Pre-loved clothes sale

Okay, so it's not strictly in Dublin, and being the last stop on the DART line has an ominous ring to it. But venturing out into the wilds of Greystones seems just about possible for this gorgeous sounding 'pre-loved' clothes sale. There will be vintage, designer and high street clothes, jewellery, bags and shoes to rummage through. We're promised no junk, only treasures. The stallholders are made up of stylists, models and fashionable sorts who are clearing out their overflowing wardrobes, with proceeds going to charity.

There will be tea and cake and rock and roll music. Sounding like some sort of impossible Ab-Fab/Darling Buds of May hybrid, I'm hoping for doddery old dears in knitted hats dispensing tea to languid fashion types, clutching those McQueen shoes snatched up for only a fiver. It's pretty much unmissable.

With all that frenzied rooting for that perfect bargain, you'll likely have worked up an appetite. For a town of its size, Greystones has a phenomenal number of cafes and restaurants. The Happy Pear is the star organic/healthy attraction of the town, and Italian restaurant Vino Pasta has started a rather good cafe near the DART station. Mrs Robinson is a bizarrely decorated bar opposite The Happy Pear serving interesting beer and varying degrees of fun.

To do, tonight: Black Letters and Ballads folk club

This is the real thing. A folk club like you hear tell of from the sixties, where rapt listeners sit silent as musician poets sing tales of sea-faring and loss and wandering strangers. Musicians and singers sing real old folk songs, not the schmaltzy sentimental faux-folk or Dylan tributes that too often define the genre in this country. In the sparse living-room like surroundings of The Joinery you could be in Greenwich Village in 1962, channelling your inner Kerouac. The last time I went to Black Letters and Ballads everyone who performed got up for a song together at the end. Autoharps, dulcimers, double bass, mandolins and a cacophony of harmonising voices made a riotous and joyful end to a very lovely night of song. After some months wandering in a far off land, the club makes a welcome return. The loosely interpreted theme for this session is rather aptly, rambling and roving. It starts at 7.30 in The Joinery, Stoneybatter.

https://www.facebook.com/events/246387748785444/

An alternative St Patrick's Day

Image via http://glasseyalley.com/

Ah, St. Patricks Day. National day of vomiting and bloodshed...I mean, joyous celebration of our national identity. If you'd like to venture into Dublin this Saturday but want to avoid the carousing, marauding multitudes, stop by coffee-shop extraordinaire Third Floor Espresso who are holding a coffee brewing course. They make the best coffee in town so their 'Brewing Coffee at Home' course is very popular. It's €25 and as well as teaching you how to get the most out of your coffee beans, it includes lunch, a treat (delicious) and a bag of coffee to take home. It's in their Grand Canal Dock shop, so the city centre can be deftly avoided.

Click here for more info and to book.

A letter from Jack Kerouac to Marlon Brando.

This is an unbelievable letter in which Jack Kerouac writes to Marlon Brando asking him to buy the rights to On The Road and make a film of it. He asks if Brando will play Dean and he will play Sal himself. What's strange is that the rights to the film did eventually fall into Brando's hands, but he never got round to making it.