If you live in North County Dublin and you want to go out for the night without spending an arm and a leg on taxi fare, your options are limited to Tamangos in Portmarnock or Velvet in Swords.
Tamangos (or "Joes" as the initiated refer to it for some reason) has been famous for generations for its 'Grab a granny night'. Back when my oul lad first moved to Dublin, Grab a granny night happened on the second Tuesday of every month, as this is when the mother's of Dublin got their children's allowance, and the only chance of having a few bob to go for a hooley. These days, what with everyone being more affluent (well, for the time being anyway), Grab a grannny night happens every Tuesday, so if older women are your thing, have a ball.
Being the only nightclub for a few miles around, Tamangos can charge what they like: it's usually €15 to get into the place, and standard club prices for drinks. It's kind of worth it the odd time though: the place really looks like a cheezy hotel bar. Which it is, so that makes sense, I guess.
And now that the summer is here again, they have their student nights on Wednesdays, so it's €10 in and €3 drinks. Which is grand. read more