The 12 Pubs of Christmas rules are easy to learn: go to 12 pubs, have one drink in each and obey a new rule at every stop, usually in a Christmas jumper. Classic rules include no pointing, no first names, wrong-hand drinking and no swearing, but every group makes its own. This Irish pub crawl is a modern custom: the earliest claims, none of them proven, point to 1990s Dublin, and it took off from about 2008. Twelve pints is 24 standard drinks, four times the HSE’s limit for one occasion, so plan on halves, alcohol-free rounds and a safe way home.
Picture a grown adult in a flashing reindeer jumper, waddling to the bar like a penguin, drinking with the wrong hand and calling their own brother by his surname. Nobody in the pub looks up. It’s December in Ireland.
This is the 12 Pubs of Christmas: twelve pubs, one drink in each and a new silly rule at every stop. It gets a short mention in my guide to 18 Irish Christmas traditions, but it deserves a proper look.
Here are the 12 Pubs of Christmas rules, the forfeits, what’s really known about who started it and how to plan a good night. One honest warning first: played literally, it’s a dangerous amount of drink, as Irish doctors have said for years. So you’ll also find the real sums, and a gentler way to play.
Jump to:
- What is the 12 Pubs of Christmas?
- The 12 Pubs of Christmas rules: a classic list
- Forfeits that don’t involve more drink
- Where did the 12 Pubs of Christmas come from?
- How it spread beyond Ireland
- Why some pubs won’t let you in
- How to plan your route
- How to survive it: the honest sums
- Getting home and the morning after
- 12 Pubs of Christmas FAQ
- More Irish Christmas reading
What is the 12 Pubs of Christmas?
It’s a pub crawl with a dress code. Friends, workmates or old school pals meet up in December and try to visit 12 pubs in one outing, with one drink in each and about half an hour per stop. Each pub has its own rule, and breaking it earns a forfeit.
The dress code is the Christmas jumper (sweater, if you’re reading in America), and the uglier the better. Some groups hand one person a whistle and the job of rule keeper, to catch offenders and keep everyone moving.
For plenty of people, the pints aren’t really the point. When The Irish Times met crawlers in Dublin in 2012, one woman said that with so many of her crowd working abroad, it was a chance for everyone to meet up. It’s a reunion with tinsel on.
Two Christmas jumpers on a shop display. Photo: Hortensja Bukietowa, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Irish has a phrase for it too. The English-Irish dictionary focloir.ie gives ruaig ragairne (ROO-ig RAG-ar-nyuh) for a pub crawl. A ruaig is a chase or a hurried visit, and ragairne is late-night revelling, which is about right.
The 12 Pubs of Christmas rules: a classic list
There’s no official rulebook, and every group writes its own. These are the rules that turn up again and again in Irish guides, from The Irish Post to Visit Belfast’s own 12 Pubs route. Take them in any order and change what you like.
- No first names. Surnames, nicknames or “yer man” only.
- No pointing. Try giving directions to the toilets with your elbow.
- Wrong-hand drinking. Right-handers drink with the left, left-handers with the right.
- No swearing. In Ireland, this one ends more careers than any other.
- Speak in an accent. Pick a foreign accent and hold it for the whole pub. Dreadful is fine.
- Swap shoes. Or swap jumpers with the person beside you. Swap back before you walk anywhere.
- Strangers only. Pretend you don’t know your own friends and chat to someone new, if they’re in the mood.
- No sitting, no leaning. Stools and walls are out of bounds until the next pub.
- Silent ordering. Get your drink without a word. Keep the mime short, because the staff are busy.
- The penguin. Arms by your sides, and you waddle everywhere, the trip to the toilets included.
- Selfie with a stranger. Ask someone outside your group for a photo, and take no for an answer.
- The last pub: no rules. Many lists leave the final stop free. Raise a glass and say sláinte (SLAWN-cha), meaning “health”. Keep the fada on the á: “slainte” without it is a common slip.
Rules to leave at home
- “Eating is cheating”: a Temple Bar bartender told The Irish Times in 2012 that she disagreed with this one, and she was right. Drinkaware says food slows your drinking and how fast alcohol reaches your system.
- No toilet breaks: yes, this is a real rule. No, don’t.
- The shot pub: addiction counsellor Joe Treacy urged crawlers to steer clear of shots back in 2014.
- Keeping up: Drinkaware’s Miriam Taber has pointed out that bodies handle drink differently, so matching your friend’s pace makes no sense.
Three rules I’d add
- The Water Pub: one stop where everybody drinks water or a soft drink. Put it around pub five.
- The Dinner Pub: everybody eats at half-time. Groups The Irish Times met in 2012 were already doing this after pub six.
- The Cúpla Focal Pub: cúpla focal (KOOP-la FUK-ul) means “a few words”, so order in Irish. A pint is pionta (PYUN-tuh), a half pint is leathphionta (LYAH-fyun-tuh), water is uisce (ISH-kuh) and please is le do thoil (leh duh HULL).
Forfeits that don’t involve more drink
The usual forfeit is a penalty drink: a shot, or a big gulp of whatever you’re holding. I’d skip that. It means the person losing the game gets the most alcohol, which is a daft way to run a night out.
These get bigger laughs anyway:
- Sing for it: one verse of a carol to the group. Extra respect for the Wexford Carol.
- The cracker joke: tell a terrible one from my list of Christmas jokes. The group must groan.
- The shame bell: The Irish Post’s swap for penalty drinks. Ring it whenever someone breaks a rule.
- The charity jar: a euro or a dollar per offence, with the total going to a Christmas appeal the next day.
- Press-ups: a real penalty reported by The Irish Times in 2012.
- The greeting: wish whoever’s behind the bar Nollaig Shona duit (NULL-ig HUN-a ditch), Happy Christmas to you.
Where did the 12 Pubs of Christmas come from?
Nobody knows for sure. What is clear is that this isn’t an ancient custom, and anyone selling it as a centuries-old Irish rite is pulling your leg.
Dublin was always good ground for it, mind. In Ulysses (1922), James Joyce has Leopold Bloom muse: “Good puzzle would be cross Dublin without passing a pub.” But the 12 Pubs itself is far younger.
The earliest claims
- 1990: Wikipedia’s entry on a Chicago bar crawl says the first known 12 Pubs began in Dublin in 1990, from a pub on Chatham Street. It cites no source, so treat it as unproven.
- 1998, the podcast: in December 2022, the pub podcast Publin said it had found what may be the first crawl of its kind, begun in 1998 by a group of publicans, sports stars and musicians.
- 1998, the letter: a 2024 Babylon Radio article cites research by Chloe O’Keeffe naming a letter printed in the Irish Independent that year as the first documented mention. The writer, Dermot Hayes, described men setting off to do 12 pubs around Grafton Street between 8pm and midnight.
I couldn’t get to the 1998 letter itself or a transcript of the podcast, so these are leads, not proof. What they share is Dublin in the 1990s.
Christmas lights on Grafton Street, Dublin, December 2012. Photo: Miguel Mendez, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
When it took off
In December 2012, The Irish Times reported that the crawl had “grown in popularity since 2008” and was running in many Irish towns. Bar staff quoted by the paper that month said it had built up over the previous two to four years. A year later, columnist Una Mullally described a tipping point that turned isolated meet-ups of friends into a mass event.
Dublin’s Swan Bar adds a clue. In 2016, its manager told TheJournal.ie the pub hadn’t served 12 Pubs groups for eight or nine years, which puts them on the scene by about 2008.
Most Irish coverage treats it as young. The Irish Examiner called it one of Ireland’s newer festive traditions in 2014, Mullally called it a “born-again” tradition in 2013, and The Irish Post still said relatively new in 2022.
Why twelve?
Probably because of The Twelve Days of Christmas, though I found no document that proves it. An Irish Times letter writer wondered in 2023 if the crawl was a modern spin on the old custom of eating 12 mince pies, each in a different house. That custom dates to at least 1853, the paper’s diary column noted, but nothing links the two. Another reader replied that he’d always assumed it was invented by 12 publicans.
How it spread beyond Ireland
Nobody has mapped this properly, but here’s what’s on the record:
- Northern Ireland: Visit Belfast, the city’s tourism body, publishes its own 12-stop route with a rule for each pub.
- Britain: Time Out listed a London 12 Pubs of Christmas in 2025, run by a food blogger.
- Australia: a 2020 Fremantle Shipping News piece called it an Irish tradition and picked twelve local bars for a version in Western Australia.
- United States: Chicago’s Twelve Bars of Christmas, or TBOX, is a separate story. Its organiser says it began in 1996 as a get-together for co-workers, and crowds once reached 40,000, according to DNAinfo. I found nothing linking it to Dublin, so it may be the same joke told twice.
Why some pubs won’t let you in
Not every publican loves a dozen jumpers at the door. When The Irish Times polled 20 Temple Bar bartenders in 2012, some saw quick money, others saw mess and rowdiness, and two dreaded being pub number 12.
Temple Bar, Dublin, at night in March 2009. Photo: Trevah, released into the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Others shut the door. The Swan on Aungier Street stopped admitting groups, saying a small pub can’t cope with 30 people landing at once. In 2015, DailyEdge listed 13 Dublin pubs turning groups away or limiting them, one of them admitting crawlers only on their first three or four stops. The Vintners Federation of Ireland declined to back a ban in 2014, calling it “Dublin-centric”.
Health voices have been blunter. Dr Joe Barry told the Evening Echo in 2018 that it “flies in the face of all good advice around alcohol”. Drinkaware’s Miriam Taber has called twelve drinks in one sitting extremely dangerous.
There’s the law, too. Under Ireland’s Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003, a pub can’t serve a drunk person or let them into the bar, and a drunk customer must leave if the licensee or a garda asks. So if you’re turned away at pub eight, say thanks and call it a night.
How to plan your route
Keep it short and walkable
Choose pubs a few minutes apart, and send the route to everyone before you start. Dublin routes in that 2012 Irish Times report were the Baggot Mile, along Baggot Street, and a run from Dame Street to Camden Street. Six pubs, done well, is a grand night. And if even that sounds like too many, a small glass of homemade Irish cream by the fire is a very Irish Christmas too.
Do the timing sums
Thirty minutes a stop is six hours in pubs. Add ten-minute walks and a dinner break, and you’re close to nine hours. One group from Wexford told The Irish Times in 2012 that they begin at 2pm and are done by 10 or 11pm.
Standard closing time in the Republic is 11.30pm Monday to Thursday, 12.30am on Fridays and Saturdays and 11pm on Sundays, so a full Saturday route means starting around 3pm. One Dublin bar manager told The Irish Times in 2012 that groups are fine early on but can be tricky later.
If you’re flying in for it, check my guide to Christmas in Ireland first.
Book ahead for big groups
Phone first. Ask each pub if it takes 12 Pubs groups, and be honest about your numbers. If you’re more than six or eight, split into two crews a stop apart, and book a table for the dinner break. If a pub is packed, move on.
Keep the group together
- Skip rounds: Drinkaware warns that rounds speed up your drinking. Saying “I’ll get my own” at the start is fine.
- Leave nobody behind: no one wanders off alone, and anyone who’s had enough goes home in a taxi. Even the famous Irish goodbye needs one witness.
How to survive it: the honest sums
This isn’t a challenge to win. There’s no trophy, and the best night belongs to whoever remembers it. Here’s how it adds up, using HSE figures: a half pint of 4.5% beer, stout or cider is one standard drink, and a pint is two.
| Your night | Standard drinks | Against the HSE guidance |
|---|---|---|
| 12 pints | 24 | Four times the limit for one occasion, and more than a whole week’s limit |
| 12 half pints | 12 | Still double the limit for one occasion |
| 5 half pints, 7 alcohol-free | 5 | Under the limit for one occasion |
The HSE says no level of alcohol is safe for health. Its low-risk guidelines set a cap of 6 standard drinks on any one occasion, and 11 a week for women or 17 for men, with two or three days a week off alcohol. Drinkaware counts six or more in a sitting as binge drinking, so stay under that line rather than aiming for it. That evidence is under review, the HSE says, so check for updates. An Irish standard drink holds 10g of pure alcohol, against 14g in the US and 8g in a UK unit.
- Eat first, then eat again: have a proper meal before pub one and more food at half-time.
- Ask for a glass: in an Irish pub, a half pint is “a glass”. Ask for “a half” and you may get whiskey.
- Drink water at every stop: the HSE suggests a water or juice between each alcoholic drink.
- Make alcohol-free rounds normal: The Irish Times reported in 2025 that Guinness 0.0 was on sale in 4,000 pubs, hotels and restaurants around Ireland, so it’s an easy ask.
- Stop when you like: a crawl that ends at pub seven with everybody happy is a good one.
An empty pint glass, a part-drunk half pint of stout and a shot-sized glass at a pub in Westport, Co. Mayo. Photo: Lisa Harbin, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Getting home and the morning after
Never drive. In the Republic, the legal limit is 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood for most drivers, and 20mg for learners, novice drivers and professional drivers. The HSE warns that a single standard drink is enough to put some people over, and Drinkaware says any amount affects your driving. Sort your way home before you set out, because taxis and buses get busy at Christmas.
Mind the morning. If you’re driving the next day, Drinkaware says to allow at least an hour per standard drink, counted from your last one. The HSE says one to two hours. After 12 pints, that’s a full day at the very least. Coffee and showers change nothing.
Mind the water. Water Safety Ireland says alcohol plays a part in about a third of Irish drownings. Stay well back from quays, rivers and canals on the way home.
Mind each other. The HSE says to call 112 or 999 if you suspect alcohol poisoning, or if someone has lost consciousness. Lay them in the recovery position, keep them warm and stay with them, even if their breathing seems normal.
As for the hangover, the HSE is blunt: time is the only cure, and hair of the dog won’t help. Drink water before bed. A full Irish breakfast won’t fix you either, but it’s a fine consolation.
If you’re worried about your own drinking, the HSE Drugs and Alcohol Helpline is free in Ireland on 1800 459 459, on weekdays from 9.30am to 5.30pm. In the US, SAMHSA’s National Helpline is free, confidential and open around the clock on 1-800-662-4357.
12 Pubs of Christmas FAQ
What are the rules of the 12 Pubs of Christmas?
Visit 12 pubs, have one drink in each and follow a different rule at every stop. Popular rules are no pointing, no first names, no swearing, wrong-hand drinking and speaking in an accent. Every group sets its own.
Is the 12 Pubs of Christmas an old Irish tradition?
No. The earliest claims, none of them proven, point to 1990s Dublin, and it only became widespread from about 2008. Its exact origin is unknown.
When do people do the 12 Pubs of Christmas?
Mostly in December, in the weeks before Christmas, though early groups have been spotted from mid-November.
How long does the 12 Pubs of Christmas take?
At 30 minutes a pub, six hours plus walking. With a dinner break, allow eight or nine hours.
Do you have to drink alcohol on the 12 Pubs?
Not at all. You can have soft drinks or alcohol-free pints at every stop, or mix them with halves. Say so at the start and order your own.
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Pin image: Christmas lights spelling out Nollaig Shona Duit on Wicklow Street, Dublin, December 2012. Photo: Miguel Mendez, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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More Irish Christmas reading
- 18 Irish Christmas Traditions, From the Candle in the Window to the 12 Pubs
- Christmas in Ireland: What It’s Really Like (A Visitor’s Guide for 2026)
- 121 Funny Christmas Jokes: Irish Ones First, Then Crackers, Santa, Kids and Riddles
- Merry Christmas in Irish: How to Say Nollaig Shona Duit (Plus 35 Christmas Words)
Featured image: Christmas lights spelling out Nollaig Shona Duit on Wicklow Street, Dublin, December 2012. Photo: Miguel Mendez, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.