Aussie life in Dublin: footy, Anzac Day and mates

Plenty of Australians arrive in Dublin and feel at home within a week. The humour is similar, the pubs are better and half the people you meet have a cousin in Perth.

The short version

The ties run deep. About 9.5% of Australians reported Irish ancestry in the 2021 Census [1], and Australia is a major source of returning Irish citizens [2].
AFL Ireland runs Australian rules footy in the Republic, and the South Dublin Swans play out of Memorial Park in Kilmainham [3].
Anzac Day in Dublin is a dawn service at Grangegorman Military Cemetery, hosted by the Australian Embassy [4].
The Ireland Australia Association has been bringing expats together since 1981, with barbecues, wine tastings and cricket [5].
The Australian Embassy on St Stephen's Green runs early voting for Australian elections. Next up: the Victorian state election in November 2026 [6].

How many of us are there?

It's hard to pin down an exact number of Australians in Dublin, and we won't pretend otherwise. Ireland's Central Statistics Office doesn't publish a simple headline count of Australians living in the city. What it does show is how strong the traffic is between the two countries.

In the year before Census 2022, Australia was the second most common country Irish citizens moved from when they came to live in Ireland, with more than 2,500 arrivals [2]. Many of those were Irish people coming home with Australian partners and kids, and plenty of Australian-born people with Irish passports move the other way too.

Dublin itself has about 1.6 million people, close to 29% of Ireland's population, according to CSO estimates for April 2026 [7]. It's big enough for a social life, small enough that you'll run into other Aussies at the same pubs.

Footy, cricket and weekend sport

Australian rules football

Yes, you can play footy in Ireland. AFL Ireland, formerly the Australian Rules Football League of Ireland, runs the game here [3]. In Dublin, the South Dublin Swans have been going since 2006 and play at Memorial Park in Kilmainham [3]. Clubs mix Australians with Irish players who come over from Gaelic football, and they're always keen on anyone who can kick a drop punt.

Women's footy is growing on the island too, with women's sides elsewhere in Ireland such as the Cork Vikings and the Ulster Kookaburras in Belfast [3]. Contact AFL Ireland or a club directly for current seasons, training nights and teams, as these change year to year.

Gaelic games

You'll spot the family resemblance quickly. Gaelic football and hurling are Ireland's biggest sports, and Croke Park in Drumcondra is a pilgrimage. Go to a match in summer, even if you don't know the rules yet. The atmosphere is worth the ticket.

Cricket

Cricket isn't as big here as at home, but it's played. The Ireland Australia Association organises cricket matches among its events [5], and there are local clubs around Dublin if you want to play properly through the Irish summer.

Watching from Dublin

Dublin sits 9 to 11 hours behind the east coast of Australia, depending on the time of year. That makes the AFL Grand Final a breakfast job and the Boxing Day Test a late-night one. Some pubs will put on big Australian games if enough people ask. The quickest way to find out who's showing what is to ask in the group (more on that below).

Anzac Day in Dublin

Anzac Day starts in the dark at Grangegorman Military Cemetery, on the northside, where the Australian Embassy gathers people at dawn on 25 April to remember the Anzacs [4]. The embassy publishes the details for each year's service in January [4].

It's a moving service. Around 35 Australian and New Zealand First World War personnel, and some Australians who served in other Allied forces, are buried in Ireland or were lost at sea off its coast. The embassy has written up their stories on its "Anzacs in Ireland" page, including people like Private John Joseph Hickey and Nurse Winifred Starling [4]. It's worth reading before you go.

Groups and meetups

Group	What it's for	How to find it
Ireland Australia Association	Volunteer-run expat community since 1981: barbecues, wine tastings, cricket, plus gatherings in Galway and Sligo [5]	Australian Embassy website [5]
AFL Ireland and the South Dublin Swans	Playing or helping out with Aussie rules footy [3]	Contact the league or club directly
Australian Embassy events	Anzac Day, voting centres, occasional community events [4][6]	Embassy news and events pages

The Ireland Australia Association is run by Australian expats, and its patron is the Australian Ambassador to Ireland [5]. Its calendar changes from year to year, but you can expect regular Dublin events and the odd trip west [5].

A taste of home

Missing Vegemite already? You'll find some Australian staples in larger Dublin supermarkets and specialty food shops, though range and price vary. Most Australians end up with a small stash brought back after each trip home.

Coffee culture has come a long way in Dublin. Plenty of independent cafes now serve a proper flat white, often run by people who learned the trade in Melbourne or Sydney. And you'll find the Irish love a good barbecue as much as we do, the weather just doesn't always cooperate.

Staying connected with Australia

Voting

Don't let your enrolment lapse. The Australian Embassy in Dublin runs early voting centres for Australian elections. For the Victorian state election on 28 November 2026, early voting runs on weekdays from 18 to 26 November, 9am to 4:30pm, at the embassy at 47–49 St Stephen's Green [6].

When things go wrong

The embassy also provides consular help, passports and notarial services, by appointment [6][8]. Save its number in your phone: +353 1 664 5300 [8].

Beating the homesick blues

Dublin winters are long and dark, and the first one can knock you around. A few things that help:

Commit to one weekly thing. Training, a pub quiz or a running club. Showing up every week is how acquaintances become mates.
Get to the sea. The walk from Sandymount along the strand, or the pier at Dún Laoghaire, does wonders when the sun comes out.
Book the next trip home early. Having a date in the calendar helps.
Say yes to Irish invitations. Dubliners are generous with their time. If someone invites you to a match in their home county, go.
Find your people online first. Join Cooee Ireland, our Facebook group for Australians in Ireland. Ask where the footy is on, who's heading to Anzac Day, or who else is craving a Tim Tam.

Aussie life in Dublin: where to find footy, a dawn service and your people