Budget · 3-hour walk · Dublin
The Liberties and Kilmainham in three hours
The oldest cathedral, the brewery quarter and the gaol where the 1916 leaders were shot.
The six-hour route loops the centre. This one goes west into the Liberties, which lay outside the medieval walls and outside the city's jurisdiction, which is how it ended up with the distilleries and the brewery. It ends at Kilmainham, and the gaol is the single most important building in modern Irish history. Book it before you leave home — it sells out weeks ahead.
The route, stop by stop
-
St Patrick's Cathedral
The largest church in Ireland, built on the well where Patrick is said to have baptised converts. Jonathan Swift was dean here for thirty-two years and is buried in the nave.
35 min here Walk here → -
Marsh's Library
Opened in 1707 and essentially unchanged — dark oak stalls, chained books and wire cages readers were locked into with the rare volumes. Tiny and almost always empty.
25 min here Walk here → -
Guinness Storehouse
A seven-storey pint glass of a building in the middle of a working brewery. Frankly a branded experience rather than a museum, but the Gravity Bar at the top is a genuine 360 of the city.
30 min here Walk here → -
Kilmainham Gaol
Opened 1796, closed 1924, and the place the leaders of the Easter Rising were executed in the stonebreakers' yard. Guided tour only, booked well ahead, and worth rearranging a day for.
50 min here Walk here →
More in Dublin
Every walking route in Dublin, or the full Dublin guide for where to stay and what a day costs.