Little Museum of Dublin

Dublin

　　This award-winning museum tells the story of Dublin over the last century via memorabilia, photographs and artefacts donated by the general public. The impressive collection, spread over the rooms of a handsome Georgian house, includes a lectern used by JFK on his 1963 visit to Ireland and an original copy...

Farmleigh

Dublin

　　The Irish government's official guesthouse is this fine Georgian-Victorian pile designed by James Gandon. Originally part of the Guinness estate, it was immaculately restored in 2001. The guided tour only includes the ground floor, but it's still pretty impressive, especially the fantastic library and glass conservatory. The vast pleasure gardens...

St Stephen's Green

Dublin

　　St Stephen's Green’s 27 acres is the most popular park in Dublin city centre. Come for a leisurely stroll in elegant landscaped gardens, stay for the people-watching. 　　Although surrounded by iconic Georgian architecture, the layout of the park is quintessentially Victorian with tree-lined avenues, a duck pond, ornamental gazebos and...

O’Donoghue’s

Dublin

　　The pub where traditional music stalwarts The Dubliners made their name in the 1960s still hosts live music nightly, but the crowds would gather anyway – for the excellent pints and superb ambience, in the old bar or the covered coach yard next to it. ...

Dollymount Strand

Dublin

　　In the coastal suburb of Clontarf, follow the tang of sea air from the promenade across the wooden footbridge and continue down Bull Walk, enjoying an unrivalled view of Dublin Bay and the iconic Poolbeg Chimneys. At the sea edge, Dollymount Strand's 5km stretch of sand dunes and beach awaits....

GPO Witness History

Dublin

　　Inside the General Post Office is this wonderful museum that also serves as a fitting tribute to the 1916 Easter Rising and its key role in the creation of the Irish state. Interactive and full of touchscreens, the exhibit explores all facets of the Rising, from its origins to the...

Glasnevin Cemetery Museum

Dublin

　　The history of Glasnevin Cemetery unfolds in wonderful, award-winning detail in this museum, which tells the social and political story of Ireland through the lives of the people, known and unknown, buried here. The City of the Dead covers the burial practice and religious beliefs of the roughly 1½ million...

Button Factory

Dublin

　　A multipurpose venue where one night you might be shaking your glow light to a thumping live set by a top DJ, and the next you'll be shifting from foot to foot as members of an esoteric Finnish band drag their violin bows over their electric guitar strings. Live gigs...

National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology

Dublin

　　Established in 1877 as the primary repository of the nation's cultural and archaeological treasures, this is the country's most important museum. The original 1890 building is where you'll find stunning Celtic metalwork, Ireland's most famous crafted artefacts (the Ardagh Chalice and the Tara Brooch, from the 12th and 8th centuries...

International Bar

Dublin

　　This smallish pub with a huge personality is a top spot for an afternoon pint. It has a long bar, stained-glass windows, red-velour seating and a convivial atmosphere. Some of Ireland's most celebrated comedians stuttered through their first set in the Comedy Cellar, which is, of course, upstairs. ...

Museum of Natural History

Dublin

　　Affectionately known as the 'Dead Zoo', this dusty, weird and utterly compelling museum is a fine example of the scientific wonderment of the Victorian age. Its enormous collection of stuffed beasts and carefully annotated specimens has barely changed since Scottish explorer Dr David Livingstone opened it in 1857 – before...

Spire

Dublin

　　The city's most visible landmark soars over O'Connell St and is an impressive bit of architectural engineering that was erected in 2001: from a base only 3m in diameter, it soars more than 120m into the sky and tapers into a 15cm-wide beam of light…it's tall and shiny and it...

Siopaella

Dublin

　　Specialising in luxury secondhand clothing and accessories, Siopaella is the place to nab pre-loved designer goods at a reasonable price—think Hermés Birkin bags and vintage Versace. ...

Icon Factory

Dublin

　　This artists' collective in the heart of Temple Bar hosts exhibitions on Ireland’s cultural heritage. You’ll find colourful, unique souvenirs celebrating the very best in Irish music and literature, and every sale goes towards the artists themselves. Take a stroll around their Icon Walk outside and get better acquainted with...

Folkster

Dublin

　　This surprisingly affordable independent boutique stocks a blend of cool clothing and funky homewares. The clothes here are mainly smart casual with sleek lines and minimalist prints selected by owner stylist Blanaid Hennessy. ...

Arthur's

Dublin

　　Given its location, Arthur’s could easily be a cheesy tourist trap, and plenty of Guinness Storehouse visitors do pass through the doors tempted by another taste of the black stuff. Instead it’s a friendly, cosy bar with a menu full of good comfort food. Best visited in winter so you...

Áras an Uachtaráin

Dublin

　　The official residence of the Irish president, this white Palladian lodge was originally built in 1751 and has been enlarged a couple of times since, most recently in 1816. Tickets for the free one-hour tours can be collected from the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre, the converted former stables of the...

Papal Cross

Dublin

　　In the centre of Phoenix Park, the Papal Cross marks the site where Pope John Paul II preached to 1.25 million people in 1979. Pope Francis celebrated mass here on the last day of his visit to Ireland in 2018: the attendance was around 130,000, a telling reflection of the...

Glasnevin Cemetery

Dublin

　　The tombstones at Ireland's largest and most historically important burial site read like a 'who's who' of Irish history, as most of the leading names of the past 150 years are buried here, including Daniel O'Connell and Charles Stewart Parnell. It was established in 1832 by O'Connell as a burial...

National Botanic Gardens

Dublin

　　Founded in 1795, these 19.5-hectare botanic gardens are home to a series of curvilinear glasshouses, dating from 1843 to 1869 and created by Richard Turner, who was also responsible for the glasshouse at Belfast Botanic Gardens and the Palm House in London's Kew Gardens. Within these Victorian masterpieces you will...

National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts & History

Dublin

　　Once the world’s largest military barracks, this splendid early neoclassical grey-stone building on the Liffey’s northern banks was completed in 1704 according to the design of Thomas Burgh (he of Trinity College's Old Library). It is now home to the Decorative Arts & History collection of the National Museum of...

Workman's Club

Dublin

　　A 300-capacity venue and bar in the former working-men's club of Dublin. The emphasis is on keeping away from the mainstream, which means everything from singer-songwriters to electronic cabaret. When the live music at the Workman's Club is over, DJs take to the stage, playing rockabilly, hip-hop, indie, house and...

Vintage Cocktail Club

Dublin

　　The atmosphere behind this inconspicuous, unlit doorway initialled with the letters 'VCC' is that of a Vegas rat pack hang-out or a '60s-style London members' club. It's so popular you'll probably need to book for one of the 2½-hour evening sittings, which is plenty of time to sample some of...

Pearse Lyons Distillery

Dublin

　　This boutique distillery opened in the former St James' Church in the summer of 2017, distilling small-batch, craft Irish whiskey. You have a choice of three tours: the Trilogy tour, which includes a distillery visit, a tour of St James' graveyard and a three-whiskey tasting; the Signature Tour, which has...

Irish Museum of Modern Art

Dublin

　　Ireland's most important collection of modern and contemporary Irish and international art is housed in the elegant, airy expanse of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, designed by Sir William Robinson and built between 1684 and 1687 as a retirement home for soldiers. It fulfilled this role until 1928, after which it...

Whelan's

Dublin

　　Perhaps the city's most beloved live-music venue is this midsized room attached to a traditional bar. This is the singer-songwriter's spiritual home: when they're done pouring out the contents of their hearts on stage, you can find them filling up in the bar along with their fans. ...

Teeling Distillery

Dublin

　　The first new distillery in Dublin for 125 years, Teeling only began production in 2015 and it will be several years before any of the distillate can be called whiskey. In the meantime, you can explore the visitor centre and taste (and buy) whiskeys from the family's other distillery on...

Dublin Zoo

Dublin

　　Established in 1831, the 28-hectare Dublin Zoo just north of the Hollow is one of the oldest in the world. It is well known for its lion-breeding program, which dates back to 1857, and includes among its offspring the lion that roars at the start of MGM films. You'll see...

Project Arts Centre

Dublin

　　The city's most interesting venue for challenging new work – be it drama, dance, live art or film. Three separate spaces allow for maximum versatility. You never know what to expect, which makes it all that more fun: we've seen some awful rubbish here, but we've also seen some of...

John Mulligan's

Dublin

　　This brilliant old boozer is a cultural institution, established in 1782 and in this location since 1854. A drink (or more) here is like attending liquid services at a most sacred, secular shrine. John F Kennedy paid his respects in 1945, when he joined the cast of regulars that seems...

Palace Bar

Dublin

　　With its mirrors and wooden niches, the Palace (established in 1823) is one of Dublin's great 19th-century pubs, still stubbornly resisting any modernising influences from the last half-century or so. Literary figures Patrick Kavanagh and Flann O'Brien were once regulars and it was for a long time the unofficial head...

EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum

Dublin

　　This is a high-tech, interactive exploration of emigration and its effect on Ireland and the 70 million or so people spread throughout the world who claim Irish ancestry. Start your visit with a 'passport' and proceed through 20 interactive – and occasionally moving – galleries examining why they left, where...

Phoenix Park

Dublin

　　The hugely impressive 707 hectares that comprise Dublin's Phoenix Park are not just a magnificent playground for all kinds of sport—from running to polo—but are also home to the president of Ireland, the American ambassador and a large herd of fallow deer. It's also where you'll find Europe's oldest zoo. How's that...

St Patrick's Cathedral

Dublin

　　Ireland's largest church and the final resting place of Jonathan Swift, St Patrick's stands on the spot where St Patrick himself reputedly baptised the local Celtic chieftains in the 5th century. Fiction or not, it's a sacred bit of turf upon which this cathedral was built between 1191 and 1270. ...

14 Henrietta Street

Dublin

　　Why you should goExplore behind the facade of one of Dublin's famous Georgian townhouses, carefully restored to gently peel back layers of complex social history over 250 years. Part museum, part community archive, it covers the magnificent elegance of upper-class life in the 1740s to the destitution of the early...

Guinness Storehouse

Dublin

　　The most popular attraction in Dublin is this multimedia homage to Guinness. An old fermentation plant in the St James's Gate Brewery has been converted into a seven-storey museum devoted to the beer, the company’s history, how the beer is made and how it became the brand it is today. The top...

National Gallery

Dublin

　　A magnificent Caravaggio and a breathtaking collection of works by Jack B Yeats – William Butler Yeats' younger brother – are the main reasons to visit the National Gallery, but certainly not the only ones. Its excellent collection is strong in Irish art, and there are also high-quality collections of every...

Trinity College

Dublin

　　Trinity College Dublin is Ireland's most prestigious university, a collection of elegant Georgian and Victorian buildings, cobbled squares and nature-friendly wildflower meadows that make for a delightful place to wander. Located next to Grafton Street in the heart of the city, Trinity College is one of Ireland’s most visited sites,...

Kilmainham Gaol

Dublin

　　If you have any desire to understand Irish history – especially the long-running resistance to British colonial rule – then a visit to this former prison is an absolute must. 　　Why you should goAn imposing grey building, built in 1796, it's played a role in virtually every act of Ireland's...

Old Library & Book of Kells

Dublin

　　Why you should goTrinity's greatest treasures are found within the Old Library and the incredible Long Room is one of the most photographed rooms in Dublin, for good reason. 　　The star of the show is the Book of Kells, a breathtaking, illuminated manuscript of the four Gospels of the New...