We headed in to this bar one night recently on a night out in the city. We were passing Instinct bar on Sullivans quay and decided to head in. We passed a few door men and headed in. I didn’t know this place was a gay bar but it didn’t take long to find this out after we went in. Two pints of Murphy’s were ordered and we sat at a high table near to the dancefloor. There wasn’t a huge crowd of people out for a drink but the place was quite busy. It is a big pub and i never noticed it before. In fairness the pints of stout were nice and have no complaints about them. One thing i noticed was loads of flashing lights around the pub. It can accomodate a good number of people and i’d say it gets quite busy. Its website describes it as ‘Cork’s premier gay bar’ The website is www.instinctbarcork.com
The toilets are big and were well maintained when i used them. Instinct is just a short walk over the bridge from the Grand Parade so it is central. I am not sure if i’l head back again but for anyone that didn’t know about it, there you go. A person named Toby left a comment on the site asking if we would include contact details such as phone numbers for pubs. Where possible i will try to do this from now on. If you want to contact Instinct phone: 0214966726.
Toilet rating: 7/10
Pint rating: 7/10
Overall rating: 7/10
Final comment: We only had the one drink in this pub. It appears to be a lively venue worth checking out.
It’s a fucking dive. You can smell the toilets from 3km away. Dive dive dive.
As an instinct regular i wouldnt give the toilets 7/10, though they have improved. Instinct is a great laugh and yes it is a lively venue.
I live around there. It’s not open long which is why you probably never noticed it before. Used to be near the Oyster Bar near Burger King.
Hi Eoin, i was in instinct there 2 weekends ago and had an absolute faboous time dancing..ye boys just don’t know how to party!
anyway as far as the physical environment of the club goes…its a kip and it smells.. and the toilets are foul…i felt i should be santising myself after been in there.
But in fairness i would and will go back again…cuz there’s a pole and i really want to have a go… tee hee
The place really should be refubished and looked after…as for been corks premier gay bar… i dont think so.. i am embarrased to even say that, because its a dump…
and it smells!
thats me sandy by the way. not ryan
As a sometimes regular at instinct i feel like leaving a few comments. Firstly the good points. Its nicely furbished, the music is usually great, and the crowd at weekends make it a great nite out.
Now the bad points. For some reason i much prefer the old spot (market lane). It was kinda private and cosier. The toilets in the new place are VILE…for about 3 weeks one of the 2 cubicles are ‘out-of-order’. They STINK to high heaven.
The situation of having to smoke ON the street (not even the footpath) on a busy roadway next to the busy nano-nagle bridge is not ideal – is there not a place out the back by the dance floor we can go to smoke in peace?
The bouncers are langers – so unfriendly and ignorant – even to regulars.
Despite all this its grand. And it IS cork’s ‘premier gay bar’ simply because its cork’s ONLY gay bar (oh u cant count loafers for god’s sake!)
So ok, there’s my rant over with.
Just wanted to say that my wife and I have been there once…..and its definetly,definetly not as good as where it was located before (near burger king)…..We used to go there almost every week or two before they moved but alas now,almost never.Pity they ever moved we think!….and by the way the earlier writer is correct about having to smoke on the street outside the club…..i mean come on!!!do i have to spell out the potential difficulties with that!All in all theyd have been better staying put!
Nice place, the bouncers are a disgrace, homophobic fuckers, even when its not that full, people are stopped at the door, they just do want they want at the end of the day.
NICE VENUE NEW SMOKING ROOM IS GREAT TOILETS ARE TERRIBLE BUT SLOWLY GETTING BETTER AS FOR THE BOUNCERS BEING HOMOPHOBIC I HARDLY THINK SO FIRSTLY THEY WORK BY CHOICE IN A GAY VENUE AND ARE CONSTANTLY BEING HUGGED AND GROPED BY THE PATRONS .MORE IMPORTANTLY THOUGH WHAT WE GOING TO DO WHEN THE BODEGA CLOSES THIS WEEK