The Market Bar
Best place for lunch or break from sightseeing. Food is great, particularly Spanish Patatas Bravas, which can be a main dish or a side dish for Guinness. more
Statue of Molly Malone
At the Trinity side of Grafton Street is the statue of Molly Malone. In the song 'In Dublin's Fair City' she 'wheeled her wheelbarrow, through streets broad and narrow'. This is exactly what she is doing here. The statue is very popular with tourists who all take pictures of her and her deep cleavage. more
Irish Jewish Museum
The Irish Jewish Museum is housed in the former Walworth Road Synagogue and tells the story of Ireland's Jewish Community through photos, paintings, certificates and other memorabilia.
The groundfloor display cases are cluttered with clippings, photos, paintings and other souvenirs. One section is devoted to Jewish apects in Irish literature and in particular in James Joyce's Ulysses. Another section is about small businesses and shows a photo of Mr Cohen's Antiques and Pictures Shop at number 1 Liffey Street. Etches and paintings by Dublin born Estella Solomons who made drawings, prints and paintings of inner city Dublin slums which had, at that time, the highest child mortality rate in Europe.
A staircase leads up to the old synagogue. In one corner two mannequins dressed in wedding clothes give an impression of the finery worn on such occasions.
May- September, Sun, Tue, Thu 11.00 am – 3.30 pm
Oct – April, Sundays 10.30 am – 2,30 pm
Admission is free more
Daniel O'Connell Statue
O'Connell Street and O'Connell bridge across the river Liffey are named after Daniel O'Connell, polictician and liberator and Ireland's political leader in the first half of the 19th century. He campaigned the rights for Catholics to sit in the Westminster Parliament.
Daniel O'Connell's statue stands close to the bridge. The angels at the base of the monument represent Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connought, the four Irish provinces.
You may notice that O'Connell bridge has strange proportions; it is wider than it is long. It was not designed this way but was widened two years after it had been built. A foresight, especially in view of today's traffic.
The photo shows O'Connell bridge with the Spire and O'Connell's statue in the background. more
Spire of Dublin
Right in the middle of O'Connell Street is 120m tall work of art: The Dublin Spire. It is a stainless steel construction with a 3m diametre at the base and 15 cm at the top. It stands in the same place where once Nelsons Pillar stood, blown up by the IRA in 1966.
The largest crane ever used in Ireland was needed to hoist the 126-tonne spire in its place. It was meant to herals the millennium but planning permission was not granted in time. Finally the work of art was erected in 2003. more
National Museum - Archeology and History
The National Museum of Ireland is next to Leinster House. The star attraction is the treasury; gold objects from the Bronze and Iron Age (a bit of a contradiction, but the objects are real gold)
It is not known where Ireland's gold came from. Around 2200 BC gold was beaten into thin sheets used in crescent-shaped ornaments. Some five hundred years later gold strips were used to make necklaces and bracelets.
Most of the gold objects were found while cutting peat or ploughing land. The reason is that gold objects were stashed away in remote hoards. I suppose the owners' relatives were not able to find these again.
In the Middle Ages Irish monastries were centres of knowledge. The artifacts from medieval times reflect the fact that Irish monastries in those days were centres of knowledge.
Other exhibits focus on the Easter Rising and the independence struggle, the Vikings and Irish glass and silverware.
Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm, Sunday 2-5pm.
admission; free more
Shaw's Birthplace
This neat terraced house is the birthplace of George Bernard Shaw, dramatist, literary critic and socialist, but probably best known for My Fair Lady, which was based on his play Pygmalion.
I could easily imagine Mrs Shaw playing the piano during one of the music evening held regularly. The house is quite small and gives a wonderful insight in everyday Victorian life. The rooms on view are the kitchen, the maid's room, the nursery, the drawing room, and the bedrooms. The house is a 15-minute walk from St. Stephen's Green and close to Grand Canal, alternatively take bus 16, 16A, 19, 19A, 122 from the city centre.
The house is open on weekdays from 10 am – 5 pm (closed between 1pm – 2pm). Saturday and Sunday 2 pm – 5 pm. The museum is closed on Wednesday and from October to April.
Admission €6 adults, €5 seniors and students, €3.50 children, €17 families. Discounted combination ticket with Dublin Writers Museum and James Joyce Museum available more
Tulip Inn Dublin Airport 3***
Tulip Inn is close to Dublin Airport with a a free shuttle from the Tulip to the airport. The hotel is an industrial estate. There is nothing in the vicinity except housing estates and a retail park that has DIY and furniture shops. The petrol station around the corner has a small supermarket. Swords village as a stiff 15-minute walk.
The rooms are very spacious. There was a place for hanging clothes and stacking luggage. Small desk with TV, coffee/tea set up, iron/board, hairdryer. Shower was excellent. Bathroom was large with towel warmer, which made it warmer than the room itself. The aironditioning is noisy. When turned off it still blows cold air into the room. Breakfast is not included in the room price and slightly pricey at €12,50 p.p.
Service is correct but impersonal. (After having checked in we were asked twice if we wanted to check in). The restaurant is reasonably prices except for the drinks. There is a limited choice (only two) of vegetarian dishes. more
Sunlight Chambers
Sunlight Chambers is the building at the corner of Paliament Street and Wellington Quay.
It is Italian in architecture, with overhanging eaves, a tiled roof and arcaded windows. It was the Dublin office of Lord Lever. Sunlight is a brand of soap manufactured by the Lever brothers (now Unilever).
The striking feature of the buidling is the multi-coloured double frieze which depicts men dirtying their clothes and women washing them (using Sunlight soap, without doubt) more
Abbey Hotel **
Great location at a good price, 2 mins walk from Ha'penny Bridge and O'Connell street, where the airport bus will drop you. Ten-minute walk to Trinity and Grafton Street. The Luas tram passes through Abbey street on its way to Hueston station. Arnotts Department Store is just across the street.
Abbey Hotel is situated above Mojo's Bar and restaurant, great pub food and á la carte. Breakfast is full Irish breakfast including hash, black and white pudding, an excellent way to start the day.
The rooms are on 4 floors and there is a lift. Rooms are not very spacious, but there is enough room to walk about for two persons at the same time. Complementary tea, coffee and biscuits are very welcome after seeing Dublin's sights.
We booked through www.irelandhotels.com and found that their prices are better than walk-in prices. we paid for a twin €82 (2007) walk-in price was €150. more
Palace Bar
A very very old pub, upstairs "lounge" area for quieter atmosphere and more locals, trad. music Wed. more
Shamrocker Tours
Backpacker bus tours, small groups, Irish guides, great fun; 3,4, & 6 day options, stay in hostels more
Hugh Lane Gallery
Hugh Lane Gallery is housed in the former town house of the Earl of Charlemont. The Gallery's collection consists of contemporary art works from 19th cent to the present. It includes sculptures of Rodin and Degas, works by Courbet, Monet and Manet and numerous works of Irish artists.
Hugh Lane was an art dealer and set up his own gallery. He bequeathed his pictures to the National Gallery in London. Later on he added a rider to his will in which he said that some of his paintings should remain in Ireland. The rider was never witnessed and the tussle began.
After his death in 1915 (he was on board the Lusitania when it was torpedoed by a German submarine) his collection was divided between London and Dublin. 39 of his paintings are now in Dublin, 8 are in London and one goes backwards and forwards between London and Dublin.
The permanent collection includes a reconstruction of Francis Bacon's London studio, complete with the painter's personal belongings. more
Abbey Court Hostel
ABBEY COURT HOSTEL advertises itself as the cleanest most centrally located quality budget accommodation with very friendly staff. Centrally located is certainly true, but after reading some reviews on http://www.hostels.com/en/Reviews/Abbey-Court/100/ I decided to make no further enquiries.
I was interested in their twin en-suite which cost €78 (in 2007). Only a few euros less than Abbey Hotel in Middle Abbey Street. (see my entry for this hotel in the tip section) more
Ireland Hotels; website bookings
Hotels Booked through the website of the Irish Hotel Federation are better priced than walk-in prices or booking via the hotel's own website. Hotels on the Ireland Hotels list range from 2* - 5*
A deposit is 10% of the total price is charged when the booking is made. The remainder is paid upon arrival in the hotel. Cancellation 24 hours before arrival otherwise the complete amount is charged. No refund of the deposit in case of cancellation.
It is also possible to book accommodation at any Tourist Information Office. There is one in all larger towns and cities. They also do their bookings via Ireland Hotels and charge €4 booking fee. more
National History Museum
The NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM is crammed with skeletons, stuffed animals and all sorts of Irish wildife. Its collection covers the full range of Irish fauna. It includes three skeletons of giant deer known as the Irish Elk, which became extinct some 10,000 years ago. The walls are lined with shelves stacked with jars of bizarre creatures such as octopuses, leeches and worms preserved in embalming fluid. On the first floor hanging from the ceiling are the skeletons of two whales that were stranded on Ireland's shore, the fin whale in bantry Bay and the Humpback whale in in Inishcrone in co. Sligo.
Tuesday – Saturday 10 am – 5 pm
Sunday 2 am – 5 pm
Closed on Monday
Admission: free more
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