Walking Routes
Parnell Square to Stephens Green
The Route:
Starting at the Parnell Monument, head south down O'Connell Street to the river and cross O'Connell Bridge. Take the right fork in front of you and walk down Westmoreland Street, crossing College Green in front of the Bank of Ireland to the railings of Trinity College. Follow around the front of the College, with the railings on your left, into Grafton Street, Dublin's main pedestrian shopping street, and walk down it to the Green.
Distance: about 1.5 miles (2 km)
Look out for:
- The Rotunda Hospital. Said to be the oldest lying-in (maternity) hospital in Europe.
- The site of the Carlton Cinema. Closed. For some years now, it is one of the locations being proposed as the new site for The Abbey Theatre (the National Theatre).
- The Gresham
- The GPO, the central scene in the Easter Rising of 1916
- The Spire
- Clery's department store
- The statues of Parnell, Grattan, Larkin and Thomas Moore, as well as those in front of Trinity.
- Fox's and Kapp & Peterson's
- Brown Thomas
- The first Bewley's café on Westmoreland Street and the more famous one on Grafton Street
- Captain America's - the first American-style restaurant in Dublin, Chris De Burgh used to play there.
- The Boer Arch at Stephens Green
Temple Bar
The Route:
Walking east to west this time, start at the Westin Hotel or at the Irish Times offices on D'Olier Street and head down Fleet Street into Temple Bar. Follow the main route, but be prepared to divert off it, until you come to the Clarence and Parliament Street. Cross Parliament St and, passing by Isolde's Tower, keep on until you come to the Civic Offices at Wood Quay. From here you can turn back or continue on to admire the old city gate at the back of St Audeon's church on Cook Street.
Distance: about a mile (1.6 km)
Look out for:
- The Palace Bar
- The Bad Ass Café
- The people
- The buskers
- The architecture
- The general buzz, particularly in the summer
- The Project Arts Centre
- The Clarence and the old Dolphin Hotel opposite (now a courthouse)
- Meeting House Square, particularly on a Saturday when the market is on
- Isolde's Tower - turn right just after the pub to see to base of the real tower
- The Civic Offices
The River Liffey
The Route:
You can walk from Smithfield to the IFSC or, as myself and my son did one fine summer's day, go even further and walk through the docks to the ferry. Going the other way, extend your walk to Heuston Station and the Phoenix Park. Follow the north bank of the river, so you can use the boardwalk (and the sun) most of the way.
Distance: anything up to 6 or 7 miles (10 km)
Look out for: Lots, including
- Guinness' Brewery and the Onion Tower
- The IFSC itself (come off the riverside here)
- The boats and the bridges and the boardwalk
- The Clarence Hotel (old) and The Morrison (new)
- The Civic Offices
- The House on Usher's Quay which was the setting for James Joyce's "The Dead"
- Adam and Eve Church
- Christchurch
- The Croppy Acre
- The National Museum at Collins Barracks.
