Overview
Smithfield is a broad cobbled square on Dublin’s Northside, ten minutes’ walk from the city centre and a short walk from Phoenix Park. It was a working livestock and produce market for centuries; today it’s glass-fronted apartments over hand-relaid 17th-century cobbles, with independent cafés, a whiskey distillery and an arthouse cinema clustered around the plaza. Time Out named it the world’s second-coolest neighbourhood in 2023, which is a fair reflection of the direction of travel. You can see everything here in a day without straying far from the square.
History
The market took its current form in the mid-17th century, when Dublin Corporation laid out the open square that would dominate Northside trade for the next 300 years; it first appears on a map of the city in 1756. The area formed the western part of the old Oxmantown district. As the market trade drifted elsewhere in the late 20th century the square ran down, until the Historic Area Rejuvenation Plan (HARP) of the late 1990s hand-cleaned and re-laid the cobbles, put up the tall gas-style lighting masts and brought in public art. The result is a plaza that still feels like a market square without being one.
What to see and do
Cultural venues
The Light House Cinema is the square’s anchor, an independent arthouse screening international and Irish films with regular festivals. Across the cobbles, The Cobblestone has run traditional-music sessions for decades in a plain, unpretentious room – it is one of the best trad pubs in the city, and the sessions are free.
Jameson Bow Street Distillery
John Jameson established the distillery on Bow Street in 1780, and whiskey was produced here until 1970. It now runs as a visitor attraction, with guided tours through the old distillation buildings ending in a tasting. The restored Victorian architecture and copper stills make it the area’s headline stop; book ahead in summer.
The viewing tower
The former distillery chimney was restored and reopened in 2018 as a free observation tower. The catch, and it’s a real one: it’s 244 steps and there is no lift. If you can manage the climb, the platform gives one of the best open views over the Liffey and the north city. Open daily, roughly 7am to 10pm.
Nearby heritage and green space
- National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts & History (Collins Barracks) – Military history, fashion, silver and everyday life in a restored 18th-century barracks. Free entry.
- Croppies’ Acre Memorial Park – A quiet green space commemorating the 1798 Rebellion.
- Arbour Hill – The burial place of several leaders of the 1916 Rising, including Thomas Clarke and Seán Mac Diarmada.
- Phoenix Park – Europe’s largest enclosed city park, with Dublin Zoo, a fallow-deer herd and Áras an Uachtaráin, a short walk west.
Food and drink
The eating and drinking here is casual and local: Fidelity Bar for craft taps and late hours, Proper Order Coffee Co for coffee on the cobbles, Token for an arcade-bar with pinball and burgers, and Third Space for coffee and comfort food. The Cobblestone does the pints and the music. The square rewards a slow pace – a morning coffee, a museum, then a pub as the light goes.
Events
- Smithfield Horse Fair – Held twice a year, on the first Sunday of March and September. It was once monthly but was cut back after criticism from the Gardaí and the DSPCA over animal welfare; it remains one of the few urban horse fairs left in Ireland and a direct link to the market’s past.
- TwinkleTown Christmas Market – From late November into early January, with an ice rink, vintage rides, a Spiegeltent and food stalls. Entry is free; the rink and some events are ticketed.
Getting there
- Luas – The Red Line stops on the square itself.
- Bus – Routes 46A, 46 and 123 serve the area along the North Circular Road.
- Car – Q-Park Smithfield (2.0m height limit) and Park Rite Smithfield are beside the square, with Dublin City Council pay-and-display on nearby streets.
The square is fully paved and step-free, though the cobbles are uneven, so wear decent shoes. Book the Jameson tour ahead in the May–September peak, and do the tower early to skip the weekend queue.