9 Best Bars in The Southeast, Ireland

Set on one of Kilkenny's famous "slips," Tynan's Bridge House was first used as an exercise run for dray horses. Inside, you can guess that the pub is more than 200 years old from all the gas lamps, silver tankards, and historic teapots on display. Behind the horseshoe-shape bar, you'll find antiquities from its time as a grocery and pharmacy, but it's best known these days for its Guinness and good conversation.

As the saying goes, if you can find a street without at least one bar on it, you've left Wexford. Centenary Stores is a Victorian-style pub with an adjoining nightclub that makes it popular with the young crowd. Lunch is served daily, and there's traditional music every Sunday morning.

Glass, brass, and dark wood identify this city-center hostelry as a genuine old-school classic. Great place to meet locals at rest and the pub-grub menu offers excellent value.

Known to locals as "Meades under the Bridge," this place is indeed set beneath a time-stained stone bridge. In centuries past it was a stop on the coach road from Waterford to Passage East. There's a solid pub menu, and sing-along sessions on Saturday. In winter the fireplaces roar, illuminating the wood beams and displayed bric-a-brac.

If you're craving a pint, you have a choice of pubs along Parliament and High Streets. John Cleere's is the best in town for a mix of live traditional music, poetry readings, and theatrical plays.

The hub of village activity, Kehoe's Pub has a collection of maritime artifacts as interesting as that of many museums.

Housed in an 800-year-old building, this pub is highly popular with locals. Lunch is served daily, and it's a cozy spot on a rainy day.

One of the best pubs in town, the Sky & the Ground is a hub for Irish music sessions, which pack in the crowds from Monday through Thursday.