header image: a detail from a map of Dublin in the year of the International Eucharistic Congress, in 1932. Picture from a private collection.
Walking Tours and Art History Tours, April through May, 2024, below..
Please note that we seldom schedule our public tours – like these below- more than 3-5 weeks in advance. So to see our public walks in June, July or August or later, please return a week or two before you travel? Or subscribe to our free newsletter email newsletter for early notification. Or book your own, exclusive, private tour, on any available date the next 18 months, using the green Book Now onscreen button, then navigating to Private tours.
The public tours listed below should be booked in advance please. You can book either by using the floating green “book now” button , then navigating to Public tours, then selecting the tour you want. Or simply by using the direct ticket links that are visible and embedded in our tour descriptions below. Remember, that on all nearly all our outdoor guided walking tours, we supply a lightweight, personal audio kit ( “a whisper set”) and that this is included in your ticket price. This is also why we ask everyone to book in advance.
Under the list of tours just below, you will find other, further useful information and FAQs, like how to subscribe to our free, monthly newsletter emails (always highly recommended) how to purchase gift cards, and how to write a review of Dublin Decoded on TripAdvisor (always highly appreciated!) But first, here are the Public Tours we currently have scheduled for you…
TUES 23 APRIL, 1.45PM. Temple Bar: 1000 layers of history and change.
Temple Bar is an deeply historic area of Dublin which dates back over a thousand years to Viking and medieval times. It was moreover the stronghold of Dublin’s merchant elite from the 1400 -1700s.
Yet incredibly, this entire beautiful district, with its banking and finance history, its old trade and industries, its old theatres and its medical school, was threatened with almost complete destruction for much of the 20 century. This unique walk around Temple Bar, from East to West, combines history in many guises, social history, theatre-history, medical history, finance and business history, to medieval and early modern history.
We will also take a look at some very interesting buildings, from the sites of an obscure vanished monastery, and an vanished early 18th century opera house, to examples of superb, award-winning contemporary architecture from the last 30 years. This tour is not to be missed.
Your meet point (outside Saint Andre’s Post Office) will also be on your confirmation email. Spots on this unique tour are priced at our slightly lower, mid-week price: Tickets here.
SATURDAY 25 MAY, 11.15AM: The Ancient and Vanished Churches of Medieval Dublin
On this fantastic tour, we meet outside the Gutter Book store, and will then exploring the central medieval core of old Dublin, discussing some of the many now-vanished, ancient parish churches – like Saint Olaves; Saint Michael’s and Saint John the Evangelist- that once dotted the area, and seeking to learn more about them. We also take in the exteriors of Dublin’s two medieval cathedrals, Christ Church and Saint Patrick’s.
In tandem with this, we we will also discuss former monasteries in the same area, like the Augustinian Priory of the Holy Trinity and others. We then move southwards, contemplating other ancient church sites, like Saint Brides’s,
St Peter’s and Saint Micheal de la Pole. We’ll even discover a hidden, brand new city square, with some fascinating history. Our tour concludes outside Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, in the grounds of the park, overlooking the cathedral. Tickets one price for everyone, €21 pp + a 6% booking fee (about €1.22 booking fee approx) A fantastic tour, not to be missed. Tickets here.
and in the second week of May 2024:
three unique walking tours of Dublin’s Historic Liberties, as below..
Presented in collaboration with Culture Date with Dublin 8 Festival:
All three tours presented and led by Arran Henderson of Dublin Decoded Tours, with tickets at half-our-normal-price, in partnership with the Culture Date with Dublin 8 Festival.
THURSDAY 9th May: at 11.15AM, a walking tour of Thomas Street, James Street and around.
Meeting and starting at one of our favourite places in Dublin- the park beside the ancient, medieval Saint Audoen’s Church- we will take a stroll along Thomas Street, then James Street, to savour and discuss over a dozen interesting buildings, an incredible new park, a former prison, and other fascinating fragments of history and architecture.
These include an old library, distilleries, churches, department stores, an ancient medieval hospital and the former home of an 18th century Quaker banking magnate. On our return leg, we will leave the Thomas Street – James Street line and wander through the historic Guinness Quarter, the largest concentration of 18th and 19th century industrial heritage in Dublin, and on this leg we will glimpse historic market buildings, discuss some remarkable 19C housing projects, and trace the outline of a once mighty, now vanished medieval monastery.
Tour presented by Dublin Decoded Tours, in partnership with Culture Date with Dublin 8 Festival. Tickets must be booked in advance and are available here.
11.15AM: FRIDAY 10th May, 11.15AM
St. Patrick’s Park to Blackpitts, Newmarket, Cork St & the Coombe: Markets, Mills & Graves.
one of our favourite Dublin Decoded tours, exploring this richly-layered history of the remarkable area of the Liberties lying to the West of Clanbrasil St. and south of Thomas St and the Coombe. We will meet you in the park out outside Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, then guide you around the history of Blackpitts, Newmarket, Meath Street and the Coombe.
During our walk, we will explore the rich industrial heritage of this neglected area of the Liberties, learn about the 18th century tanning, distilling, brewing and textile industries, and about water-powered mills from medieval monks to the present day, powered by now-unseen underground rivers.
Learn also about philanthropic housing, and historic 1600s architecture, including Dutch Billies, Alms Houses, Guild halls and Dower Houses, much of it still hidden in plain sight. Time-allowing, we will finish our tour at Meath Street near the old Meath and Coombe hospital site.
Meet-point and Key Practical Info: Meet at the Fountain in the centre of Saint Patricks Cathedral park. But please note, because we supply a “whisper set” (a little sound kit, for perfect sound) to every guest, it means all tickets must be booked in advance online, via our website. The cost of the “whisper set” is included in your ticket.
Live audio commentary comes from your guide Arran Henderson, supplied over your audio head set. Please be at the meet-point on time, for us to check off your tickets, from our manifest-list (no need for you to print tickets) and for us to give you your “whisper set”
Tour presented by Dublin Decoded Tours, in partnership with Culture Date with Dublin 8 Festival. Tickets must be booked in advance and are available here.
SATURDAY 11th May, At 11.15AM:
Medieval Walls: a walk around Dublin’s old city walls.
A roughly 2-hour walk, around the old city of Dublin’s Medieval walls, with discussion of the layered and violent history they witnessed, including war, invasions, fire, plaque and bloody rebellions. The gates of the walls controlled accress to teh city, and many of the watch-towers served as look out towers but also variously inns, as private residences, store rooms and even headquarters for Dublin’s ancient trade guilds.
This walk is fantastic way to learn many of the often unknown, yet fascinating realities of medieval Dublin, and to learn about the origins of our city.
Meet-point and Key Practical Info: meet in front of Gutter Books, Essex St/ Cow Lane but please note, because we supply a “whisper set” (a little sound kit, for perfect sound) to every guest, all tickets must be booked in advance, online, via our website. The cost of the “whisper set” is included in your ticket. Live audio commentary comes from your guide local historian Arran Henderson. Please be at the meet-point on time, for us to check off your tickets, from our manifest-list (no need for you to print tickets) and for us to give you your audio-kit.
Meet-point: outside Gutter Books, Essex St/ Cow Lane, but note all tickets must be booked in advance.
Tour presented by Dublin Decoded Tours, in partnership with Culture Date with Dublin 8 Festival. Tickets must be booked in advance and are available here.
and don’t forget again, our regular Dublin Decoded tour on..
SATURDAY 25 MAY, 11.15AM: The Ancient and Vanished Churches of Medieval Dublin
On this fantastic tour, we meet outside the Gutter Book store, and will then exploring the central medieval core of old Dublin, discussing some of the many now-vanished, ancient parish churches – like Saint Olaves; Saint Michael’s and Saint John the Evangelist- that once dotted the area, and seeking to learn more about them. We also take in the exteriors of Dublin’s two medieval cathedrals, Christ Church and Saint Patrick’s.
In tandem with this, we we will also discuss former monasteries in the same area, like the Augustinian Priory of the Holy Trinity and others. We then move southwards, contemplating other ancient church sites, like Saint Brides’s,
St Peter’s and Saint Micheal de la Pole. We’ll even discover a hidden, brand new city square, with some fascinating history. Our tour concludes outside Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, in the grounds of the park, overlooking the cathedral. Tickets one price for everyone, €21 pp + a 6% booking fee (about €1.22 booking fee approx) A fantastic tour, not to be missed. Tickets here.
—-
Visiting later in the year?
Please note that we seldom schedule our public tours – like these above- more than 3-5 weeks in advance. So to see our public walks later than the ones listed above, please return just a week or three before you travel? And/Or subscribe to our free newsletter email newsletter, for early notification. (You’ll learn as soon as our next set set of new tours are scheduled) Or simply book your own, exclusive, private tour, on any available date for the next 18 months, using the green Book Now onscreen button, then navigating to Private tours.
To sign up for our free monthly newsletter emails,
Just press the link below and fill out the 3 fields. Then don’t forget to confirm the confirmation email, when that arrives a few minutes, in order to complete and activate your subscription. Here is the link to sign up. https://dublindecoded.us9.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=bc2ddce05e19404d881e3955f&id=ab52e8540b
Looking to buy a gift for family or friends?
Dublin Decoded Gift Cards
Our gift cards are far more attractive and usable these days. They even look great! They can be used or redeemed against any Dublin Decoded walk, talk or event, public or private. To purchase a gift card, for any amount, hit the Green onscreen button, select the Gift Card option, then name your recipient and simply chose your amount. Our gift cards do not carry a time limit. (We don’t approve of people who do this!) So long as we are giving talks or leading tours, we will always honour credit bought from Dublin Decoded tours.
or…
Buy a friend or family member a Private walking tour
Private walking tours (exclusively for you and /or your own private / family / college or corporate group) are available anytime, year-round, on flexible (available) dates. You can check all the private tour options, prices, and even our availability without any obligation by hitting the Green “Book Now” button, then select Private tours, then select your date and numbers on the “Private Tour” option. (Add your group size, to see price, without any obligation) Buying a Private tour is not the same as buying a gift card, it is a tour that’s already booked, locked and loaded! But if you know your date and numbers it’s a great gift as it means you’ve already done all the work yourself and it can feel even more “real”. (We will be flexible on requested changed dates, subject to sufficient notice please)
To write a review of Dublin Decoded on TripAdvisor, please go here.
To write a review of Dublin Decoded on TripAdvisor, please go here.
https://www.tripadvisor.ie/UserReviewEdit-g186605-d5975699-Dublin_Decoded-Dublin_County_Dublin.html
About your speaker and guide.
The great majority of Dublin Decoded tours (all of them, unless otherwise stated) are led by founder and owner Arran Henderson.
Arran is from Dublin and graduated in Art and Architectural History from Oxford Brooks in 1991. He then lived first in Barcelona, then in Rome, through the early to mid-1990s, traveling widely in Spain and Italy, looking at, reading on and often drawing, ancient, renaissance and baroque buildings, sculptures and paintings.
After 8 1/2 years abroad, Arran returned to Dublin in late 1996 to complete a second BA Hons degree in Fine Art at Ireland’s National College of At and Design, Dublin, graduating in 2000. He subsequently worked as an artits, exhibiting in group shows at the Royal Hibernian Academy and elsewhere, as a trainee- or assistant production designer or production assistant in the Irish film and TV industry, and variously also as an Art Critic, teacher, Art History tutor, and occasional newspaper columnist, writing on buildings, art, history and heritage issues (for example in the prestigious Irish Arts Review, and several other publications). His most notable writings from this period were perhaps Arran’s well-known monthly column Hidden Dublin. which appeared in “Totally Dublin” magazine during the early to mid- 2000s.
Arran/Dublin Decoded has featured on radio and in many newspapers, both nationally within Ireland, and internationally, including the Journal (Dublin); the Dublin Inquirer; the Wall Street Journal (link here); the Financial Times the Irish Independent, and (very recently) in the Irish Times (here) and again in March 2024.
He has also consulted on historic films and has appeared on radio (Liveline on RTE radio) and on PBS television in the United States (on the travel series Ireland with Michael on PBS) and will soon appear on Irish television, speaking about Grafton Street, on RTE’s Nationwide
Most crucially, Arran and Dublin Decoded believe that culture, art and ideas are for everyone. We take a particular pride in making ideas in art, history and architecture interesting, fun and accessible, without sacrificing rigour, accuracy or quality.
Dublin Decoded (Arran) has designed and led the Dublin city walking tours for the Irish Georgian Society since 2016, and the Little Museum of Dublin since 2022 and has also led walks on behalf of the Royal Hibernian Academy, Trinity College School of Medicine; the Liverpool School of Architecture, Oxford Brooks School of the Built Environment, Furman University of South Carolina and many other universities and major cultural institutions. This is in addition to multiple private tours and to bespoke events for major firms in law, tech and business.
End.
image below: guests on a “Medieval Walls” walk and on various other tours, and including our NGI art tours and Portobello tour and more.
