Private Walking Tours North of the River (overview)
Here are the most popular Dublin City Walking Tours we lead for our private guests, in 9 distinct areas of Dublin’s city centre. Here are the three most popular tours we lead for our private guests in these 3 different slightly different areas of Dublin’s city centre all North of the River Liffey: each route research, refined and finessed over the last 5 years.
For tours South of the River or our acclaimed Art Tours, please go to the relevant pages.
O
‘Connell St and Around, architecture, social and political history and rebellion on O’Connell Street (picture below), that great theatre and backdrop for some of the most seminal events in Irish history. We’ll also explore many of the smaller streets and alleys around. Then we’ll venture North, for a discussion of the remarkable Rotunda Hospital complex, and how it drove the entire 18th-century development of Rutland/Parnell Square, including the magnificent 18th century Charlemont House (today the Hugh Lane gallery) housed in this superb 1760s mansion).
- Tour time: 1hr 45 mins -2 hours 10 minutes.
- Distance 1.6 -2 km.
- Medieval Mass to Georgian Splendour:
- route 2.8k, approximate tour time: 2- 2.5 hours.
Capel Street and river to Henrietta St and the Kings Inns. How Capel Bridge and Capel Street arose from the ruins of two medieval abbeys; architecture on Capel St, Green St and around, the Green St courthouse and debtors prison, the Robert Emmet trial; old tram works, the old Victorian fish and market buildings, with their wonderful old terracotta decorations, Henrietta St, and finally the incredible King’s Inns, a masterpiece of 18th century Georgian architecture, by the great James Gandonepicentre of old medieval Dublin.
- South Central Highlights private tour:
- route 2.8k, approximate tour time: 2- 2.4 hours.
N x NW extreme Hugh Lane to GrangegormanWe will meet outside the front door of the Hugh Lane Gallery on Parnell Square North. Time allowing we’ll briefly explore this magnificent 18th-century mansion, today Dublin’s municipal gallery, the Hugh Lane Gallery.
From the “Hugh Lane” we’ll walk North and West to see and discuss some of the many historic, civic, residential and ecclesiastical treasures of this district, including Dublin’s most enigmatic church, the Black Church; Glasgow- style tenement buildings; Gandon’s magnificent King’s Inns; John Skipton Mulvaney’s sublime Broadstone station and much more. Among other topics we’ll discuss the extraordinary transport history of this area. The final part of the tour, the last 45 minutes, we will reach the Grangegorman area, and things get even more interesting: this whole area is and was covered in a network of mental, health and penal institutions, hospitals, clinics, prisons, asylums and Work Houses, built from the 1700s onward, which came to dominate and define the entire area for over 150 years. Among buildings we will consider are two enormous Georgian-era structures: Francis Johnston’s extraordinary Women’s Penitentiary and his Richmond Asylum, formerly part of a complex of Work Houses so vast it once had its own system of coinage. A poignant tour through an area that even many Dublin people know relatively little about.
Please note N x NW extreme Hugh Lane to Grangegorman is a long, in-depth walking tour: guests will need a reasonable degree of fitness and stamina. Please note also extra supplements (extra fees) apply.
N x NW extreme Hugh Lane to Grangegorman tour time : 2hr 45 minutes minimum up to 3 hours 25 minutes. Distance 5.6 -6.9 km.
- approximate tour time: 2- 2.4 hours.
Please note we will not be able to answer inquiries regarding public tours submitted below. This contact form is exclusive to order your own private tour. Private tours cost from €180- €250 (for your entire group, not per individual). Large groups and corporate tours may cost more. Hotel meets and pick-ups may cost extra. Exact quotation on the supply of your date, numbers, and details, please. All marked fields required.
Please note we will not be able to answer any inquiries on public tours submitted below. For public tour inquiries please go here.
Northside City Walking Tours Contact Form
Bespoke and luxury customs tours. with enough time and resources, it is of course always possible to custom-build, tailor, adapt and create completely bespoke and/or luxury tours. One example is a group of visitors from a particular field or profession who wish an emphasis on a particular theme, such as Law, Medicine, early Dublin cinema, Fashion, or the Theatre. Another different, more bespoke type of adaptation involves select visits to private 18th century Georgian houses; while a the third form of adaptation, which does involve considerable additional outlay may involve add-ons like wine tasting, whiskey tastings, or even a whiskey tasting, and/or a private music recital, within a private 18th century Georgian townhouse.
If you wish to inquire about a bespoke or luxury customs tour, please use the normal contact page but in the tour title field, use the words “Custom Tour” and then provide as much detail as possible about your requirement and if possible, please give us clear idea of your budget. Thank you.