Republic of Ireland · Leinster · Dublin
Temple Bar, Dublin — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Temple Bar is Dublin's cultural quarter, cobbled lanes of pubs, galleries and music on the River Liffey, from Dame Street to the quays by Trinity College.
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Where to stay in Temple Bar
Where the beds are, and what that means for the visit.
Staying in Temple Bar puts a visitor in the middle of Dublin's nightlife, within a few minutes' walk of most of the city centre. The trade-off is noise. Pubs and clubs run late along its lanes, so light sleepers often prefer quieter streets across the river.
For sightseeing it is hard to beat, with Dublin Castle, Trinity College and the National Gallery of Ireland all a short walk away. Rooms lean toward hotels and short-stay lets rather than budget beds.
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 Temple Bar
What are the main landmarks in Temple Bar?
Dublin Castle and the Chester Beatty Library sit against the quarter's south-western edge, the library's manuscript collection held inside the castle gardens. Dublinia lies just to the west. A short walk east, past Trinity College, the National Library of Ireland, the National Gallery of Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland stand close together.
Across the Liffey, the Spire of Dublin rises over O'Connell Street, and downriver the EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum fills the old dock vaults.
What is the history of Temple Bar?
The name comes from the Temple family, whose seventeenth-century property beside Dublin Castle ran down to the River Liffey. Much of the ground was reclaimed from the tidal river, and the narrow street plan laid out then still survives. Trades and printers filled it for centuries.
In the 1980s the state transport company assembled much of the area to build a central bus station, letting the emptying premises cheaply to artists and galleries in the meantime. When the bus plan was dropped, the government named the quarter Dublin's cultural centre and funded its rebuilding around new public squares.
Where is Temple Bar?
The quarter occupies a wedge of reclaimed ground between the River Liffey to the north and Dame Street to the south. Its lanes are narrow and cobbled. At the western edge it reaches Parliament Street and the gates of Dublin Castle; on the east it runs up to Westmoreland Street beside Trinity College.
The Ha'penny Bridge crosses the Liffey at its north-eastern corner, linking it to the north quays.
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Updated October 2026