The phenomenon is predictable just as are the seasons. As the excitement of Christmas wanes, the coldest month creeps up on us and the wind begins to bite through the gaps in your coat, you notice it: everyone has a “situation.” A hand to hold, a person to warm them, someone to watch bad movies with unironically.
Science suggests this is nothing short of a coincidence. According to Psychology Today, shorter, colder days apparently spark a biological urge to seek closeness and naturally, condom sales spike during the holiday season, because nothing says “festive spirit” like a little pragmatism. However, where that fails, reproduction plays its part: winter conception ensures babies have the longest possible stretch of life before facing another harsh season. All this and more conspires to make “cuffing season” inevitable.
For those who are taking full advantage of the season, Dublin feels particularly well suited to it.
The Little Pig Speakeasy on Glendenning Lane, Wicklow St, is particularly effective if you are relying on low lighting to do something good for you, as the room leaves very little exposed and even less scrutinised. It is small and intimate, with candlelight catching the curve of a grin over a shared plate of charcuterie. An excellent choice provided you can eat neatly.
There is Two Boys Brew, on 375 North Circular Rd, which trades overt romance for something more earnest. Not so much a grand gesture as the ease of conversation to get to know each other better. It is a daytime date spot with good coffee in a walkable residential neighbourhood defined by a Victorian redbrick architecture in Phibsborough. The walk that fittingly follows acts as either a polite continuation or a socially acceptable exit, depending on precisely how much you determinedly like the person.
Grano, Norseman Court, Manor St, Stoneybatter is buzzing with warmth and unapologetically focused on the food, so that, when the dishes arrive, both parties are relieved of the responsibility of being interesting. In doing so, the evening revolves around something tangible rather than just the presentation of self. Reservations are required, so perhaps reserve a table for your third or fourth date, a celebratory anniversary, or if you truly think they are the one.
Toner’s Pub, 139 Baggot St Lower, exists for the moment when neither person wants to call it a night. Its classic Irish interior with snug corners encourage couples to settle close and restfully. A well-poured pint does much of the work and is, arguably, the better ending to the evening.
Cinemas have long functioned as a socially acceptable way to spend two hours together without having to talk. A trip to Light House Cinema, Market St South, in Smithfield, does just that and more. Sitting side by side in the dark allows the couple to bond over a shared experience and good snacks. Nothing reframes a first impression quite like watching someone wrestle loudly with a crinkly bag of crisps in a quiet theatre. What follows, however, is decisive. Whether you both thought the film was good, intolerable, or incomprehensible tends to reveal far more than the screening itself, often determining the ease of the long venture home.
Whether you are navigating speakeasies, debating the merits of risotto, or judging your date for their eating habits, Dublin offers enough options to make cuffing season manageable for those that participate. For those who do not date, book a table for one. In the end, the season is less about finding perfection than finding someone whose quirks, habits and theatre-etiquette you can tolerate, or even endear you. And in that sense, Dublin is perfectly equipped for the business of being together.
