Republic of Ireland · Leinster · Dublin
Smithfield, Dublin — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Smithfield is a market district on Dublin's north side, west of O'Connell Street and north of the River Liffey. Bow Street runs along its eastern edge.
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Where to stay in Smithfield
How the choice of base plays out on the ground.
Several hotels stand on Smithfield Square itself. The largest is the three-star Maldron Hotel Smithfield, with 92 rooms; the Generator, from a European accommodation chain, is beside the Jameson Distillery on Bow Street, and The Hendrick opened in 2019. All three have their own bars and restaurants.
The Smithfield Luas stop is on the Red Line, which skirts the square to the south, with trams to the city centre and out to Tallaght and Saggart.
Things to do in and around Dublin
Ranked by global recognition; descriptions from Wikidata (CC0).
Museums & Galleries
3- Guinness Storehouse
- National Gallery of Ireland
- Chester Beatty Library
Churches & Religious Sites
3- Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church
- John's Lane Church
- Saint Francis Xavier Church
Castles & Historic Sites
3- Spire of Dublin
- Dublin Castle
- Anna Livia
worth knowingacross 3 categories in and around Dublin
About Smithfield
What are the main landmarks in Smithfield?
Smithfield's pull is whiskey and open cobbles. West toward Phoenix Park lie the Dublin Zoo, Kilmainham Gaol, and the Irish Museum of Modern Art, with the Guinness Storehouse across the river at St James's Gate. A short walk south across the Liffey brings Dublin Castle, the Chester Beatty Library, and Dublinia in the medieval quarter.
Deeper south stand the National Museum of Ireland, the National Gallery of Ireland, and the National Library of Ireland. East along the north bank, the Spire of Dublin marks O'Connell Street near the Hugh Lane Gallery and the Dublin Writers Museum.
What is the history of Smithfield?
Smithfield was laid out in the seventeenth century as an open market square on the north bank of the Liffey. For generations it held Dublin's cattle and hay markets, and a monthly horse fair grew into a north-city institution. In 1780 John Jameson set up a whiskey distillery on Bow Street that would work the district for close to two hundred years.
Then the stills fell silent. A late-twentieth-century regeneration paved the plaza anew and turned the old Jameson buildings into a whiskey visitor centre.
Where is Smithfield?
Smithfield lies on the Northside of Dublin, roughly bounded by the River Liffey to the south, Bow Street to the east, Queen Street to the west and North Brunswick Street to the north. Its focal point is Smithfield Plaza.
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Updated October 2026