The oldest, most characterful part of the city — the medieval cathedrals, Dublin Castle, and the Guinness and whiskey distilleries, long working-class and now fast rising. Grittier and better value than the south centre, thick with history and old pubs, a 15-minute walk or short tram from the middle.
A look around
What you’ll be living next to. Swipe through.
€160–260
typical per night in Ireland
The sensible middle
Typical prices for Dublin — neither steal nor splurge.
Where it sits
The circle is The Liberties and roughly a 10-minute walk around it.
How far is everything?
From the middle of this area to the city's headline sights — pick your own on the city page and these become your list.
- Temple Bar & a trad session13 min walk1.1 km
- Grafton Street14 min walk1.2 km
- St Stephen's Green15 min walk1.3 km
- O'Connell Street & the GPO18 min walk1.5 km
- National Museum — Archaeology18 min walk1.5 km
- Trinity College & the Book of Kells19 min walk1.6 km
- The Grand Canal walk23 min walk1.9 km
- EPIC — The Irish Emigration Museum24 min walk2.0 km
On your doorstep
What you’re living next to if you stay here.
- 2.Guinness Storehouse — The seven-storey shrine to the black stuff at the heart of the vast St James's Gate brewery — the story of the pint, a lesson in pouring your own, and a rooftop Gravity Bar with a 360° view over the city, glass in hand. Dublin's most popular attraction for good reason.
- 4.Dublin Castle — Eight centuries of power on one site — a medieval tower, grand State Apartments and the seat of British rule until 1922, now used for Ireland's ceremonies. Tour the opulent rooms and the atmospheric excavated undercroft, in the medieval heart of the city.
- 5.Kilmainham Gaol — The grim, echoing 18th-century prison where the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising were held and executed — the single most moving place to understand Ireland's fight for independence. A brilliant guided tour; book well ahead, it sells out days in advance.
- 6.St Patrick's Cathedral — Ireland's largest church, founded where the saint is said to have baptised converts, and the place where Gulliver's Travels author Jonathan Swift was dean and lies buried. Soaring Gothic nave, medieval tiles and a pretty park beside it; grand and calm.
- 10.Christ Church Cathedral — The older of Dublin's two medieval cathedrals, founded by the Vikings, with a vast atmospheric crypt — the largest in Ireland — housing everything from old stocks to a mummified cat and rat. Handsome, ancient, and right in the medieval quarter.
- 13.An Irish whiskey distillery — Whiskey was born here (uisce beatha, 'water of life'), and the Liberties is distilling again — tour and taste at Teeling or the old Jameson bow-string, learning the triple-distilled Irish style. A warming, hands-on hour, and a smoother pour than you expected.
When are you staying?
Booking.com & Airbnb open searched to The Liberties; flights via Google Flights.