Grand Canal Dock, Dublin © Mark Stewart / Skramshots.com / Getty
Planning rules limit skyscrapers here, leaving the burned red-brick terraces to camouflage the innovation that’s going on. Behind those famed Georgian doorways, Dublin is a creative, energetic place where more than 40% of the population is under 30 and where trendsetters Google and Facebook have set up their European headquarters. Here’s our guide to the best of contemporary Dublin.
Outside the Design House © Abigail King / Lonely Planet
Two spots highlight the explosion in Dublin design: the Irish Design Shop on boho-chic Drury St and the Design House (thedesignhouse.ie) on the main thoroughfare of Dawson St near St Stephen’s Green.
Clare Grennan and Laura Caffrey credit the (thankfully finished) recession for the success of their enterprising Irish Design Shop. When traditional jobs dried up, many Dubliners discovered their inner artist and sat down to make their dreams come true. The shop stocks some of the results: artful prints of the city’s industrial skyline, cute retro ceramics and handmade woollen blankets and cushions sourced from centuries-old mills.
Over at the Design House, brooding-cool mannequins stand guard on the shop’s front steps. The inside shrugs off its restrained Georgian roots with an interior that resembles a house built from empty shoeboxes and rickety stairs. More than 40 designers and artists squeeze their work into this rainbow display, a mix of ready-made retail, studios and opportunities for bespoke design.
Powerscourt Shopping Centre © Doug McKinlay / Lonely Planet / Getty
A sweeping staircase, glittering chandeliers and fresh floral arrangements mark the entrance to the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, one of the finest examples of repurposed Georgian architecture in the city. The 3rd Viscount of Powerscourt once divided his time between this imposing building, where he invited lords and ladies to party when parliament was sitting, and his country estate in County Wicklow.
Today, its polished banisters lead to a shopping centre that eschews the fluorescent frenzy found in purpose-built malls for an airy atrium of art and niche boutiques. Jewellery and antiques live beneath the top-floor theatre while the Pygmalion and Pepper Pot cafes allow locals to catch up over organic herbal tea.
The Michelin-starred Greenhouse © Abigail King / Lonely Planet
Gone are the days of nothing but potato-based coddle. Today, Dublin chefs are taking on the world of gastronomy, collecting Michelin stars and even reclaiming the traditional tourist haunt of Temple Bar.
Avenue (facebook.com), a play on ‘a venue’, brings locals back to this district by mixing foie gras burgers and crispy duck on the brightly lit ground floor with an elaborate dining cabaret on the third. Heading down towards St Stephen’s Green, the Greenhouse (thegreenhouserestaurant.ie), serving Jerusalem artichoke soup and passionfruit soufflé, recently picked up its long overdue Michelin star, while Dylan McGrath of Masterchef fame sizzles steak at the table, followed up with fruit sushi desserts and a bowl of chocolate soup at the Rustic Stone (rusticstone.ie).
Back on the banks of the Liffey, neighbours the Winding Stair (winding-stair.com) and Woollen Mills (thewoollenmills.com) keep Ireland's historic legacy alive. The staircase in question refers to both the building and the poem from Dubliner Nobel laureate William Butler Yeats; the mill reflects the haberdashery business set up here in 1888 that once counted James Joyce as an employee. Both overlook the iconic Ha’penny bridge and serve honest, high-class food.
Graffiti at the ‘eclectic cavern’ that is the Bernard Shaw © Abigail King / Lonely Planet
Over on the boozy side of things, Irish whiskey is back, even if you never knew it had left. The ultra-modern Teeling’s is the only working distillery within the city’s limits. The setting, in white cinder-block warehouses with ‘unconventionally independent’ inked on the stairwells, makes sipping iced tea in the monochrome café feel like a surprisingly badass experience.
Drop all airs and graces when heading into the Bernard Shaw. An eclectic cavern of a place, this pub features DJ nights, stalls and a big blue bus (facebook.com) in the garden that serves pizza – free if your name matches the ‘name of the day’.
For daytime bites and a caffeine fix, head to artsy Drury St. Here, a range of organic and vegan eateries cater for creatives ready to take on the world. Favourites include Blazing Salads (blazingsalads.com), Kaph (kaph.ie) and the Considered Cafe (facebook.com). You can get a different view of the city from the bar at the Dean Hotel; amid vintage radios and LPs, its rooftop bar pulses with knowing retro cool.
The striking, harp-inspired Samuel Beckett Bridge marks the introduction to Dublin’s regenerated Docklands area. Once a poignant exit point for over a million fleeing from famine, today the River Liffey reaches the Irish Sea in a brighter, playful mood: Dubliners have turned the water into a playground, through stand-up paddle boarding, kayaking and even Viking Splash Tours.
Gleaming buildings form the new powerhouses of the economy as coffee drinkers from Facebook and Google fill up the quayside cafes. Ballet, opera and comedy spill from the glass-sculpted Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, just around the corner from the Docklands’ 3Arena, U2’s stomping ground.
Gareth O’Driscoll of Clash © Abigail King / Lonely Planet
It’s not only the buildings that Dublin has repurposed: some of its oldest traditions have been brought up to speed too. On the outskirts of the city, in the Naomh Mearnóg GAA club at Portmarnock, brothers Cillian and Gareth O’Driscoll are spreading the word about ancient Gaelic sports. Their company Clash (clash.ie) teaches hapless foreigners the art of hurling, one ball-scoop, whack and catch at a time.
Back in town, the Georgian Merrion Hotel has given Ireland’s largest private art collection a makeover through the guise of afternoon tea. Chefs serve sugar-crafted replicas of the masterpieces on the walls along with an audio-guide and a glass of bubbly.
And finally, how better to see the new side of the city than through the eyes of a Dubliner? The Little Museum of Dublin runs a City of a Thousand Welcomes initiative where enthusiastic locals pair up with visiting travellers.
After all the talk of regeneration and hipster hangouts awash with craft beer, you may be handed a pint of the black stuff after all.
