Republic of Ireland · Leinster · Dublin
Temple Bar, Dublin — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Temple Bar is Dublin's designated cultural quarter, a tight grid of cobbled lanes packed with pubs, galleries and music venues on the south bank of the River Liffey. It runs from Dame Street down to the quays. Trinity College stands at its eastern end, and Dublin Castle sits close behind to the south-west. The quarter is best known for its nightlife and its cultural venues.
About Temple Bar
Where to stay in Temple Bar
Each area has its own feel; here's who each one suits.
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.
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 July 2026