For gay girls and friends: HONEYPOT is Dublin’s queer nightlife utopia

It’s 20 minutes ‘til doors open to HONEYPOT’s sold-out BAE2BAE party in Tengu, Dublin. On a chilly night in February, we’re inside the red-hued room, where glowing Japanese Buddhas hang high on the exposed brick walls. A bright neon mask of the character Tengu — a mischievous supernatural being from Japanese folklore — overlooks the DJ booth, which is adorned with palm-tree-like plants.

The intimate 300-capacity club feels like an appropriate space for a Valentine’s party, and specifically a HONEYPOT party. The event for “gay girls and friends” fosters a staunch following in the Irish capital and welcomes the wider LGBTQI+ community through its doors, as well as “curious honeybees, allies and everyone in between.”

Founded in 2022 by Emma Murphy, AKA Rhyzine, and Kerry Mahoney, aka Baby Tee, HONEYPOT has hosted 11 parties, several of which have sold out with solely local DJs on the bill. With the exception of FAFF and D.Tiffany last year, the girls rarely book international names because they don’t really need to — punters come to HONEYPOT to enjoy the warm, carefree and fun atmosphere that’s now signature of the Dublin-based party, no matter who’s supplying the sounds of house, trance, bass, breaks, techno and anything else that falls under the event’s ravey music policy.

Tonight’s running order is Rhyzine B2B Baby Tee, Puzzy Wrangler and ALI B2B DJ Egg, all of whom are in relationships beyond the booth. As the room fills up before midnight, the feeling that HONEYPOT is an actual community — and not the buzzword used to describe most parties these days — is tangible. Many attendees make a beeline for the DJ booth, bigging up Kerry while she mixes in moody electronica with Emma’s bright, house-led selections. On the dancefloor, there’s plenty of hugging, some kissing, and shrieks of delight as punters recognise each other, moving in groups, twosomes or on their own.

Earlier on in the smoking area, Emma and Kerry recounted their own love story, which began in Killarney, Co.Kerry, where they met at the age of 12. As two “Tumblr teens” with a mutual appreciation for music and art, they started dating at 15 and moved to Dublin in 2016 for college. “We lived separately, but we always had this connection of just loving going out, loving dancing,” recalls Kerry, who’s wearing a red t-shirt with the words THEY THOUGHT I WAS GAY emblazoned on the chest. “It was just a really fun thing that we always could share together.”