'Nowhere does Cheltenham quite like Ireland': an outsider's adventures in Dublin

I believe it was the legendary Irish writer James Joyce who mused: "I wanted real adventures to happen to myself. But real adventures, I reflected, do not happen to people who remain at home: they must be sought abroad."

If seeking an adventure abroad during Cheltenham week there really is only one place for it – Joyce's home town. Nowhere loves Cheltenham quite like Ireland. Nowhere does seemingly an entire people do drinking, betting on horses and great craic quite like the Irish. Even the Guinness tastes different here. So I'm in Dublin. Adventures are happening.

In a city with over a thousand pubs it would be rude if the first adventure was not a visit to a landlord. It is a chilling Monday night. The wind cuts through you like I imagine Fiddlerontheroof will the Supreme field. Toners is the first such establishment encountered. Best snug in Dublin 2010, it says. It is also on a lengthy list of recommendations from Dublin-based colleague David Jennings (2020). It'll do.