For a village of about fifteen hundred people, Carlingford has an unreasonable number of places to eat and drink — thirteen worth naming, most of them within a few streets of the square. That matters if you are here as a group: you can book dinner in one place and move on to a pub afterwards without anybody driving. Addresses and phone numbers below were checked in September 2026.
The Brass Door
Newry Street, Carlingford, Co. Louth, A91 A002 · +353 42 934 9557 · thebrassdoor.ie
The most recent arrival on this list, and the one our groups ask about most. It is a proper cocktail bar — the drinks are the point — in a beautifully refurbished building on Newry Street, with live music on. The owners describe it as a bar, brasserie and wedding venue; the dining side is still to come, so for now think drinks rather than dinner.
Tables can be booked through their website, which is worth doing at weekends and essential if you are bringing a group of any size.
PJ O’Hare’s Pub
Tholsel Street, Carlingford, Co. Louth, A91 TC58 · +353 42 937 3106 · pjoharescarlingford.ie
The traditional pub in the middle of the village, and the one most visitors end up in at least once. Live music, a good pint, and pub food done properly — the seafood chowder with brown bread is the thing to order, and it is made with fish from the lough rather than out of a bag.
The Bay Tree Restaurant
Newry Street, Carlingford, Co. Louth, A91 V054 · +353 42 938 3848
The most ambitious cooking in the village. The kitchen works to a seasonal menu built on local produce — Cooley lamb, fish landed in the lough — and it is the room to book for a birthday or an anniversary rather than a Tuesday. Small, so book early.
Ghan House
Old Quay Lane, Carlingford, Co. Louth, A91 DXY5 · +353 42 937 3682 · ghanhouse.com
A restored eighteenth-century Georgian house above the quay, looking out over the lough to the Mournes, holding two AA Rosettes. The kitchen leans on the house gardens for herbs and vegetables. This is the formal dinner in Carlingford; dress accordingly and book well ahead at weekends.
Ruby Ellen’s Tea Rooms
Marian House, Newry Street, Carlingford, Co. Louth · +353 42 937 3385 · rubyellens.com
Daytime rather than dinner: breakfasts, scones, soup and afternoon tea, in a room that looks like somebody’s front parlour and is all the better for it. The one to point the group at on a wet morning.
The Carlingford Arms
Newry Street, Carlingford, Co. Louth · +353 42 937 3418 · carlingfordarms.com
A pub in the middle of the village with a menu wide enough to keep a mixed group happy — local seafood at one end, steaks at the other. Live music some nights. The seafood platter is what it is known for.
Ma Baker’s
Market Street, Carlingford, Co. Louth · +353 42 938 3608
A family-run pub with generous portions and sensible prices, which is exactly what you want on the second night of a long weekend. Traditional cooking — the beef and Guinness pie is the one.
Kingfisher Bistro
Dundalk Street, Carlingford, Co. Louth · +353 42 937 3716 · kingfisherbistro.ie
On the waterfront, and the specialist for what comes out of the lough — Carlingford oysters above all. There are meat and vegetarian options too, but the seafood is the reason to go.
The Carlingford Brewing Company
The Old Mill, Dundalk Road, Riverstown, Co. Louth, A91 D850 · +353 42 939 7519 · carlingfordbrewing.ie
Worth knowing before you set off: despite the name this one is not in Carlingford village. It is at the Old Mill in Riverstown, a short drive down the coast road, so it is a plan for the afternoon rather than somewhere to wander to after dinner.
Not a restaurant. The Old Mill site has a taproom and an event space, and their own site is built around private hire rather than dropping in, so ring ahead and ask what is possible on your dates — then sort a driver or a taxi before you set off.
Taaffe’s Castle
Newry Street, Carlingford, Co. Louth · +353 42 937 3770
A pub inside a 16th-century fortified tower house, which is not a sentence you get to write often. It does bar food and a proper pint, and the building itself is the reason to go — take the group in for one even if you are eating elsewhere.
Juniors Bar and Bistro
Dundalk Street, Carlingford, Co. Louth, A91 YY89 · +353 42 934 9580 · juniorsbar.ie
One of the newer additions to the village and a reliable middle option — bar and bistro food in the same building, which makes it an easy call when half the group wants dinner and half wants a pint and a packet of crisps.
Lily Finnegans
Whitestown, Carlingford, Co. Louth, A91 D326 · +353 42 937 3730 · lilyfinnegans.com
A traditional country pub out at Whitestown, a few kilometres from the village on the Cooley Peninsula. Not a walk — it is a taxi or a designated driver — but it is the one people mean when they talk about a proper old Irish pub round here.
John Long’s Bar
Rath Lower, Carlingford, Co. Louth · +353 42 939 7570
Out in Cooley and billed locally as one of the oldest pubs in Ireland. There is no website to check, so ring ahead before you drive out, particularly midweek or out of season.
Eating out in Carlingford as a group
Ten of the thirteen above sit within a few streets of the square, which is what makes Carlingford easy for a large party: you can book one place for dinner and move on somewhere else afterwards without anyone driving. If you are twenty people, ring ahead — the village is small and the good tables go early at weekends and over bank holidays.
Where to stay while you work through the list
Carlingford Heights is half a mile above the village at Mountain Park — ten to fifteen minutes downhill on foot, and a steadier climb back at the end of the night. It sleeps twenty across six bedrooms and is let as a whole house, which is why it suits the sort of weekend that revolves around eating and drinking your way round Carlingford. Rates and terms are on the booking page, and you can check dates from the contact page.
For the rest of the weekend, useful information covers what there is to do locally and day trips from Carlingford covers going further afield.
Keeping this list current
Every address and phone number on this page was checked in September 2026, against each venue’s own website and its Google listing. We have left opening hours off deliberately — they change, and a wrong time is worse than no time, so ring or check the venue’s own page before you set out.
Carlingford’s food and drink scene changes, and places open and close. If you spot something out of date here, tell us and we will fix it.
