.me/3ULrc

Join Johnny Mac as he shares his favorite Irish experiences before leaving the Emerald Isle behind. Discover the emotional impact of Belfast's Black Cab tours exploring "The Troubles," the breathtaking beauty of Northern Ireland's Giant's Causeway, and Dublin's local gems beyond the typical tourist trail. Johnny reveals why The Brazen Head became his go-to pub, what it's like experiencing St. Patrick's Day in its homeland, and settles the age-old question: does Guinness really taste better in Ireland? (Spoiler: it does, but "Smitticks" might be the real revelation).

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Callaroga Shark Media. Hey there, fellow travelers. Johnny Mack here

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with Travelers back, and before we leave Ireland behind, I

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want to focus on some of my favorites. We've covered

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Dublin's historic art, its modern culture, and the wild Atlantic

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Way in our previous episodes, but there are still some

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experiences I need to share with you, the kinds of

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moments that stick with you long after your passport's been stamped.

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The most powerful thing I did in Ireland in March

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twenty twenty five wasn't actually in the Republic at all.

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It was the Black Cab Tour of Belfast and Northern Ireland.

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Hearing a local walk me through the troubles and how

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to this day they still close the gates between Catholic

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and Protestant neighborhoods at ten pm. It was incredibly powerful.

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I was seriously choked up for the entire tour. I'm

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not trying to upsell you here, but there is a

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link in the show notes, or just look up Belfast

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Black Cab Tour for yourself. You could take a bus

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out of Dublin to make it easy, which is what

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I did. I did. Our driver, a guy my age

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who grew up during the height of the conflict. Didn't

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sugarcoat anything. He showed us the peace Wall, a twenty

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foot high barrier that physically separates communities. These aren't relics

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or museum pieces. These are active divisions in a city

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still healing. The walls covered in messages from visitors from

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around the world, some hopeful, some heartbreaking. When he drove

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us to the gates that separate the neighborhoods, it wasn't

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some distant historical monument. These gates close every night at ten,

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he told us, have done for decades. Still do today

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think about that for a second. In a European city

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they still close physical gates between neighborhoods because of religious

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and political divisions. He repeatedly said the gates aren't a

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perfect solution, but they are working for now, so until

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someone can think of a better solution, they will stick

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with the gates. While the gates might seem odd to outsiders,

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they make total sense to the locals and opinion I respect.

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I also asked him about unification, and he said, to

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give it two more generations. The people that lived through

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the troubles need to pass away so that new generations

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can leave the past behind. Leaving the pass behind was

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a theme I kept hearing any time the bridge wish

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were mentioned. The Irish mentioned how they and the British

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get along and the past is the past, so leave

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things behind that happened one hundred and fifty years ago.

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We saw murals on both sides, stark, powerful images that

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tell conflicting stories about the same events. What struck me

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wasn't just the history, but how recent it all was.

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The Good Friday Agreement was only signed in nineteen ninety eight.

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There are people my age who lived through bombings in

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their neighborhoods, who couldn't safely cross to the other side

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of their own city. This isn't the Ireland of travel brochures,

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but it's real. It's important, and if you want to

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understand this island beyond the postcard views, this tour is essential.

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While up that way, the northern coast of Northern Ireland

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is super beautiful and the whole area of the Giant's

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Causeway is amazing. I could have easily spent an entire

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day there. The causeway itself looks like something from another planet.

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Tens of thousands of hexagonal basalt columns stretching out into

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the sea. According to legend, it was built by the

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giant Finn McCool as a pathway to Scotland, and standing

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there with the waves crashing around you, that story doesn't

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seem so far fetched. What the travel blogs don't tell

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you is how much light changes everything. I got there

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in the late afternoon when the sun was starting to

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get low, and the way it hit those columns created

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this dramatic landscape of shadows and golden highlights. If you're

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a photographer, you'll lose your mind here. Beyond the causeway itself,

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the coastal drive is spectacular. Dunlou's Castle sits perched on

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the edge of a cliff, partly collapsed into the sea below.

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Game of Thrones used it as a filming location, but

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even if you've never seen the show, there's something haunting

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about these ruins standing defiant against the relentless Atlantic. While

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in Dublin, I kind of avoided the Temple Bar district.

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Don't get me wrong, it's worth seeing, but it's crowded

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with tourist paying and flated prices for an authentic Irish

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experience that feels anything. But instead I found the Brazenhead

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Bar very very comfortable for those who don't know. The

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Brazenhead claims to be Ireland's oldest pub, dating back to

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eleven ninety eight. Whether or not that's strictly true, the

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place ooses history from every weathered wooden beam. It's the

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kind of place where you can imagine revolutionaries plotting in

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corners over pints, and in fact many did. Michael Collins

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and other figures from Irish history were regulars. Make it

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special isn't just the history, though, It's that, despite being

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in every guidebook, it's somehow managed to remain a proper

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pub where locals actually go. I was lucky enough to

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be there for the Saint Patrick's Day Parade, which was

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so much fun. I'm used to the New York City Parade,

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which is essentially marching bands and cops. Dublin was a

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completely different experience, a fun parade with dragon floats and

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lots of quirky creative displays. The whole city transforms for

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Saint Patrick's Day. It's not just a one day affair.

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It's a multi day festival with music, theater and light

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shows projected onto historic buildings. The parade itself winds through

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the city center and people stake out spots hours in advance,

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but it's worth the wait. What surprised me most was

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how international it felt. Yes, it's Ireland's national holiday, but

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I heard dozens of languages in the crowd. There were

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performance groups from all over the world, more like Marti

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Gras than the somber processions i'd expected. I particularly remember

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one cool looking dragon float. It was definitely not the

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Patty's Day Parade of New York City, which is bagpipes

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and cops. Right before the parade, I had toured Trinity

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College and was hungry and found myself accidentally at Leo Burdock's.

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The famous fish chips play super tasty, but my family

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of five surely didn't need five orders. They are very

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generous portions and quite tasty, but I couldn't finish mine,

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and I'm the biggest eater. We seriously would have been

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fined with two orders for five people. Leo Burdocks has

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been around since nineteen thirteen, and it's one of those

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places that's managed to maintain quality despite becoming an institution.

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The batter is light and crispy, the fish inside perfectly flaky,

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and they don't skimp on the chips, thick cut potatoes

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with just the right amount of salt. Oh and before

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we go my entire life, I heard that the guinness

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was better in Ireland, and while it is definitely better,

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I don't know what I was expecting, and I wound

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up drinking Smithwicks, or, as a local corrected me, properly

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pronounced Smittix. There's some truth to the idea that guinness

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taste better in Ireland. They take their pouring seriously, the

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famous two part poor where they fill the glass part way,

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let it settle, then top it off. This isn't just showmanship.

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It affects the texture and taste. The lines and pubs

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are cleaned regularly, the glasses are properly Guinness certified, and

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the turnover is high, so you're always getting a fresh pint.

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But Smithwicks was my revelation. This amber ale has been

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brewed in Kilkenny since seventeen ten, and it has this

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perfect balance of maltiness with a slight caramel sweetness that

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I found myself craving after a long day of exploration.

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When I first ordered it as Smithwicks, my friend, a

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doublin er, gently corrected me smidt X, with a smile

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that suggested I wasn't the first tourist to make that mistake.

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Ireland wasn't just another stop on my travel list. It

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was a place that got under my skin in a

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way few destinations have. From the raw motion of Belfast

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to the ancient mystery of the Giant's Causeway, from the

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historic pubs of Dublin to the vibrant energy of Saint

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Patrick's Day, this island offers experiences that connect you to

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both its past and present, and I cannot wait to

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get back there. As Anthony Bourdain once said, travel isn't

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always pretty. It isn't always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it

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even breaks your heart, But that's okay. The journey changes you,

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and my time in Ireland changed me. It complicated my

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understanding of this place beyond shamrocks and leprechauns, which seems

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more of a nyc Irish concoction than anything happening in

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twenty first century Dublin. Next week we'll be heading to

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a completely different part of the world, but I'll carry

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these Irish experiences with me until then. This is Johnny

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Mack reminding you that the world is waiting and Travel

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is Back. Unlock an ad free podcast experience with Calaroga

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162. Ireland - My personal Ireland favorites - From Belfast's Black Cabs to Dublin's Perfect Pint and why it's not Guiness

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