header image: a detail from the 1848 image of Dublin published with the London Illustrated News, with later hand coloring. Picture from a private collection.
Public Walking Tours and Art Tours: September through October 2023.
Please see our schedule of history, art and architecture walking tours for late September through October below.
If you are serious about attending Dublin Decoded walking tours, then we always, always recommend signing up to our free newsletters. For instructions how to do that, see further below.
Finally, please remember: this is only the page for Public tours, with limited date options. 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, simply by hitting the Green “Book Now” button, then selecting your date on the “Private Tour” option.
For public tours, however, on fixed dates, please see our schedule now below.
EVENTS
Monday 9 October (and again, Wednesday 25 Oct)
a new tour: Thomas St, James St & the changing Guinness Quarter
(both tours meet 11.15AM)
Starting outside one of our favourite places in Dublin- the ancient, much storied Saint Audoen’s Church- we will take a stroll along Thomas Street, then James Street, savouring along the way dozens of interesting buildings, fragments of history and architectural details.
These include an old library, distilleries, churches, department stores, a medieval hospital, and the former home of an 18th century, Quaker banking magnate.
Later, on our return leg, we will then leave the Thomas Street – James Street line and wander instead through the historic Guinness Quarter, Dublin’s largest concentration of 18th and 19th century industrial heritage, and now the future site of the biggest combination of new living, recreation and office space ever to be developed in Dublin.
Towards the end of our tour, we will also glimpse several historic market buildings, and trace the outline of a once mighty, now vanished medieval monastery.
Tickets – for both dates- available here.
Wednesday 18th October.
the Wide Streets Commissioners around College Green, Westmoreland and d’Olier Streets; plus Dublin’s old Parliament buildings & the Irish House of Lords.
Tour Starting 10.30AM sharp. Meeting at 10.15AM
This walk discusses the evolution of Dublin from the mid-1600s and the 1700s, including the achievements of the famed (and feared) Wide Streets Commissioners (the WSC).
Our tour savours details and rarely-noticed survivors of the WSC era on Dame St, College Green, and on nearby Westmoreland, College and D’Olier Streets. It then climaxes with a tour within the stunning old Irish Parliament complex , including Pearce’s shimmering, miniature masterpiece at the heart of the building, the former Irish House of Lords, with its early 1700s tapestries and its stunning, classically-inspired architecture.
Tour Starting 10.30AM sharp. Meeting at 10.15AM. (Meet point on your ticket confirmation email) Tickets here.
Monday 23 October:
a new tour: O’Connell Street, architectural glories, hidden details, and its past, present and potential futures.
Starting 11.30AM sharp. Meet 11.15AM
Ignore everything negative may have heard about O’Connell Street. Look up, lift your eyes and let me guide you through the history, architecture and design history of this remarkable sequence of buildings, history and monuments.
We will discover a world of beautiful, classically-inspired architecture, of miniature temples, adorning the tops of historic bank buildings, of Hamman buildings, and of treasures like a Greek Revival cathedral, like old cinemas and dance-halls, and various inscrutable Egyptian sphinx on the stone-carved façade of an Art Deco hotel. We will also consider how the street came to be; how it evolved, was destroyed, and was gloriously rebuilt again. We’ll also consider the possibilities for renewal and rebirth, and the current situation with the Carton cinema site and Cleary’s Department store. Tickets here.
Wednesday 25 OCT
second chance to do our new Thomas St, James St & Guinness Quarter Tour
(meeting 11.15AM, outside St Audoen’s C.o.I (park)
a second date, and a second chance to do our brilliant new Thomas St, James St & Guinness Quarter Tour. Take a stroll with us along Thomas Street, then James Street, savouring dozens of interesting buildings, fragments of history and architectural details, include an old library, distilleries, churches, department stores, a medieval hospital, and the former home of an 18th century, Quaker banking magnate.
Later, on our return leg, we will then leave the Thomas Street – James Street line and wander instead through the historic Guinness Quarter.
Tickets – for both dates (Monday 09 Oct and Wednesday 25 October) available here.
image below: St Marys Abbey and Saint Saviour’s Priory by river Liffey in medieval Dublin. Strictly copyright, & courtesy of the artists, Mr. Stephen Conlin
General tips on finding and enjoying Dublin Decoded tours and other events.
Dublin Decoded only host and schedule about 2- 5 events each month! Sometimes even fewer. We also only schedule about 2-4 weeks in advance. So it’s easy to miss on on tours and other events. To get early notification on Dublin’s best Art, Architecture and History talks, tours and events, we always recommend interested people join the online mailing list, for our free newsletter email. We typically only send about 8-10 emails per year, and only when we have real news and new events to share. Many of the events sell out quickly, and you will not want to miss them, so it makes sense to sign-up.
If you’d like to sign-up (to subscribe) to the newsletter, you may do so here.
Finally, don’t forget it’s also possible to book private tours on flexible dates for your own group, for your own special occasion. To do that, or even just to peruse tour options, see prices and available dates, just hit the green “Book Now” button on-screen, then select “Private Tours” from the menu there.
We look forward to seeing you sometime on tour.
Arran Henderson | Dublin Decoded
images below: Urban Oasis, (Ranelagh Road) a recent charcoal drawing by Gerard Byrne. Lower images, further of guests on a “Medieval Walls” walk and on various other tours, and including our Portobello tour and our private Art Tours!
Recently completed events, see below.
Many of these tours sold out but will will be coming again soon….
No dates are currently scheduled however: so please subscribe to the free monthly newsletter, to avoid missing them (when they do happen again)
4PM: Wednesday 23 August: an afternoon and early evening city walk to Saint Saviour’s Dominican Church and Priory, with a short tour of the Priory and Cloister, followed by vespers in the Church from 6- 6.15pm.
Again we met outside Gutter Bookshop, again the focus was on monasteries. But this time we will venture slightly further north and east on our route, and we will end our tour, not at Saint Mary’s Chapter House, but at a living breathing monastic community, at the Dominican Priory of the Saint Saviours, located between Dominican Street and Dorset Street. On the way to this present day priory, we will consider many aspects of the historic city-scape, including old churches and monasteries, and the redevelopment during the 1600s of the former, extensive Saint Marys’ lands by 17th century developer Humphrey Jervis, and his successors. As part of that discussion we will look at sites like Capel Street, Saint Mary’s church, Wolfe Tone Square, a small part of Henry Street, Ryder’s Row and Dominick Street.
Once at the priory we will be treated to a tour of some of the rooms and corridors and the beautiful, three-sided cloister, by a resident, the Dominican friar and historian, Father Conor McDonough O.P. who will also speak to us on the almost 800-year history of the Dominicans in Ireland. We will finish our tour by filing into in the large church of Saint Saviours at 6PM, to listen to the whole community of friars singing Vespers . Vespers concludes at 6.15, when we shall conclude our tour just outside the church. Please note this is not a loop walk, meaning we do not return to our start point. We will be using audio equipment for this tour. Only one date currently planned: Wed 23rd August, starting 4PM, ending approximately 6.15PM.
Tickets €23.50 plus booking fee. Your ticket price includes audio equipment for better sound on the tour, and also includes a small donation to the Dominican community of around €150, which I will make on all our behalf. (Guests are of course, entirely welcome to make additional, personal donations) This tour is past: Remaining tickets to any future dates of this tour may possiibly be found here.
Saturday 04th September: Exploring Dublin’s ancient churches and monasteries; and the Chapter House of Saint Mary’s Abbey.
The only substantial part of the legendary Abbey of Saint Mary’s to have survived into the present day is the Chapter House. This miraculous survivor however, has been closed for the last 8 years, as important conservation work was carried out. This work is now complete. The OPW accordingly are now opening Mary’s Abbey Chapter House for a few limited days each month. They have also kindly agreed to open the building up especially to our Dublin Decoded groups, on three dates where they will provide us with a tour and brief talk on the Abbey. For conservation reasons, there’s a strict limit to the numbers (14 max) on each OPW tour. Our tour seeks to place the ancient abbey of Saint Mary’s into the wider context of churches and religious houses around central Dublin during the medieval era, prior to the Reformation, so we will spend an hour exploring the central medieval core of old Dublin, discussing some of the many now-vanished, ancient parish churches (like Saint Olaves; Saint Michael’s or Saint John the Evangelist) that once dotted the area, and seeking to learn more about them. In tamdem we we will discuss former monasteries in the same area, like the Augustinian Priory of the Holy Trinity, the Dominican Priory of Saint Saviour, and, eventually of course, once we cross the river Liffey, the once mighty Cistercian abbey of Saint Mary’s Abbey, for our visit there, with the OPW.
Tuesday 20 JUNE, 8PM: a free, evening-time slide Talk. the history and architecture of Rathmines.
Doors 7.45 PM (19.45) Talk 8PM sharp.
This is the last in our series of 4 live, in-person History Slide talks: These free, evening time slide-talks take place in Portobello, Dublin 8, in the Community Hall behind the (former) Church of Ireland of Saint Kevin’s, Bloomfield Road, Dublin 8. The speaker is Arran Henderson. In the tradition of all Dublin Decoded events, they will cover a mix of architecture and history and will be lavishly-illustrated. This final talk covers the history and rich architectural heritage of Rathmines. No tickets or booking required. This is a FREE talk and Seats are first come/ first served.
These talks are held with the support of Portobello Tidy Towns and their kind Committee. Dublin Decoded also wish to acknowledge the sponsorship of Dublin City Council (DCC).
Saint Stephen’s Green and the Secret Interiors of Newman house: (No current dates scheduled)
a tour around all of Stephen’s Green and into the rarely seen secret 18th century interiors of Newman house.
The WSC, old Parliament and the Irish House of Lords: the evolution of Dublin from the mid-1600s and into the 1700s: (No current dates scheduled)
including the achievements of the famed (and feared) Wide Streets Commissioners (WSC) and works by legendary Georgian architects like Edward Lovett Pearce and James Gandon. Details, and rarely-noticed survivors of the WSC era on Andrew’s Street, Dame St, College Green, and nearby D’Olier Street, then the climax of our a tour is a private visit within the stunning old Irish Parliament complex, including James Gandon’s Rotunda, and Pearce’s shimmering, miniature masterpiece at the heart of the building, the former Irish House of Lords.
Drama and Politics in Dublin’s Medieval Core. (No current dates scheduled)
Everybody thinks about Dublin Literature as being Shaw, Wilde, Joyce, O’Casey. But what about writers who lived and worked in the old historic core, from Johnathan Swift and Lady Sydney Morgan, to James Clarence Mangan? And what of Irish Drama and the Irish stage in the centuries before the Abbey National Theatre? This superb walking tour explores theatre, literature, music and performance as well as themes as diverse as Bookselling and printing on Castle Street; drama and fatal politics at the Werburgh and Smock Alley Theatres; the old Music Hall and much, much more. Our route includes Smock Alley, Dublin Castle, Castle Street, Fishamble and Werburgh Street, Smock Alley and around. An eye-opening journey, around Dublin’s medieval core.
Irish Painting 1670- 1850: & its European influences. (No current dates scheduled)
An art tour of Irish Art, from before the Battle of the Boyne through the 18th and 19th centuries- with genres including History Painting, Irish Landscape and Portraits. Learn also how ideas from England, France and Italy influenced Irish art in this era, and towards the end of our tour, the influence of the Grand Tour tradition in particular, when we’ll view and discuss “vedute” works bought and brought back here to Ireland, by Grand Tourists, purchased from artists like Canaletto in Venice, and Panini in Rome.
Saturday 5th August 11.30AM – 1.30PM: a Walking Tour of Dublin’s Medieval Walls (2 hours)
explores the remaining fragments of the old city walls, gates and watchtowers, and the dramatic, often violent events they witnessed over their over-700-hundred year presence. A very special tour. A 2-hour loop around the old city of Dublin’s medieval walls, walking with our maps in hand, this is almost like a treasure hunt, as we use the maps to help identify the locations of the former gates and watch towers that once lined the medieval walls. We’ll also explore and discuss the layered, often violent history those walls witnessed through the Middle Ages, including war, invasion, fire, plaque and bloody rebellion. We’ll discuss Viking History, the Normans, vanished churches, priories, chapels and medieval guildhalls. A fantastic way to learn about the often-forgotten, yet fascinating realities of medieval Dublin and learn about the origins of our city. Tickets here.
Thursday 10th August 6- 8PM: an evening Art tour at the National Gallery of Ireland:
How to Read a Painting: – convention, meaning and symbolism in Renaissance and European old master paintings.
The acclaimed “How to Read a Painting” workshop: our gentle, accessible, and highly enjoyable introduction to Art History. Learn about artistic conventions, the creation of meaning and the use of religious and mythological symbols and symbolism in Renaissance and European painting. As examples- to illustrate our learning points- we’ll view and discuss over a dozen paintings from the NGI’s wonderful collections, various stunning artworks by masters like Fra Angelico, Perugino, Titian and Andrea Mantegna. If you love old artworks, and would like to start to think more like an art historian, you will find this tour a revelation. Tickets here.
Exploring Dublin’s ancient churches and monasteries; and the Chapter House of Saint Mary’s Abbey.
The only substantial part of the legendary Abbey of Saint Mary’s to have survived into the present day is the Chapter House. This miraculous survivor however, has been closed for the last 8 years, as important conservation work was carried out. This work is now complete. The OPW accordingly are now opening Mary’s Abbey Chapter House for a few limited days each month. They have also kindly agreed to open the building up especially to our Dublin Decoded groups, on three dates where they will provide us with a tour and brief talk on the Abbey. For conservation reasons, there’s a strict limit to the numbers (14 max) on each OPW tour. (So this will also be the limit of Dublin Decoded guests on each of our three tour dates). Our tour seeks to place the ancient abbey of Saint Mary’s into the wider context of churches and religious houses around central Dublin during the medieval era, prior to the Reformation, before we enter the Chapter House itself
On each tour, we will meet outside the Gutter Book store, and will spend an hour exploring the central medieval core of old Dublin, discussing some of the many now-vanished, ancient parish churches (like Saint Olaves; Saint Michael’s or Saint John the Evangelist) that once dotted the area, and seeking to learn more about them. In tamdem we we will discuss former monasteries in the same area, like the Augustinian Priory of the Holy Trinity, the Dominican Priory of Saint Saviour, and, eventually of course, once we cross the river Liffey, the once mighty Cistercian abbey of Saint Mary’s Abbey. Once there, for the last 35 minutes or so of our tour, we will put ourselves in the hands of the OPW and their excellent, highly capable guide, as we spend 30-40 minutes inside the wonderful Chapter House, a miraculous survivor, from a vanished, medieval age.
Our tour concludes after the OPW Tour, outside the Chapter House, on Mary’s Abbey St (just off Capel St) Strict maximum of 14 people on each tour, so please note, we will not be using our usual audio equipment on these 3 tours. Tour length overall is 1 hour 45 minutes approximately and the final 35 minutes of this spent inside the Chapter House, with the OPW. N.B. The OPW have asked me to emphasize that, unfortunately, there is no wheelchair or disabled access available at present.
Saturday 16 September 11.15AM: Merchants and Magnates.
an exploration of Dublin’s beautiful South Retail Core, everything just west of Grafton Street, including sections of Great South George’s Street, Stephen’s Street, Sussex Street, and Drury, Clarendon and South William Streets. This tour features an amazing mix of everything from 1600s planning, via fabulous 18th century Georgian buildings, Art Deco and Art Nouveau shopfronts, mighty Victorian market-buildings, to a hidden, modernist eco-hotel!
Set in the prettiest, most attractive part of Dublin, this is the perfect tour for architecture and design- history lovers and for the culturally-curious.
Tour starts 11.15 sharp on Saturday 16th September. Please ensure you turn up at least 5 minutes before the start time. We will use, and will supply free of charge, audio equipment in this tour. Book early to avoid disappointment. Tickets €18.75 p/p plus booking fee. Status: SOLD OUT
Wednesday 20th September. 11.15AM,
A tour all around Saint Stephens Green, including a rare private visit inside Ely House
A Dublin Decoded special tour, the first hour of our tour will bring us on a complete walking tour circuit around all four sides of Saint Stephen’s Green, Dublin’s first and greatest residential square, laid out all the way back in the 1600s.
All around the square, we will look at 400 years of spectacular architecture, change and evolution, talking about everything from schools, hospitals, former, now-forgotten museums, to collages, churches, chapels and huge aristocratic 18th century mansions.
The second part of our tour is very special, and brings us into Ely House; just off Saint Stephen’s Green,
for a privileged, private tour of the interior architecture of one of the capital’s grandest private aristocratic townhouses, formerly the home of the Loftus family of Rathfarnham, earls of Ely, and the descendants of provost Adam Loftus (who founded Trinity Village in 1592) The house today does not boast much 18th century furniture or artworks, but does possess many interesting architectural and decorative features, including what’s probably the most extraordinary, ornately extravagant Georgian staircase in Dublin, sculpted with large depictions of the Twelve Labours of Hercules! This may be a one-off visit. It is a rare treat to be able to offer this private visit to our members and guests.
Between this magnificent, privately-owned house, and our earlier tour around “the Green” we shall attempt a deeper understanding of this remarkable quarter of Dublin. Status: this tour was SOLD OUT
Ranelagh 1: Dartmouth Square to Chelmsford Road
One of our newest tours, Ranelagh: Dartmouth Square to Chelmsford Road explores the northern and eastern sections of this most fascinating of Dublin’s districts, full of gracious Victorian redbrick terraces, and Dublin’s only Georgian Square that lies outside the canals, and a fascinating garden park, concealing many layers of hidden history.
We meet on the “city side” of the Grand Canal, outside the Hilton Dublin Hotel, on Charleville Mall where you will be supplied with free sound equipment (included in the price of your ticket). Soon after we cross the Canal bridge and after a brief walk along Ranelagh Road, we explore and discuss the architecture, social history (and epic planning battles) of areas like Dartmouth Square and Dartmouth Road. Nearby Northbrook Road features too, with its former hospital, 1880s children’s charity home and the remarkable Victorian old men’s former “Northbrook Asylum”. We then pass under the railway bridge of the old Sout Eastern Line, and across Ranelagh Road, to lovely Mount Pleasant Square, a beautiful Georgian square. We will learn about its connections to history, literature and revolution, while taking time to enjoy the mellow old bricks, wrought iron work, and Georgian fanlights. Nearby, just around the corner of the square, by contrast, stands the modern, award-winning contemporary architecture of Ranelagh Multi-Denominational Primary School, by O’Donnell and Tuomey. Towards the end of our tour we’ll pause to enjoy the grassy slopes, paths and trees of Ranelagh Garden Park, discussing its remarkable, extraordinarily varied history, including its time as a Bishop’s residence, as an 18th century pleasure garden, and almost 200-years as the house and grounds of a Carmelite Convent. We conclude the walk on Chelsmford Road, near the art gallery of acclaimed painter Gerard Byrne. (Our Ranelagh Dartmouth Square to Chelmsford Road walk will run again in the autumn)
