Overview
In November 2025 the RDS Arena became the Laya Arena, under a 10-year naming-rights deal with the health insurer laya (part of AXA), signed with the RDS and Leinster Rugby. The new name arrived on the back of a €52 million rebuild of the Anglesea Stand and Grandstand, and the grounds in Ballsbridge – a short walk from Dublin city centre – reopen in summer 2026. If you only get to the RDS once, come in the first week of August for the Dublin Horse Show: it’s the event the arena was built around, and the one week the place returns to its original purpose.
The rebuild
Grimshaw Architects designed the new Anglesea Stand and Elliott built it. It holds 6,775, including three hospitality suites, and takes the arena past 20,000 – 20,600 for sport, up to 40,000 for concerts. A 100 kW solar array sits on its roof, alongside water-conservation and waste systems, so the green credentials are more than a line in a brochure.
The first major event back is the Gallagher Dublin Horse Show, 5–9 August 2026. Leinster Rugby return for home matches that September, on a fresh 25-year agreement.
Beside the arena, the RDS Main Hall (Hall 1) is a big column-free floor with theatre seating for around 3,500 – the room that holds the Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition every January.
What happens here
Leinster Rugby
The arena is Leinster’s home. The province moved in permanently in 2007 after outgrowing Donnybrook, and has won league titles here in front of home crowds; the 2026 return runs on a new 25-year deal. It has also hosted Ireland matches, including a 2022 Women’s Six Nations opener that drew a record 6,113.
The Dublin Horse Show
First held in 1864 and settled at Ballsbridge in 1881, the Horse Show is Ireland’s biggest equestrian week: the Aga Khan Challenge Trophy, international Nations’ Cup teams, dressage, show-jumping and carriage driving, with family zones and food stalls across the grounds.
Concerts and exhibitions
The open-air bowl takes up to 40,000, and the touring history is long – Bruce Springsteen has played here eleven times, alongside U2, Rammstein and Bon Jovi. The Main Hall does the indoor calendar: trade shows, the Elf Town Christmas market, and Funderland’s rides and ice-skating over Christmas.
Getting there and parking
Take the DART if you can. Lansdowne station is a 10-minute walk and Sandymount an 8-minute one, and buses on the 4, 7, 7a, 18, 46a and others stop by the Merrion Road entrance. There is parking at a flat €10 a day, but ‘on-site’ flatters it: the lots sit out on Merrion Road, Simmonscourt Road and Anglesea Road, they fill fast for concerts and the Horse Show, and after a big event the exit can take the guts of 45 minutes.
Step-free access runs to the stands and halls, though some stand steps and railing heights are awkward for wheelchair users; email info@rds.ie ahead for specific access help, and assistance dogs are welcome. Baby-changing is in Hall 1 near Rings 3 and 8.
Nearby
- Herbert Park – 55 acres on the RDS boundary, with walking trails, tennis and croquet, a bowling green and a playground; the obvious place to fill an hour before doors.
- Aviva Stadium – a short walk north, home of Ireland’s rugby and football internationals, and an easy pairing with a Leinster match.
- Ballsbridge village – Georgian terraces and a scatter of boutiques and cafés for before or after.
Check the RDS ‘What’s On’ before you travel: the arena keeps no general opening hours or set admission, so everything – entrances, car parks and access – runs to whatever event is on.