Dublin
This gleaming Edwardian pile opened as the Royal College of Science in 1911 before being transformed into government offices in 1989. Free 40-minute tours…
Must-see attractions in Dublin
Temple Bar
More a mini history museum in wax than Dublin's version of Madame Tussauds. The quality of the waxworks remains inconsistent – some look like the result…
Grafton Street & St Stephen's Green
Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott (1949–86) was one of the most beloved of all Dubliners – the epitome of the fun-loving rocker. This bust (2005) of the…
North of the Liffey
This handsome building has been the home of Jesuit Belvedere College (a secondary school) since 1841. James Joyce studied here between 1893 and 1898 (and…
Grafton Street & St Stephen's Green
The early 19th-century Royal College of Surgeons has one of the finest facades on St Stephen’s Green. During the 1916 Easter Rising, the building was…
North of the Liffey
Designed by William Robinson in 1697, this is the most important church to survive from that period (although it’s no longer in use and is closed to the…
Dublin
St Patrick’s Tower is Europe’s tallest smock windmill (with a revolving top). It was built in 1757 to power the Roe Distillery, which by 1887 covered 7…
Dublin
This handsome Palladian mansion was home to St Enda’s, an experimental Gaelic school established by nationalist poet and 1916 martyr Pádraig Pearse. The…
Grafton Street & St Stephen's Green
The headquarters of the Department of Foreign Affairs occupies two splendid Georgian houses that were joined together by Benjamin Guinness when he bought…
North of the Liffey
This rather austere little park was opened by President Eamon de Valera in 1966 for the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising. The most interesting…
North of the Liffey
Home to Dublin’s legal profession (and where barristers are still trained), King’s Inns occupies a classical building constructed by James Gandon between…
Dublin
The Phoenix Monument, a Corinthian column topped by a very un-phoenix-like bird, was erected by Lord Chesterfield in 1747, and is often referred to…
Arts & Social Science Building
Grafton Street & St Stephen's Green
The 1978 Arts & Social Science Building backs on to Nassau St and forms an alternative entrance to the college. It was designed by Paul Koralek in the…
Grafton Street & St Stephen's Green
The Unitarian Church was built in 1863 to house two Unitarian congregations. Although nominally rooted in Presbyterianism, the church is a favourite with…
Temple Bar
This multistorey gallery showcases the works of dozens of up-and-coming Irish artists at any one time, and is a great spot to see cutting-edge Irish art…
Grafton Street & St Stephen's Green
Between the bandstand and the James Joyce statue in St Stephen's Green is a young oak tree at the base of which are scattered the ashes of guitarist Adam…
Dublin
A relaxed space on the 1st floor of a Georgian terrace, Origin functions primarily as a showcase for artists who’ve stayed at the gallery’s County Kerry…
Temple Bar
This small gallery devoted to the photograph is set in an airy three-level space overlooking Meeting House Sq. It features a constantly changing menu of…
Temple Bar
Anyone with an interest in Irish contemporary music must visit the CMC’s national archive where you can hear (and play around on an electronic organ) 10…
Temple Bar
Fishamble St, Dublin's oldest street, dates back to Viking times. Brass symbols in the pavement direct you towards a mosaic, just northeast of the…
Dublin
A gorgeous swathe of green lawns, ponds and flower beds near the Royal Dublin Society Showground. Sandwiched between prosperous Ballsbridge and Donnybrook…
Dublin
If you fancy picking up a piece of local art directly from the artist, the Sunday art market, where the work of 100 odd artists is hung on the railings of…
Dublin
Francis Johnston's impressive Georgian gate was designed in 1812 as the Richmond Tower and located on the quays, near the Guinness Brewery. It was moved…
Grafton Street & St Stephen's Green
Trinity College's oldest existing building dates from around 1700. It was originally part of a quadrangle of similar buildings designed to enclose New Sq,…
Temple Bar
The archive of photographs taken from the mid-19th century onwards are part of the collection of the National Library, and so are open by appointment and…
Dublin
Attached to the medieval St Audoen's Church of Ireland is the bigger, 19th-century Catholic St Audoen's, which since 2006 has been home to the Polish…
North of the Liffey
Looking about with a bemused air from the corner of pedestrianised North Earl St is a small statue of James Joyce sculpted by US sculptor Marjorie…
North of the Liffey
Next door to the Dublin Writers Museum, which focuses on the dearly departed, the Irish Writers Centre provides a meeting and working place for their…
Dublin
This modern square was designed by American landscape artist Martha Schwartz and opened in 2008. Its most distinctive feature is the red 'carpet' made of…
Dublin
A bronze sculpture of Patrick Kavanagh (1904–67), erected in 1968, shows the poet with arms and legs crossed in one of his favourite spots. It is inspired…
Dublin
This tiny cemetery was established in 1693 by French Protestant refugees. The cemetery is closed but you can see graves through the railings; of the 239…
North of the Liffey
In the Garden of Remembrance is a bronze statue of the Children of Lir by Oisín Kelly; according to Irish legend the children were turned into swans by…
North of the Liffey
Father Theobald Mathew (1790–1856) was the 'Apostle of Temperance' – a hopeless role in Ireland. Still, Mary Redmond's 1893 statue isn't the only tribute…
Grafton Street & St Stephen's Green
A bronze figure of legendary Dublin folk singer Luke Kelly (1940–84). It was a gift to the city by Irish cartoonist Gerry Hunt (1936–2018), who had…
Grafton Street & St Stephen's Green
This five-bay, two-storey Palladian house was built in 1759 for the then-provost (president) of Trinity College, Francis Andrews. It has served as the…
Dublin
Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava's second Dublin bridge (his first is the James Joyce Bridge; 2003) is this wishbone-design structure (2007) in the…
Grafton Street & St Stephen's Green
The centre of St Stephen's Green has a sensory garden for the blind, with signs in Braille and aromatic shrubs and plants that can be handled.
Grafton Street & St Stephen's Green
Imposing statue of Anglo-Irish novelist and playwright Oliver Goldsmith (1728–74), who wrote The Vicar of Wakefield.
Dublin
The angled, tube-like Convention Centre was designed by Kevin Roche in 2011. It looks its best at night, when it is lit up.
Charles Stewart Parnell Statue
North of the Liffey
An imposing statue of Charles Stewart Parnell (1846–91), Home Rule advocate and victim of Irish morality.