Dublin
Dublin/History

25 Historic Landmarks in Dublin

25 landmarks with verified facts and stories

Book of Kells
~4 min

Book of Kells

College Green, Mansion House A, Dublin 2, D02 PN40, Ireland

iconicartculture

This is an 800-year-old manuscript that monks almost certainly got murdered over.

Christ Church Cathedral
~4 min

Christ Church Cathedral

Christchurch Place, Wood Quay A, Dublin 8, Ireland

iconicarchitecturemedieval

A Viking king built the original version of this cathedral in 1030, which tells you just how long Dublin has been arguing about religion.

Dublin Castle
~4 min

Dublin Castle

Dame Street, Royal Exchange A, Dublin 2, Ireland

iconicarchitecturepolitics

For over 700 years, this was the seat of British power in Ireland, and almost nobody in Ireland wanted it to be.

Dublinia
~3 min

Dublinia

St Michael's Hill, Christchurch, Dublin 8

museummedievalculture

If you want to know what Dublin smelled like in 1050, this is the place.

EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum
~4 min

EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum

Custom House Quay, Dublin 1, Ireland

museumcultureheritage

Ten million people left Ireland between 1800 and 1930 — more than the island's current population — and this museum tells their story with a level of technological sophistication that earned it Europe's Leading Tourist Attraction three years running.

Fishamble Street
~3 min

Fishamble Street

Fishamble Street, Wood Quay A, Dublin 8, Ireland

musicancienthidden-gem

This narrow, unassuming street in the shadow of Christ Church Cathedral is the oldest street in Dublin — and the place where Handel's Messiah was first performed.

Four Courts
~3 min

Four Courts

Inns Quay, Inns Quay C, Dublin 7, Ireland

architectureneoclassicalpolitics

The Four Courts is where Irish law has been argued and decided for over two centuries, and it's also where a thousand years of Irish records went up in smoke during a single catastrophic afternoon.

Garden of Remembrance
~3 min

Garden of Remembrance

Parnell Square East, Rotunda B, Dublin 1, Ireland

memorialpoliticsart

This quiet memorial garden at the north end of Parnell Square is dedicated to everyone who died in the cause of Irish freedom, and the ground it sits on has earned that dedication several times over.

General Post Office (GPO)
~4 min

General Post Office (GPO)

O'Connell Street Lower, North City, Dublin 1, Ireland

iconicpoliticsarchitecture

This is where modern Ireland was born.

Glasnevin Cemetery
~4 min

Glasnevin Cemetery

Finglas Road, Botanic A, Dublin 9, Ireland

dark-historycemeterymemorial

Ireland's national cemetery began as an act of defiance.

Guinness Storehouse
~5 min

Guinness Storehouse

Saint James's Gate, Dublin 8, Ireland

iconicfoodculture

Arthur Guinness was either supremely confident or completely insane when he signed the lease on this brewery in 1759.

Ha'Penny Bridge
~3 min

Ha'Penny Bridge

Bachelors Walk, North City, Dublin 1, Ireland

iconicarchitecturebridge

Before this bridge existed, William Walsh operated seven ferries across the Liffey at this spot, and they were falling apart.

Kilmainham Gaol
~5 min

Kilmainham Gaol

Inchicore Road, Kilmainham B, Dublin 8, Ireland

iconicdark-historypolitics

Every major chapter of Ireland's fight for independence played out behind these walls.

Little Museum of Dublin
~3 min

Little Museum of Dublin

15 St Stephen's Green, Mansion House B, Dublin 2, D02 Y066, Ireland

museumculturehidden-gem

Everything in this museum was donated by Dubliners, which makes it both a history museum and a love letter from a city to itself.

Marsh's Library
~3 min

Marsh's Library

St Patrick's Close, Wood Quay A, Dublin 8, Ireland

hidden-gemliteraryarchitecture

When Archbishop Narcissus Marsh told his friends he planned to build a public library in Dublin in 1701, they told him he was mad — neither Oxford nor London had one.

National Museum of Ireland - Archaeology
~4 min

National Museum of Ireland - Archaeology

Kildare Street, Dublin 2

museumancientarchaeology

This museum contains the finest collection of Celtic gold in the world, and it won't cost you a cent to see it.

O'Connell Bridge
~2 min

O'Connell Bridge

O'Connell Bridge, Dublin 2

iconicbridgearchitecture

O'Connell Bridge holds a peculiar distinction: it's the only traffic bridge in Europe that is almost exactly as wide as it is long.

O'Connell Street & The Spire
~4 min

O'Connell Street & The Spire

O'Connell Street, Dublin 1

iconicarchitecturepolitics

Dublin's main boulevard has been bombed, shelled, burned, and rebuilt so many times it's practically a phoenix in street form.

Phoenix Park
~4 min

Phoenix Park

Phoenix Park, Dublin 8

iconicnaturepark

At 707 hectares, Phoenix Park is the largest enclosed urban park in Europe — more than twice the size of New York's Central Park.

St Patrick's Cathedral
~4 min

St Patrick's Cathedral

St Patrick's Close, Dublin 8

iconicarchitecturegothic

Ireland's largest church stands on the spot where, legend has it, Saint Patrick himself baptised converts in a well around 450 AD.

St Stephen's Green
~3 min

St Stephen's Green

St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2

iconicparknature

This elegant 22-acre park at the top of Grafton Street has had more reinventions than a pop star.

The Brazen Head
~3 min

The Brazen Head

20 Lower Bridge Street, Dublin 8

barfoodmusic

Dublin's oldest pub has been pouring pints since 1198, which means people have been getting drunk on this exact spot for over 800 years.

The Custom House
~3 min

The Custom House

Custom House Quay, Dublin 1

architectureneoclassicalpolitics

James Gandon's neoclassical masterpiece took ten years to build and about ten hours to burn.

Trinity College
~5 min

Trinity College

College Green, Dublin 2

iconicarchitectureliterary

Queen Elizabeth I founded this university in 1592 on the grounds of a confiscated Augustinian monastery, and for the next two hundred years it existed solely to educate Protestant gentlemen.

Whitefriar Street Church
~3 min

Whitefriar Street Church

Aungier Street, Dublin 2

hidden-gemreligionromance

Dublin is the last place you'd expect to find the remains of St.

Explore history in Dublin

GPS-guided narration at every landmark. Tap a spot on the map, hear the story. Every fact verified.