Can anyone tell me if OneWorld Sapphire wil gain me access to the Gold Circle Lounge in Dublin? Are there other clubs/lounges I could try?

I have a 6 hour layover there with my wife and 2 small children. Any ideas on stuff to do to keep the kids busy?
I've reviewed the airport map at the Dublin Airport web site and didn't see anything about play areas, etc.

Any advice is welcome!

If you are flying Oneworld that day then you have access to the J lounge in Dublin operated by Aer Lingus; don't remember if that is called Gold Circle or something else (there is another lounge which seems to be not as good as the J lounge and might be a membership lounge). The bigger problem is that you are allowed 1 guest, so unless your wife is also Sapphire you may not be allowed in with 3 guests. The lounge itself is OK but not one of the better lounges in the world. No suitable facilities for kids and not much other than chairs and a few tables for anyone else. Good view of the tarmac though, so not bad for plane spotting which might amuse your kids for a while. The lounge also has an excellent espresso machine.

Assuming you are flying EI/BA/AA or IB you and one guest can gain access to the Gold Circle Lounge in DUB. Generally, EI do not allow children unless they are flying in transatlantic J with parents.

However this is not your biggest problem. The problem is that you have a party of 4 whereas you are only allowed 2. EI, like most european airlines, limit entry to 2 people even for their own elites. As an AA elite don't expect them to make an exception. You could try, but they always seem very strict about lounge entry. Sorry.

As for DUB it is not a great airport for a layover. Consider going into Dublin (40 min by bus, 25ish by taxi) or getting a day room at one of the airport hltels if you are connecting from a long flight.

edited to add: EI now have only 1 lounge at Dublin, the Gold Circle Lounge. As BA use the services of a third-party lounge no other OW lounge exists at DUB.

With 4 people (inc two kids) I'd strongly second sgms' recommendation here for a day room, Dublin airport is not a great place in which kill time as an adult never mind entertaining the kids!. At least with the day room there's tv, room service, a bed for napping and the opportunity to shower/refresh properly for the next leg of your journey.

In my one experience in this situation (2+2 kids, me BA-gold, onward in BA CE, Gold Circle Lounge), they let us all in with no problem. So it's worth a try (but will depend on the mood of the lounge dragon on the day). However I agree that the GCL doesn't rank highly in the list of places I'd like to spend 6 hours - especially with kids. (I did however spend nearly that amount of time there a few years back, when weather played havoc with schedules; I was just lucky that I appeared sober enough to board the plane , and also that I didn't have to drive later.)

EI used to have 2 lounges there - the Gold Circle and the J lounge. GCL was for elite status, and the J lounge was for non-status J/C pax. The seating in the J lounge was typically airport benches, except leather covered, whilst the GCL had armchairs etc. Same deal in LHR (eventually). However, they merged the GCL & J lounges (they were adjacent, so just knocked down a wall between them), and then shuffled the furniture around a little. For a while there was even a room for massages(?) in the GCL; although that seems to be retired too now. And BA use a separate lounge entirely, Anna Livia or something - I've never been in that one.