Overview
EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, in the vaults of the CHQ Building, was voted Europe’s Leading Tourist Attraction at the World Travel Awards three years running (2019–2021) – and it’s the single best reason to come to the Docklands. The quarter stretches along both banks of the Liffey from the Talbot Memorial Bridge east to the 3Arena, a short flat walk from O’Connell Street. This was the city’s gateway for cargo, naval vessels and, above all, emigrants; the 1990s regeneration filled it with the tech firms that earned it the nickname Silicon Docks, home to Windmill Lane Recording Studios, where U2, Metallica and Lady Gaga have recorded.
One caveat: much of the modern Docklands is office blocks, and outside the museums and the riverside strip it can feel quiet, even a little dead, at weekends. Come for the two museums, the bridges and the walk along the quays rather than for the streetscape.
History
As Dublin’s port expanded in the nineteenth century, the river needed deep, solid quay-walls – and building them under the tideline meant putting men to work on the riverbed. The Diving Bell, designed by Bindon Blood Stoney in 1860 and built in 1866, was the answer: a hollow iron chamber that let workers dig and lay foundations beneath the water. It stayed in use for some 87 years, into the late 1950s, and now stands restored on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, its interior open to walk through.
Architecturally, the quarter is anchored by the Custom House, completed in 1791 by James Gandon, its keystones carved by Edward Smyth into river gods and heads of trade. It survived a devastating fire in 1921 and is now a government office. Newer engineering answers the old: the harp-shaped Samuel Beckett Bridge (2009) and the pedestrian Seán O’Casey Bridge (2005) tie the north and south quays together.
What to see and do
Museums
- EPIC – The Irish Emigration Museum – In the restored CHQ Building, EPIC tells the story of Irish migration across 20 interactive galleries. Pick up an EPIC passport, trace family roots at the genealogy desk. Book ahead.
- Jeanie Johnston – Famine Ship Museum – A full-scale replica of a three-masted barque, moored opposite CHQ. The 50-minute guided tour goes below deck into the conditions emigrants endured – and the original ship’s remarkable record is worth knowing: across 16 transatlantic crossings, she never lost a single passenger or crew member to the voyage.
- Central Bank Visitor Centre – Free. An exhibition on Irish currency, banking and economic history in a modern extension to the 1940s building.
Historic architecture and monuments
- CHQ Building – Built in 1820 as a tobacco and wine warehouse, now a mixed-use precinct housing EPIC, independent retailers and food vendors.
- Famine Memorial – Rowan Gillespie’s gaunt bronze figures on Custom House Quay, a group of emigrants walking to a ship, one with a dog at heel. A sobering counterpoint to the glass towers behind them.
- Luke Kelly Statue – A marble portrait head, its hair rendered in copper wire, at the junction of Guild Street and Sheriff Street. Unveiled in 2019, it honours The Dubliners’ lead singer. (A second, bronze Luke Kelly stands on the south side of the city.)
Bridges
- Samuel Beckett Bridge – Santiago Calatrava’s cable-stayed swing bridge, shaped like a harp on its side. It rotates 90° to let ships pass.
- Seán O’Casey Bridge – A pedestrian-only swing bridge with clear sightlines across the Liffey.
- East-Link (Tom Clarke) Bridge – A tolled drawbridge linking East Wall Road to Ringsend.
On the water
Surfdock at Grand Canal Dock runs paddleboarding, kayaking and windsurfing on the sheltered basin, and Escape Boats moors what it bills as Ireland’s first escape room on the water – two games for groups of two to ten. Liffey River Cruises run 45-minute trips daily.
Food and drink
The Harbourmaster by the IFSC does reliable seafood in an old lock-keeper’s building; Urban Brewing in the CHQ vaults keeps over 200 beers; BrewDog Outpost has craft taps and fire pits by the water; and 3FE is among the best coffee in the city.
Practical information
- Getting there: The Luas Red Line stops at Busáras, Jervis, Spencer Dock and The Point. It’s a few minutes’ walk from O’Connell Street.
- Parking: The Convention Centre underground car park (321 spaces, open 7am–midnight, roughly €4.20/hr or €30/day) is the most convenient; Q-Park Grand Canal Square and on-street bays on Forbes Street and Hibernian Road (€3–3.50/hr, Mon–Sat 7am–7pm) are alternatives.
- Tickets: EPIC and the Jeanie Johnston need advance tickets from their own websites. The Central Bank Visitor Centre and all outdoor monuments are free.
- Best time to visit: Early morning for quiet quays and photography; a summer evening around 7.30pm for low light on the Beckett bridge and the Custom House dome together.
Start at CHQ for EPIC, then walk east along the north quay to the Beckett bridge as the light drops. The Luas will have you back in the city centre in under ten minutes.