Dublin

Ireland Updated Apr 2026

The Guinness runs black until the bartender tilts the glass, and suddenly it's ruby in the light—Dublin's favorite illusion. One sip and you realize Ireland's capital has been performing sleight-of-hand for centuries: turning Viking camps into cobbled quays, Georgian drawing rooms into punk venues, and tenement houses into museums that make you laugh before they break your heart.

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Dublin, Ireland Photo: Luciann Photography / Pexels
Attractions
28
Trip length
3-4 days
Best season
May–June & September

Why Dublin

Built from cited sources · see the method · How we make our guides →

Dublin rewards the nose as much as the eye. Follow the malt-sweet plume from St James's Gate at dawn, the coal-smoke drifting over Henrietta Street's cracked fanlights, or the briny gulp of Dublin Bay that slaps you on the DART to Howth. The city's scale is human—most stories worth hearing happen within a 25-minute walk of the Liffey—but its memory is telescopic. A bartender will slide you a pint while reciting 400 years of rebellion, and the regulars will correct him in chorus.

Temple Bar's neon reflections look harmless enough, yet every stone has been fought over: by Norse kings at Christ Church, by rebels who pockmarked the GPO in 1916, by developers who tried to flatten The Cobblestone for a hotel just last year. The fights aren't museum pieces; they're ongoing. That's why you come: to stand where the next chapter is being argued over a whisky poured by someone who remembers your grandfather's order.

  • The Book of Kells & Long Room

    Trinity’s 9th-century illuminated gospel shimmers under glass while the barrel-vaulted Long Room smells of oak and centuries above your head. You’ll walk out convinced libraries should be cathedrals.

  • A Whiskey Renaissance in the Liberties

    Four working distilleries now steam inside old mills and power stations; Teeling’s pot-still vapour drifts across cobbles where 400 years of Dublin whiskey began. Ask for a straight-from-the-cask draw at Roe & Co and taste the city’s comeback in one sip.

  • Europe’s Largest Walled City Park

    Phoenix Park rolls 1,750 acres—wild deer herds, papal-cross skyline, President’s front door open for free tours on Saturdays. Sunset from Fifteen Acres turns the Wicklow hills violet and makes the traffic hum feel a continent away.

  • Trad Sessions Down Backstreets

    Skip Temple Bar’s cover charges: O’Donoghue’s on Merrion Row packs fiddles seven nights a week, no stage, just a circle by the fireplace. The first reel usually starts before you’ve finished ordering.

Places to Visit

Not every monument, just the ones we'd walk you past ourselves.

All 155 places in Dublin

Neighborhoods

Where to wander, by quarter — each with its own rhythm.

  • Smithfield & Stoneybatter

    Old milk market turned hip enclave where the cobblestones ring with fiddle strings from The Cobblestone—ground zero for living trad music. Vegan cafés share walls with butcher shops, and the morning light catches the Jameson chimney like a lighthouse for the thirsty.

  • The Liberties

    Once the city's brewing engine room; now four new distilleries pump the Liberties nickname 'Golden Triangle' back to life. Peek into 12th-century lanes, sniff hops drifting from Teeling's maturation warehouse, then duck into family coddle-serving pubs unchanged since Guinness wagons clattered past.

  • Temple Bar

    Cobbled tourist magnet that locals swear they avoid—until TradFest launches and every Dubliner crowds the same neon alleys. Go for the outdoor market on Saturday, the galleries by day, and the people-watching that feels like reality TV with better accents. Drink elsewhere.

  • Portobello & Rathmines

    Canal-side terraces where laptop-toting expats nurse €3 flat-whites beside Holocaust survivors who still call the deli 'the new place'. Evenings bring candle-lit wine bars, €14 small plates, and cinema organ music drifting from the 1920s Stella.

  • Ranelagh

    Village-within-a-city for south-side sophisticates: butchers who know your dog's name, bakeries that run out of sourdough by 10 a.m., and gastropubs where the Sunday roast sells out on Wednesday. Start here if you want to see how Dubliners live when the tour buses are gone.

  • Dún Laoghaire

    Sea air and Victorian promenades 25 minutes south on the DART. Eat chips beside the 200-year-old harbor, watch year-round swimmers at the Forty Foot, then climb James Joyce's Martello tower for views that convinced him exile was bearable.

  • Georgian Core

    Merrion and Fitzwilliam Squares preserve 18th-century symmetry—rain-darkened brick doorways wearing fanlights like wrought-iron eyelashes. Inside, law firms and embassies guard stairwells where footmen once gossiped about rebels; 14 Henrietta Street tells the flip-side tale of tenement life.

  • Docklands

    Glass-and-steel business district built on reclaimed famine-era docks. Come for the EPIC Emigration Museum and Jeanie Johnston famine ship, stay for sunset reflecting salmon-pink off tech-company atria while commuters cycle home along the Samuel Beckett Bridge.

Plan your trip

Before you go

Getting There
Dublin Airport (DUB) sits 15 km north; Dublin Express 784 reaches Trinity College in 25 min via the Port Tunnel. Heuston, Connolly and Pearse stations handle Irish Rail inter-city routes. Motorways M1 (north), M4 (west), M7 (south-west) and M50 ring-road feed the city.
Getting Around
No metro yet—LUAS trams run two lines: Red (Tallaght–The Point) and Green (Broombridge–Bride’s Glen). DART coastal rail hugs the bay from Malahide to Greystones. TFI Leap Visitor Card costs €10 (1 day), €19.50 (3 days), €40 (7 days) and caps all bus-tram-train fares. Dublin Bikes 3-day pass is €5, first 30 min free.
Climate & Best Time
Winter 3–8 °C, summer 11–20 °C. Rain falls 11–13 days every month; May and September give the driest 14-hour daylight window. Peak crowds and prices hit July–August; April–June or September trades 2 °C cooler for half the queue times.
Language & Currency
English spoken everywhere; Irish on signage but not conversation. Euro (€) only—Northern Ireland uses GBP, so watch coins if you cross the border. Cards tap everywhere, yet carry change for Dublin Bus exact-fare boxes.

03 Top tickets in Dublin.

Book ahead

Curated from places in this city. Same price as official sites.

Guinness Storehouse: Entry Ticket + Free Drink
Guinness Storehouse
Guinness Storehouse: Entry Ticket + Free Drink
★4.6 from €37
St Patrick's Cathedral, Book of Kells and Dublin Castle Tour
St Patrick'S Cathedral
St Patrick's Cathedral, Book of Kells and Dublin Castle Tour
★4.8 from €119
Jameson Distillery: Guided Tour with Tasting
Old Jameson Distillery
Jameson Distillery: Guided Tour with Tasting
★4.7 from €31
Saint Patrick's Cathedral Dublin Entry Ticket
St Patrick'S Cathedral
Saint Patrick's Cathedral Dublin Entry Ticket
★4.7 from €11.50
EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum: Entry Ticket
Epic The Irish Emigration Museum
EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum: Entry Ticket
★4.7 from €22
Complete tour of Dublin in Italian
Ha'Penny Bridge
Complete tour of Dublin in Italian
★5.0 from €27

Prices shown are indicative — final pricing and availability are confirmed at checkout. Audiala may receive a commission from bookings made via these links.

A City Forged by Vikings, Crowned by Rebels

From slave-market to silicon docks in twelve centuries

  1. 841

    Vikings Claim the Black Pool

    Longships nosed up the Liffey and never left. The Norse called the tidal pool behind today's castle 'Dyflin'—Old Norse for 'black pool'—and turned it into one of Europe's busiest slave markets. Their Thingmote, a 12-metre-high assembly mound where laws were shouted across the mud, stood exactly where tourists now queue for Guinness.

  2. 23 April 1014

    Battle of Clontarf Breaks Viking Power

    High King Brian Boru's army met the Dublin Vikings at sunrise on the bay. By dusk 7,000 men lay among the seaweed and Boru was dead, but the Norse dream of a permanent Irish kingdom died with him. The city kept its Scandinavian merchants, yet answered to Irish kings ever after.

  3. 1171

    Henry II Plants the English Flag

    Henry II rode in wearing chain mail and a crown of peacock feathers, declaring Dublin the seat of England's Irish lordship. Norman masons began replacing wooden walls with stone; Irish chieftains watched from across the Liffey as the city's voice switched from Old Norse to French-accented English.

  4. 1230

    Dublin Castle Rises

    King John's men sank the first oak piles for a four-towered fortress that would rule Ireland for 700 years. The castle's buttery vaults still smell of ale and damp limestone; its Record Tower, unchanged since 1228, is the only building in Dublin that has stared down every rebellion since the Middle Ages.

  5. 1348

    Black Death Carves Mass Graves

    Plague galleys slipped into the Liffey and emptied their dying crews onto the quays. Monks buried 14,000 corpses in trenches beyond the city walls; the neighbourhood is still called Blackpitts. Rent collapsed, wages doubled, and survivors rebuilt in stone instead of timber.

  6. 1592

    Elizabeth I Founds Trinity College

    The queen confiscated All Hallows monastery and gave the land to a new Protestant university. Trinity's first 100 students slept in cold stone cells, reciting Latin by candlelight. Four centuries later the same walls echo with Joyce's footsteps and tourists photographing the Book of Kells.

Show the full timeline (20 moments)
  1. 1667

    Jonathan Swift Born on Hoey's Court

    He arrived squalling into a city still half-ruined after Cromwell. Dublin shaped his anger: the sight of starving weavers outside St Patrick's, the stink of English indifference. The satirist who would later damn landlords as cannibals learned his craft walking these diseased alleys.

  2. 13 April 1742

    Handel Premieres Messiah in Dublin

    Neale's Musick Hall on Fishamble Street sold 700 tickets at half a crown each. The composer, nearly bankrupt, conducted wearing a borrowed wig. When the 'Hallelujah' chorus rang out, gentlemen wept and ladies forgot to fan themselves—Dublin had become, overnight, a European capital of music.

  3. 1759

    Arthur Guinness Signs 9,000-Year Lease

    The 34-year-old brewer paid £45 a year for a disused brewery at St James's Gate. Water from the Wicklow mountains, malt roasted over Irish turf, and a dark porter that travelled better than ale. The lease still has 8,735 years to run; the black stuff now ships to 150 countries.

  4. 1 January 1801

    Union Jack Replaces Irish Parliament

    The last speaker of Ireland's independent parliament bowed out at College Green; Westminster swallowed the island whole. Within a decade half the mansions on Henrietta Street were split into tenements, their silk-lined drawing rooms crammed with 14 families each. Dublin's golden age ended with a bureaucratic signature.

  5. 1847

    Great Famine Refugees Flood the City

    Starved families drifted into Dublin clutching nettle soup pots and eviction notices. The population doubled in months; typhus swept the Liberties. You can still trace the famine lines: grand Georgian houses chopped into one-room flats, their stairs worn crooked by desperate feet.

  6. 1854

    Oscar Wilde Born in Westland Row

    His mother read Shelley aloud while revolutionaries plotted downstairs. The boy who would perfect the epigram learned early that words could wound or woo. By the time he left for Oxford, Dublin had given him both a love of beauty and an instinct for rebellion.

  7. 1882

    James Joyce Arrives into a City of Stories

    He grew up above a pub in Rathgar, collecting accents like postage stamps. Every side street would later bloom in Ulysses: the cheese smell of Davy Byrne's, the sea-green eyes of a girl on Sandymount strand. Dublin became his universe because he never truly left it.

  8. 24 April 1916

    Easter Rising Seizes the GPO

    Padraig Pearse read the Proclamation of the Republic under a granite arch while shoppers gawped. Barricades of flour sacks, telegraph wires cut, the smell of cordite mixing with Liffey sewage. After a week the rebels surrendered; the British firing squads at Kilmainham turned them into martyrs and broke faith with union forever.

  9. 6 December 1922

    Free State Born in Civil War

    The treaty that ended one war started another. Michael Collins signed in London, returned to Dublin, and died in an ambush at Béal na Bláth. Artillery scarred the Four Courts; the Liffey carried spent cartridges out to sea. Independence arrived, but the city kept the bullet holes as reminders.

  10. 31 May 1941

    Nazi Bombs Hit North Strand

    Four Luftwaffe planes dropped 35 bombs on a neutral city. Thirty-four people died; 90 houses vanished. The blast stripped the leaves off Phoenix Park trees in May. Ireland's government still keeps the raid's files sealed; locals whisper about mistaken coordinates or a warning to stay quiet.

  11. 1969

    Samuel Beckett Wins Nobel, Stays in Dublin

    He accepted the prize in Stockholm then caught the next flight home to a quiet flat off the Grand Canal. The man who wrote 'I can't go on, I'll go on' drank whiskey in the same pubs he had haunted as a Trinity student, refusing to let fame move him from the city that shaped his silences.

  12. 1988

    Dublin Dubs Itself a Millennium City

    The council celebrated 'Dublin's Great in '88' with laser shows and a Viking longship burning on the Liffey. Merchants sold millennium towels dated 988–1988, ignoring that the Norse first arrived in 841. The party raged for a year; the cranes stayed for the next decade, building the foundations of a tech capital.

  13. 22 May 2015

    Rainbow Flags Win Marriage Referendum

    Dublin Castle's courtyard erupted when the result hit 62 % 'Yes'. Strangers hugged under banners reading 'Grew Up, Came Out, Got Married'. The city that once jailed Oscar Wilde became the first to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote, and the rainbow pedestrian crossings are still repainted every spring.

  14. 2020

    Pandemic Silences Temple Bar

    The stag-party soundtrack stopped overnight. Cobblestones glistened with rain instead of spilled Guinness. For the first time since 841, you could hear the Liffey's current slap against the quay walls without a guitar chord or hen-party squeal. The city learned its own breathing again.

Who lived here

  • Novelist · 1882–1941

    James Joyce

    Born here

    Joyce mapped Dublin so precisely that you can follow Leopold Bloom's footsteps today and still buy a gorgonzola sandwich at Davy Byrne's pub. He'd smirk that the city now celebrates Bloomsday with Victorian costumes and priced-up pints—exactly the parochial absurdity he loved to skewer.

  • Playwright · 1854–1900

    Oscar Wilde

    Born here

    Wilde grew up at 1 Merrion Square, where his statue now reclines on a boulder opposite his childhood home, smirking at passing tourists. The wit who skewered London society would approve of Dublin keeping his sarcasm alive—local guides still quote him while leading literary pub crawls past his favorite bars.

  • Musician · 1949–1986

    Phil Lynott

    Raised here

    The Thin Lizzy frontman learned bass lines in working-class Crumlin and filmed the 'Old Town' video on Ha'penny Bridge. His bronze on Harry Street captures him mid-stride; locals leave plectrums and beer caps in his hand, turning the statue into an unofficial shrine that he'd toast with a grin.

  • Novelist · 1847–1912

    Bram Stoker

    Born here

    Stoker spent sickly childhood days listening to Dublin ghost stories in Clontarf, later channeling them into 'Dracula.' Every October the city throws a Bram Stoker Festival—costumed vampires parade past the castle where he once worked as a civil clerk, proving Dublin loves its monsters hometown-proud.

  • Satirist · 1667–1745

    Jonathan Swift

    Died here

    As dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Swift penned 'Gulliver's Travels' in his free time and left his earnings to found Dublin's first mental hospital. He's buried beneath the cathedral floor; his self-written epitaph calls out 'savage indignation,' a warning that still feels aimed at modern bureaucracies.

  • Singer-songwriter · 1966–2023

    Sinéad O'Connor

    Born here

    She first sang on the streets of Glenageary, shaved her head when label execs wanted glamour, and turned a Prince cover into a global howl of heartbreak. Dublin still flinches at her Saturday Night Live protest, but buskers on Grafton Street cover 'Nothing Compares 2 U' every weekend, keeping her rebel vow alive.

Where to Eat

Where locals actually book dinner — not the tourist menus.

Insider tips

Small things that change how the city treats you.

  • Leap Card Hack

    Buy a TFI Leap Visitor Card at the airport and save 30% on every bus, tram, and DART ride. One tap covers the whole city for 1-7 days.

  • Skip Temple Bar

    Locals drink in Smithfield and Stoneybatter, not Temple Bar. Walk 15 minutes north to The Cobblestone for trad sessions without tourist prices.

  • Book Kilmainham Early

    Tickets for Kilmainham Gaol sell out weeks ahead. Reserve online the moment you know your travel dates or you'll miss the city's most powerful museum.

  • Taxi vs Bus Math

    Two or more people? A taxi from the airport often costs the same as the express bus and drops you at your door. Ask for the Port Tunnel route.

  • Eat in The Liberties

    Temple Bar food is overpriced and average. Head to The Liberties for better coddle, boxty, and Irish stew at half the price with locals at the next table.

  • Pack for Four Seasons

    Dublin weather flips hourly in every month. Bring a waterproof layer even in July and never trust a sunny morning forecast.

Frequently asked

Is Dublin worth visiting?

Yes, if you care about stories. Dublin hands you 1,200 years of written history you can walk in an afternoon—Viking foundations under a Norman castle beside a Georgian library where Nobel laureates once panicked over exams. Add live trad music in working pubs and coastal villages 20 minutes away by train.

How many days do I need in Dublin?

Three full days hits the sweet spot. Day one covers Trinity, the castles, and museums; day two does Guinness, Kilmainham, and a pub crawl in Smithfield; day three rides the DART to Howth's cliff walk or Dalkey for castle views and seafood. Add a fourth if you crave slower coffee mornings or side-trips to Newgrange.

What's the cheapest way from Dublin Airport to the city?

Dublin Bus 41 costs only €2.60 and runs 24/7, but takes 45 minutes. Dublin Express is €9 online, uses the Port Tunnel, and reaches Trinity College in 14 minutes. For two travelers, a €28 taxi splits to about the same price and saves another 20 minutes.

Is Dublin safe at night?

Very. Violent crime rates are low compared with similar-sized European capitals. Stick to lit streets, avoid isolated ATMs on Talbot Street after midnight, and you'll feel comfortable walking back from Temple Bar or a late session in Portobello. Standard urban awareness is plenty.

Do I need cash in Dublin?

Rarely. Cards work everywhere, even for a €3 coffee. Keep a little cash for Dublin Bus if you skip the Leap Card, weekend market stalls, and tipping rounds in traditional pubs. ATMs are free at AIB and Bank of Ireland—avoid the private ones that charge €3.

When is the best time to visit Dublin?

May–June or September. You'll get 15-18°C days, festivals like TradFest (January) or Bloomsday (June), and hotel prices that haven't hit July-August peaks. Winter is mild but dark by 4:30 pm; summer is warmest but crowded and pricier.

All Places to Visit.

155 places to discover

Croke Park
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Croke Park

National Gallery of Ireland
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National Gallery of Ireland

Abbey Theatre
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Abbey Theatre

Phoenix Park
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Phoenix Park

National Museum of Ireland
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National Museum of Ireland

St Patrick'S Cathedral
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St Patrick'S Cathedral

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin
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Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

Glasnevin Cemetery
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Glasnevin Cemetery

Dalymount Park
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Dalymount Park

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Irish Museum of Modern Art

Trinity College Dublin
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Trinity College Dublin

National Library of Ireland
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National Library of Ireland

Gate Theatre
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Gate Theatre

Merrion Square
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Merrion Square

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Dublin City Gallery the Hugh Lane

Gaiety Theatre
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Gaiety Theatre

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Ashtown Castle

James Joyce Tower and Museum
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James Joyce Tower and Museum

St Mary'S Pro-Cathedral
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St Mary'S Pro-Cathedral

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National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology

National Museum of Ireland – Natural History
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National Museum of Ireland – Natural History

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National Botanic Gardens

Dublin Writers Museum
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Dublin Writers Museum

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Ha'Penny Bridge

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Epic the Irish Emigration Museum

Samuel Beckett Bridge
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Samuel Beckett Bridge

O'Connell Bridge
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O'Connell Bridge

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Olympia Theatre

Science Gallery
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Science Gallery

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Mount Jerome Cemetery

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Museum of Literature Ireland

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National Print Museum

Douglas Hyde Gallery
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Douglas Hyde Gallery

St Audoen'S Church, Dublin
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St Audoen'S Church, Dublin

Smock Alley Theatre
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Smock Alley Theatre

Wellington Monument
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Wellington Monument

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Bord Gáis Energy Theatre

Temple Bar Gallery and Studios
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Temple Bar Gallery and Studios

National Wax Museum Plus
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National Wax Museum Plus

Number Twenty Nine: Georgian House Museum
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Number Twenty Nine: Georgian House Museum

University College Dublin
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University College Dublin

Garden of Remembrance
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Garden of Remembrance

Fitzwilliam Square
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Fitzwilliam Square

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Martello Towers in the Greater Dublin Area

Irish National War Memorial Gardens
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Irish National War Memorial Gardens

Loopline Bridge
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Loopline Bridge

Drimnagh Castle
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Drimnagh Castle

Seán Heuston Bridge
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Seán Heuston Bridge

Showing 1–48 of 155 places

Photo credits (13)
  1. Luciann Photography — Pexels License (https://www.pexels.com/license/) — Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/3566187/
  2. Alexandre Scornet — Pexels License (https://www.pexels.com/license/) — Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/33867568/
  3. Jonathan Borba — Pexels License (https://www.pexels.com/license/) — Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/33769976/
  4. Jonathan Borba — Pexels License (https://www.pexels.com/license/) — Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/33758925/
  5. Lukas Kloeppel — Pexels License (https://www.pexels.com/license/) — Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/2416654/
  6. Jonathan Borba — Pexels License (https://www.pexels.com/license/) — Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/33769979/
  7. Jonathan Borba — Pexels License (https://www.pexels.com/license/) — Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/33769988/
  8. Jonathan Borba — Pexels License (https://www.pexels.com/license/) — Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/33770011/
  9. Selim Karadayı — Pexels License (https://www.pexels.com/license/) — Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/32062125/
  10. Gary Doherty — Pexels License (https://www.pexels.com/license/) — Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/32234671/
  11. Mario Spencer — Pexels License (https://www.pexels.com/license/) — Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/19840961/
  12. Selim Karadayı — Pexels License (https://www.pexels.com/license/) — Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/26124346/
  13. Carmen Dominguez — Pexels License (https://www.pexels.com/license/) — Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/16211558/

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