Republic of Ireland · Leinster · Dublin
Smithfield, Dublin — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Smithfield is a market district on the north side of Dublin, built around one of the largest cobbled squares in the city within the Dublin 7 postal area. A monthly horse fair meets on its cobbles. The quarter sits a short walk west of O'Connell Street, just north of the River Liffey. Bow Street, the old Jameson whiskey site, runs along its western edge.
About Smithfield
Where to stay in Smithfield
Not every neighbourhood fits every trip — here's what each one is good for.
A stay in Smithfield trades south-city crowds for the working, cobbled end of Dublin's north inner city, close to the centre yet off its loudest streets. The Luas tram stops on the square. From that stop the whiskey tour at the old Jameson distillery, the green of Phoenix Park, and the Dublin Zoo are a walk or one tram ride away.
Cross the Liffey and Dublin Castle, the Chester Beatty Library, and Dublinia sit in the medieval core. Rooms lean to hotels and hostels around the square, with the wider south-city holding more.
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 occupies the inner north-west of Dublin, between the River Liffey to the south and the older streets of Stoneybatter to the north. Its spine is the elongated cobbled square, with Bow Street along the west side and the city markets running east toward the Four Courts. Phoenix Park lies a short walk west.
From the square it is a ten-minute walk across the river to the medieval streets around Dublin Castle.
Good for
More areas in Dublin
Updated July 2026