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Dublin: An insiders’ guide to walks, activities, food, drink and hidden gems

If you want to stretch your legs, there are great walks north and south of the city

Mulligan’s of Poolbeg Street: an old Dublin establishment with plenty of charm. Photograph Nick Bradshaw/The Irish Times

Sat Aug 14 2021 - 06:00

In my more than 25 years of writing Lonely Planet’s guide to Dublin, the one constant is that Dubliners have little more than a vague familiarity with the attractions that make up the city’s tourist experience.

When was the last time you visited the National Museum or the Book of Kells? When did you last set foot in any of Dublin’s three cathedrals? Did you know that Dublin has three cathedrals?

In taking their own cultural patrimony for granted, Dubliners are no different to anyone else: Florentines can go a lifetime without ever seeing the David in person, while most visitors to the Louvre are from somewhere besides Paris.

Trinity College library. Photograph: Tony Pleavin

But now, in this hunkering moment of stunted travel, is the time to be a tourist in our own cities: To visit the world-famous Book of Kells and the stop-and-stare-in-wonder beauty of the Long Room (tcd.ie). To cast an eye on the exquisite collection at the Chester Beatty Library (chesterbeatty.ie), which includes the world's second-oldest biblical fragment, one of the best collections of illuminated Qur'ans outside the Arabic world and maybe the best assembly of Chinese jade books anywhere? And anytime is a good time to visit Marsh's Library (marshlibrary.ie), tucked in behind St Patrick's Cathedral: Ireland's oldest public library (founded in 1707) is one of the city's most beautiful open secrets and includes among its sizeable collection some incunabula – books printed before 1501.

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For something a little more macabre, the Kingship & Sacrifice exhibit at the National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology (museum.ie) on Kildare Street features four Iron Age bog bodies in varying states of decomposition – the distinctive tangle of hair and fingers with intact fingernails proof that things last a long time if they're buried in a bog. On the other side of the Liffey, the Eileen Gray and 1916 exhibits at the Decorative Arts & History branch of the museum is also worth the effort – as is the 18th-century Collins Barracks itself, once the world's largest military barracks.

The National Museum is on Kildare Street, Dublin 2.

The National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin 2.

Get your timings just right and you can visit one of the National Gallery's (museum.ie) most beautiful works of art. Frederick William Burton's Hellelil and Hildebrand, the Meeting on the Turret Stairs is only displayed for a couple of hours a week: between 11.30am-12.30pm on Thursday and between 2-3pm on Sunday.

Sunday is also when the free lunchtime concert takes place at the Hugh Lane Gallery (hughlane.ie) on Parnell Square; otherwise, it's all about the modern and contemporary art – and Francis Bacon's faithfully recreated London studio (a colourful mess that stands in contrast to his bare, minimally furnished apartment).

Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin 8. Photograph: Chris Hill

For some history with thick slices of tragedy, the tour of Kilmainham Gaol (kilmainhamgaolmuseum.ie) is highly recommended, as is a visit to 14 Henrietta Street (14henriettastreet.ie), which tells the story of a restored Georgian townhouse from its 18th-century heyday through the destitution of the early 20th, when 100 families lived here in total squalor.

Dublin is small and flat, which makes it an ideal walking city. Wandering aimlessly is always good fun, but the city has some wonderful guided walks too, not least those organised by Secret Street Tours (secretstreettours.org), where the tours are led by former rough sleepers and give participants an eye-opening perspective on the city. The more conventional Fab Food Trails (fabfoodtrails.ie) run a great 2½-hour tour that visits six independent purveyors around the city centre.

If you really want to stretch your legs, there are some great walks both north and south of the city centre. There are about 10km of trails through the forests of the Dublin mountains just beyond Ticknock: the Fairy Castle Loop is a 5.5km that takes you to the top of Three Rock Mountain, which has beautiful views of the whole county.

Sea Cliff walk at Howth in Co Dublin, a fishing and yachting port on the north side of Dublin. Photograph: Brian Morrison

The 6km loop walk around Howth Head is another eye-catching excursion. Photograph: Cahir Davitt

The 6km loop walk around Howth Head is another beaut: start at Howth Dart station and follow the green arrow along the promenade before turning up on to the cliff path. There are some longer walks that you can also do; they're marked by blue, red and purple arrow that overlap the green route.

If you've worked up a hunger, then Dublin clearly won't leave you in the lurch. Everyone has their favourite spots, but I'm a huge fan of Gráinne O'Keefe, formerly of the excellent Clanbrassil House and also of Bujo Burgers in Sandymount – for my money the best burgers in town. Her newest venture is Mae, above French Paradox in Ballsbridge, which opens August 12th.

For lunches on the run, the Pepper Pot, on the balcony of the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, bakes everything fresh every day, including the bread in their signature roast pear, Hegarty’s cheddar and free-range bacon sandwich; they’ve just opened a new bakery in the George’s Street Arcade, where you can get a freshly made pear, bacon and cheddar Danish.

Long a city favourite, the arcade won Dublin’s undying respect when at the beginning of lockdown its owners told the 42-odd stallholders that they would carry their rents until they could reopen. Hopefully this translates into even more trade, but with new additions like the delicious breakfast bun brioche from Benedict’s (from the Loose Canon folks), its success is assured.

What about a drink? Only a fool would try to pick a pub in Dublin and declare it the city's best. Because I've spent most of my adult life in the south city centre, my long-time favourite is Grogan's on Castle Market and, latterly, Fallon's on The Coombe. But this time of no tourists is perfect for rediscovering a Dublin classic, so a wander down to Mulligan's on Poolbeg Street is very much in order.