Overview
For over a century, D’Olier Street meant one thing in Dublin: the Irish Times. The paper was based here from 1895 to 2006, long enough to earn the nickname ‘the Old Lady of D’Olier Street’. The street itself – pronounced duh-LEER – is short, about 160 metres, and unusually wide, running from the south end of O’Connell Bridge down to College, Townsend and Pearse Streets. It was one of the last works of the Wide Streets Commission, the 18th-century body that drove straight, broad streets through Dublin’s medieval tangle, and it’s named after Jeremiah D’Olier (1745–1817), a Huguenot goldsmith, co-founder of the Bank of Ireland and Sheriff of Dublin in 1788.
It’s not a destination in itself so much as a five-minute walk worth taking slowly: the reason to come is the food, and the reason to look up is the architecture.
The buildings
Walking down from O’Connell Bridge, the street reads as a timeline:
- The Lafayette Building – a six-storey Portland-stone pile in a baronial style by John Joseph O’Callaghan (1890s). Its upper floors became apartments in the late 1990s, and the National Wax Museum Plus has held the ground floor since 2017.
- The former Dublin Gas Company headquarters (1928) – a rare Art Deco survivor in the city centre, designed by Desmond FitzGerald, with two façades in two different styles.
- D’Olier Chambers (1891) – J.F. Fuller’s yellow-brick and terracotta corner building, built for the Gallaher tobacco company and now home to the D’Olier Street restaurant.
- The terrace at 8–16 – the houses that actually held the Irish Times. Contrary to the idea that the paper’s home was knocked down, the terrace still stands: it was restored in the 1990s and is counted among the best-preserved Wide Streets Commission terraces in Dublin, though the interiors were remodelled after the paper left for Tara Street.
Look in at No. 17 as well, where Books Upstairs – one of Dublin’s oldest independent bookshops and a long-running literary haunt – is worth a browse whether or not you buy.
D’Olier Street restaurant
The street’s main draw now is the restaurant that took its name. Opened in late 2022 in the restored D’Olier Chambers corner, it’s a collaboration between Anthony Smith (of Mr Fox), Australian-born head chef James Moore and general manager Jane Frye, and it holds one Michelin star in the 2026 guide. The format is a 13-course surprise tasting menu that changes with the season, with wine and non-alcoholic pairings; the dining room keeps its high ceilings and original plasterwork, and there are eight seats at the chef’s counter for those who want to watch the plating. The kitchen’s own line sums up the tone: “It’s not fancy, it’s fun.”
Reservations are essential and go weeks in advance, and there’s a per-head charge for late cancellations and no-shows. Days, sittings and terms can change, so confirm them on the restaurant’s own site before you build a trip around it.
Practical information
Getting there. Public transport is far easier than driving. The Luas Green Line stops at Westmoreland and Trinity are a couple of minutes’ walk, Tara Street DART is about four minutes south, and bus routes 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 27, 39, 49, 83, 123, 150 and 151 all serve the area.
Parking. On-street parking is extremely limited and actively discouraged; use a managed car park nearby if you must drive in.
Nearby. O’Connell Bridge, the GPO and the Ha’penny Bridge are all within sight or a short walk, and Trinity College and the Book of Kells are five minutes south, with Temple Bar just east.
National Wax Museum Plus. The light, family-friendly museum in the Lafayette Building makes an easy indoor hour – check its current opening hours before you go, as they aren’t always as listed.
Book the restaurant weeks ahead; if it’s just the street you want, give it ten minutes on foot and look up.