Come Alone by Meet & Mint Events you can go to on your own

Not a date · Dublin

Meet people in Dublin without a dating app.

Meeting people does not have to be a profile. In Dublin we list 7 upcoming events built around an activity, so conversation starts with the activity.

See this week's picks How to go alone

Picks

Tonight and this week in Dublin nobody on a date

Six upcoming events, soonest first, free ones preferred and a mix of categories. Check the official page before you go.

Mon26Oct
CultureDublin
19:00–22:00

Lark After Dark: House on Haunted Hill and Carnival of Souls

The Lark Concert Hall

A Monday-night double bill of classic horror at The Lark in Balbriggan, north of Dublin, closing its Cinema Club launch season in Halloween week. The evening opens with Vincent Price in House on Haunted Hill, in which guests are challenged to survive a night in a supposedly haunted house, and after the interval comes the dreamlike cult film Carnival of Souls, about a woman drawn towards an abandoned carnival. The venue describes it as two very different cult classics for one ticket, listed at €10. Start time is 19:00; allow roughly three hours including the interval. A relaxed, sociable way to see two old films in a proper cinema setting without needing company. «Lark After Dark: House on Haunted Hill & Carnival of Souls» Starts 19:00, ends about 22:00. Source: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0) and the venue's own listing.

Official page ↗See who's going in Meet & Mint
Sat31Oct
Free
CultureDublin
18:30–20:00

Fingal Festival of Fire: music and fireworks, Swords Castle

Swords Castle and Swords Town Park

On Halloween night, Fingal County Council lights up the park behind medieval Swords Castle, just north of Dublin, with live Halloween music from 18:30 and a fireworks display at 19:30. The same Festival of Fire runs at two other Fingal sites, Bremore Castle in Balbriggan and Millennium Park in Blanchardstown, where the programme is a scary disco followed by fireworks; at Swords the opening is live music. It is a free outdoor evening organised by the council's Events Unit, easy to join alone since everyone is looking up at the same sky. Wrap up warm, as it is late October and the fireworks are outdoors. «Fingal Festival of Fire - Swords Castle» Starts 18:30, ends about 20:00. Source: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0) and the venue's own listing.

Official page ↗See who's going in Meet & Mint
Sat31Oct
CultureDublin
19:00–20:40

Lark After Dark: Nosferatu (1922) on the big screen, Balbriggan

The Lark Concert Hall

On Halloween night The Lark, an arts venue in Balbriggan on the coast north of Dublin, screens F. W. Murnau's silent classic Nosferatu (1922) as part of its Lark After Dark: Home of Halloween programme. The film is an unofficial adaptation of Dracula, and its vampire is a figure of disease and hunger rather than a charming aristocrat. The venue lists the screening for 19:00 with tickets at €10 including fees, and the film runs about an hour and a half. Seeing a hundred-year-old horror film with a roomful of strangers in the dark is a very easy thing to do on your own, and the same venue shows other horror classics earlier and later that night. «Lark After Dark: Nosferatu (1922)» Starts 19:00, ends about 20:40. Source: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0) and the venue's own listing.

Official page ↗See who's going in Meet & Mint
Sun8Nov
MusicDublin
15:00–16:30

Pirosmani Quartet: Schumann and Schubert, National Concert Hall

National Concert Hall — Kevin Barry Recital Room

Cork violinist Mairéad Hickey leads the Pirosmani Quartet, with colleagues from Brazil, Ukraine and the USA, in the Chamber Music Series at the National Concert Hall. The programme opens with Schumann's second quartet, written in a burst of creativity in 1842, then offers the first performance of a new work by Galway composer Jane O'Leary, and ends with Schubert's vast G major quartet, a piece that swings between grief and joy. Sunday afternoon at 3pm in the intimate Kevin Barry Recital Room. Tickets €17.50 according to the listing; book through the NCH. «Chamber Music Series: Pirosmani Quartet: Tenderness and Turmoil» Starts 15:00, ends about 16:30. Source: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0) and the venue's own listing.

Official page ↗See who's going in Meet & Mint
Mon9Nov
CultureDublin
17:00–18:51

Monday Night Cinema: «Romería», Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire

Pavilion Theatre

Monday Night Cinema at the Pavilion Theatre screens «Romería», the final film in Carla Simón's semi-autobiographical trilogy that began with «Summer 1993» and «Alcarràs». Marina, eighteen and orphaned young, travels to Spain's Atlantic coast to meet her late father's family and unravels the story of her parents. It was a Palme d'Or nominee at Cannes in 2025. In Spanish, Catalan, French and Galician; the 5pm show has open captions and the 8pm show has English subtitles. Tickets €10 (€9 concessions) plus a booking fee. Rated 15A. «Romería» Starts 17:00, ends about 18:51. Source: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0) and the venue's own listing.

Official page ↗See who's going in Meet & Mint
Mon23Nov
CultureDublin
17:00–18:37

Monday Night Cinema: «Nino», Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire

Pavilion Theatre

Pauline Loquès's César-winning first feature follows Nino, who is diagnosed with cancer on the eve of his twenty-ninth birthday and spends the weekend before treatment with friends, family, old acquaintances and strangers. Despite the subject, the film keeps an elegant, light touch and a quietly funny eye on awkward moments, including a birthday party he cannot avoid. In French with English subtitles; the Pavilion Theatre shows it at 5pm and 8pm on Monday. Tickets €10 (€9 concessions) plus booking fee. Rated 15A, with mature themes. «Nino» Starts 17:00, ends about 18:37. Source: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0) and the venue's own listing.

Official page ↗See who's going in Meet & Mint

Formats

Where you talk without pressure

These formats give you a task or a topic, so you never have to open with small talk. Pages for Dublin:

How to go alone

Five steps for your first time

  1. Choose a single event with a clear start time and a host. "Lark After Dark: House on Haunted Hill and Carnival of Souls" is a good candidate.
  2. Open the official page and check the date, price, language and whether you need to book.
  3. Turn up a little before the start and mention to the organiser that you came alone.
  4. Keep one simple question ready ("Have you been before?") and commit to staying for an hour before you judge it.
  5. Return to the same group once more before deciding; regulars make it easier, and Meet & Mint shows who plans to attend.

Alternatives to dating apps

What actually works, compared

A neutral comparison of five ways to meet people through shared activities. None needs a profile; the last column shows what we list for Dublin.

FormatWhy conversation startsWorks well if youTypical costCommitmentIn Dublin now
Dinners with strangersA shared table and a host who seats youLike longer one-to-one conversationThe price of a mealOne evening, often booked aheadnone in our data yet
Run clubsYou move at the same pace and talk on the movePrefer doing something active to small talkOften free or low costWeekly; talking is optionalnone in our data yet
Language cafésEveryone is practising, so starting a chat is expectedWant a ready-made reason to talkFree or the cost of a coffeeDrop-in2 listed
Game nightsThe game provides the topic and something to doEnjoy light competition or puzzlesFree or a small table feeDrop-in, two to three hours3 listed
VolunteeringA shared task and a teamWant to meet people with similar valuesFreeRegular shifts matter more than one visitnone in our data yet

Questions people ask

How do I meet people in Dublin without a dating app?

Go to a hosted group activity where the activity does the introducing. We list 7 upcoming events in Dublin (culture, music); the soonest include "Lark After Dark: House on Haunted Hill and Carnival of Souls" and "Fingal Festival of Fire: music and fireworks, Swords Castle".

Will I be the only one on my own at events in Dublin?

Not at all. At hosted events many people come alone, which is why the formats work. Arrive early, mention to the host that you are new, and you will be placed at a table or in a group.

Are these dating events in Dublin?

They are group activities, not dating events. You go for the activity and the company; any romance is a side effect we cannot promise.

Are there free things to do alone in Dublin?

Yes. 1 of the 7 upcoming events we list in Dublin are free, including 1 in the next 30 days. Language cafés, library programmes and many walks cost nothing.

How do I start in Dublin if I find talking to strangers hard?

Start with a structured event, like a workshop or a conversation table, where there is always something to do or say. Give it an hour. Meet & Mint shows who else is going so you recognise a face.

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How it works

Meet & Mint in Dublin: how it works

  1. Find an event on Come Alone or in the Meet & Mint map and open the official page for the details.
  2. Join alone in the app: you see how many people are going and can read the group chat.
  3. Say hello before in the chat, so the first minutes at the venue are with names you know.
  4. Meet at the event and decide afterwards whether to go again. Nobody is on a date.

Meet & Mint

See who's going, then go together

Meet & Mint shows events and people near you on one map. Join an event alone, chat with the group, meet at the event. Free on iPhone and Android.

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