Dublin Walking Tour

One of my favorite ways to explore a new place is to take a guided walking tour on our first day there. So I was really excited when Tourism Ireland hooked us up with Pat Liddy’s Walking Tours for an in-depth look at Dublin on our only full day there. Our guide, Liam Greene, lead us on a three hour odyssey around the city, filled with funny stories, local sayings & lots of Dublin history.

We met Liam at our hotel & following a leisurely stroll through St. Stephen’s Green,  set off for Merrion Square to learn about Oscar Wilde, Dublin’s historic Georgian rowhouses & a little bit of history of the city. Liam was a wealth of knowledge on Dublin’s historic home & gorgeous Georgian doors. While we couldn’t visit Oscar up close because the park was closed for the public holiday, we enjoyed learning about him & his life. Right across the street from lounging Oscar are Ireland’s government buildings, which were designed by James Hoban, the Irishman who designed the White House.

As we walked along the River Liffey, Liam told us about Dublin’s evolution as a port city, its role in the Great Famine & the history of the city during the Easter Rising. We marveled at the Stiffy by the Liffey (aka the loved/hated spire across the street from the Easter Rising post office).

Following a stop for coffee at Butler’s Chocolate Cafe (where your espresso is served with a  chocolate!),  we crossed back over to the south side on the famous Ha’Penny Bridge (originally a toll of a ha’penny was required to cross the bridge). Walking through normally packed Temple Bar was enjoyable in the morning hours & Liam pointed out his favorite bars & restaurants.

We circled up by the Christ Church Cathedral (which we later went back to tour) & ended our tour at the Dublin Castle, inside the city’s original walls & the original seat of power of Britain in Ireland.

One of my favorite things about walking tours is getting to see the city through a local’s eyes. You get their (oftentimes) biased opinions on everything under the sun & a glimpse into real Irish life. We learned about the Great Famine from Liam & the deeply felt hurt that many Irish still have toward how the British handled it. We learned about turbulent days when the IRA had everyone on edge & the economically difficult mid-2000s & how Ireland’s economy collapsed right along with the U.S.’s. & is still recovering. It was infantly more interesting learning all these things from Liam than in a museum or a book.

B & I had absolutely no preconceived notions about Dublin prior to our arrival, which could be one of the reasons we loved the city so much. We found Dublin to be compact, walkable, & historic.

Note: Our tour was provided compliments of Tourism Ireland, but was worth every single penny. Liam was awesome & I look forward to touring with him in the future when we return to Dublin!