Hmmmmm. Three days is a short time to go “backpacking”. I would stay stick around Dublin. You can go to all the Dublin things (Guinness Hopstore, Jameson Distillery, U2 stuff, Temple Bar etc) and then, you have Glendalough and New Grange (prehistoric site) within about 50kms. A nice walk is around the cliffs at Howth and then to the end where there is a pub and you can drink pints of Guiness.
Another good place for the craic is Johnny Foxes pub.. but it is a bit out of the way with no car!

As for hostels… I have no idea!

During St. Patricks day, just stay in town and celebrate! Also, plenty of shops, maybe take one of those Hop On Hop Off tours. They take you around the city centre. A great hostel is Isaacs, just around the corner from the bus station, you pay a bit more but it’s safe, clean, quiet and easy to reach.

My wife and I stayed at a great B&B (www.redbank.ie) in the town of Skerries about 20 miles N of Dublin). Greate little town and the guy who runs the place is a really nice guy. I believe they have either a bus or rail service connecting Dublin.

Sticking around Dublin probably is the best idea. I 2nd the Hop On Hop Off tour – it’s a good way to hit all of the spots without having a car. There will likely be parades and such so just soak in the experience. Jacob’s or Isaacs are both good spots – but expect them to be somewhat loud that time of year – lots of people coming and going; and book ahead of time – they fill up around St. Patty’s Day.

Have fun!

I have found that if you have 2 people you can probably find a B and B for the same price, and with 3 you would be ahead. I do not remember the names of the hostel I stayed in Dublin, it was clean and new back then but NOISY! I use Tripadvisor now to find places to stay for reviews and comments about places, and other sites such as hotel.com to find places in my budget. The dollar is so low right now, it will be expensive… I went on St Pats, be aware that the city will be jammed and get there early for the parade, I could not get close enought to really see it, there were people hanging from the lamp posts, but it was fun!

Happy Travels,

Kelly

Find yourself a B&B guide. Probably can do that online. Find one close to your destinations. Most all the B&B’s are warm and friendly and of course include that wonderful Irish breakfast. BOOK now though. Don’t want to be spending your time hunting a room when you want to be out seeing Dublin. The Hop on Hop off tour is great!

I was in Ireland for St Paddys day a few years ago and honestly you could just walk around the city and have fun. Everyone is out and about for the holiday and it gets pretty wild and fun. But I agree-you should maybe try to stick around the city for two days and then take a short day trip outside the city (New Grange is supposed to be pretty). We stayed at Blackstone House, which was one place that was open when most places were booked. It was nice and fairly cheap! Have a wonderful trip and don’t be afraid to ask locals for advice too!

I agree – stay in the city if you’re only there for a couple days.

I was there a few years ago and stayed at the Globetrotters half of the Townhouse/Globetrotter. It was nice. Great breakfast. Good price. Very convenient.
http://www.hosteldublin.com/hosteldetails.php/HostelNumber.102

You should definitely stay at hostels in Dublin! There a tons of them, although you’ll want to book way in advance: from what I read, St Patrick’s Day has become a big boozin’ holiday in Dublin over the past several decades. In May, I couldn’t find single beds for 2 people anywhere (a few days beforehand), so my boyfriend and I got a private room for our first night @ the Litton Lane Hostel.

I felt it was very safe, it’s just off a relatively busy street; there is a buzzer that lets people in the doors and you need to show your pass to the reception. It’s close to Temple Bar also(if that’s yr fancy), right by the O’Connell Street Bridge. It’s really close to the bus stop, so if yr coming from the airport it’s really easy. There’s no elevator, but a nice big kitchen. Bathrooms were alright, but not fantastic. Lots of pop art paintings of Bono and stuff like that in the hallways and kitchen.

http://www.littonlane.hostel.com/
This is another one we walked by one day that sounded pretty good: http://www.kinlaydublin.ie/

Have an awesome time!

Oh, I almost forgot! You can also rent a furnished apartment from Litton Lane, which we used for our 2nd night. There was 1 queen sized bed, a futon and a couch, so depending on how many people you have, that might be a good solution. But you won’t meet as many people, unless you hang out in the chill-out room. However, it’s kind of nice to have your own space and kitchen! It was about $90-100 for the whole apartment, I think?? Very secure, too.

I stayed here for three nights last summer.

http://www.barnacles.ie/

Location was great, right in the middle of Temple Bar. Very clean, safe, but a bit boring inside the hostel. (You can’t bring alcohol in…)

But other than that, it was a great place to stay.

I stayed at Avalon House: http://www.avalon-house.ie
which has been recommended by someone else above. It is cheap and very central. It’s really safe, I was in Dublin by myself and had no problems, they have quite a range of different sized rooms to suit different budgets from single en-suites to large dorms.
In terms of what to do in Dublin I would go for the Jamiesons distillery over the Guiness storehouse as I thought it was very overpriced, but it’s up to you. I went on a literary walking pubcrawl (there were leaflets in the hostel) one night where actors perform bits of plays and poetry by famous Irish writers and take you around the relevent pubs in the city associated with the work / writer. It’s a little more highbrow than I normally do but was pretty fun.
Dublin isn’t my favourite Irish city (sorry Dubliners!) but I had a good time there and there’s lots to do so enjoy the Craic!

Go 2 Dublin!