Overview
For a street barely a few hundred metres long, Kildare Street carries an outsized share of the state: the national parliament and three free national institutions, all within a short walk of each other. It runs from Trinity College at the north end to St Stephen’s Green in the south, a few minutes from the Grafton and Dawson Street shops. The name honours James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, whose 18th-century palace, now Leinster House, still dominates the skyline.
History
The street was Coote Lane and then Coote Street before it was renamed Kildare Street in 1753, after the Duke of Leinster built his grand residence on what had been open land. Georgian townhouses and institutional buildings filled in around it over the following century.
In 1922 Leinster House became the seat of the Oireachtas, and the street turned into the political heart of the new state. The Kildare Street Club, founded in 1782, had moved in 1861 to a purpose-built Venetian-palazzo building on the corner of Kildare and Leinster Streets. Designed by Deane & Woodward, its façade mixes orange-red brick with Drogheda limestone bands and carries stone carvings including a lute-playing fox and a greyhound chasing a hare. After membership fell off, the club merged with the Dublin University Club in 1976; the premises now house the Dublin office of Alliance Française and part of the National Library of Ireland.
Art Deco arrived in the 1930s with the Department of Industry and Commerce building, now Agriculture House, its relief sculptures by Gabriel Hayes set against the older Georgian fabric.
What to see and do
| Attraction | Highlights | Why visit |
|---|---|---|
| Leinster House | Seat of the Oireachtas; Georgian façade by Richard Cassels | The political centre of Ireland, and 18th-century architecture from the outside. |
| National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology | The Treasury (Ardagh Chalice, Tara Brooch, St Patrick’s Bell), Ór – Ireland’s Gold, Viking Ireland, Prehistoric Ireland, Kingship & Sacrifice (bog bodies) | Free entry to one of Europe’s richest archaeological collections. |
| National Library of Ireland | Rotating literary and historical exhibitions | A major resource for researchers and literary history. |
| Kildare Street Club (Alliance Française) | Restored Venetian-palazzo façade and stone carvings | A glimpse of Dublin’s Anglo-Irish social history. |
| Agriculture House | Art Deco façade with Gabriel Hayes reliefs | 1930s public architecture. |
| Shelbourne Hotel (eastern corner) | Historic bar and interiors | A coffee break with a sense of the city’s hospitality history. |
If you do one thing here, make it the National Museum, and inside it the Treasury. The Ardagh Chalice and Tara Brooch are the draw, but the gold in Ór – Ireland’s Gold runs from 2200 BC to 500 BC, the Viking Ireland gallery uses finds from Wood Quay, and Kingship & Sacrifice puts you face to face with Iron-Age bog bodies. The rest of the street is mostly admired from the footpath: Leinster House is a working parliament, not a tourist site, so an exterior photo is as far as a casual visit gets.
Events and workshops
The National Museum runs a programme of free events through the year. Recent highlights (May–June 2026):
- Tour: Highlights of the National Museum of Ireland – daily 11am, no booking.
- Tour: Viking Ireland – 2–29 April, 2pm daily.
- Drawing Day – Knot Again! Manuscript Decorating Workshop – 16 May, 10.30am.
- International Museums Day – 18 May, 1.30pm.
- Summer Calligraphy Workshop – 21 May, 6pm.
- Music in the Museum with Cantoral – 20 June, 12.30pm.
- Slow Looking Tour: Highlights of the National Museum – 26 June, 11am.
Tours are free, meet at ground-floor reception and run first-come, first-served. Groups of 8 or more should book ahead through the museum’s self-guided visit portal.
Practical information
Opening hours (National Museum – Archaeology)
| Day | Hours |
|---|---|
| Tuesday – Saturday | 10am – 5pm |
| Sunday – Monday | 1pm – 5pm |
| Christmas Eve | 10am – 12pm |
| Closed | Christmas Day, St Stephen’s Day, Good Friday |
Admission: Free for all visitors.
Accessibility: Ground-floor galleries are wheelchair-accessible; the second floor is not. Blue-badge parking is on Dawson Street and at St Stephen’s Green. Accessible toilets and baby-changing facilities are on the ground floor near the central rotunda.
Parking: Paid car parks off Dawson Street and at Setanta Place. On-street metered parking around Merrion Square, about a 10-minute walk. Disabled spaces are marked on the east side of Dawson Street, the north and west sides of St Stephen’s Green and Merrion Square West.
Public transport: Dublin Bus routes 11, 26, 27, 37 and 39 serve the area. The Luas Green Line stop at Dawson Street is a short walk. The nearest rail stations are Connolly and Tara Street.
Nearby amenities: The Shelbourne Hotel café, cafés on Grafton Street and historic pubs on Dawson Street. Public toilets are in the museum and the National Library.
Visitor tips:
- Arrive early during school holidays or the February cultural programmes to get on the popular tours.
- The museum’s supervision ratio is 1 adult per 15 children under 18.
- Photography is allowed without flash; professional equipment needs prior permission.
Nearby attractions
Within a short walk you can also take in:
- Central Bank Visitor Centre – interactive displays on Ireland’s financial history (central-bank-visitor-centre).
- National Gallery of Ireland – Irish and European art, on the north side of Leinster Lawn.
- National Museum of Ireland – Natural History (the ‘Dead Zoo’) on Merrion Street.
- St Stephen’s Green – a historic park for a picnic or a stroll.
Save the Natural History Museum for last; it’s a short walk over and free, which makes it an easy add-on once you’ve had your fill of gold and bog bodies on Kildare Street.