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Smithfield and the markets

The wide cobbled square, the Jameson distillery, the old fruit-and-veg halls, and the Lighthouse cinema.

Photo: William Murphy / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Drafted by Claude — the editor hasn’t walked this one yet. We’ll update this notice once it’s been verified on the ground.

Distance

3 km

Time

~ 75 min

Difficulty

Easy

Start

Smithfield (Luas Red Line)

End

Four Courts (Luas Red Line)

Best at

afternoon

Right now

18°C· Clear

Open in Maps for turn-by-turn, or take it offline as GPX.

Smithfield is Dublin's market quarter caught mid-reinvention: a vast cobbled square that was a horse fair within living memory, ringed now by apartments, a cinema, and the distillery that put the place on the map. The cobbles are real; the gloss is new; the markets underneath it are older than both.

Start by walking the full length of Smithfield Square — one of Europe's largest civic plazas, lined with gas braziers that are lit on big occasions. The Jameson distillery on Bow Street made whiskey here from 1780 until 1971; the tour is optional, the frontage free. Off the plaza, the Lighthouse runs the films nobody else screens, and an afternoon show is no bad way to spend the middle of this walk.

East on Mary's Lane stands the Victorian fruit-and-vegetable market, redbrick and glass and slowly being brought back. Round the corner, St Michan's keeps its mummified dead in the vaults — a guided tour and a genuinely strange one. End at The Cobblestone for a trad session played by people who mean it. The Luas at Four Courts is two minutes down.

The route

On the map.

A soft dashed line, numbered stops. It’s a suggestion, not a turn-by-turn.

Elevation

↑ 19 m·↓ 18 m·5–12 m ASL

Stops along the way

Things to notice.

01
1
Smithfield Square
One of the largest civic spaces in Europe — a long cobbled plaza lined with tall gas braziers, once the horse market and now the centre of the regenerated quarter. The monthly horse fair still drew crowds within living memory. Walk the length of it before anything else.
01
Smithfield Square
One of the largest civic spaces in Europe — a long cobbled plaza lined with tall gas braziers, once the horse market and now the centre of the regenerated quarter. The monthly horse fair still drew crowds within living memory. Walk the length of it before anything else.
02
2
Jameson Distillery Bow St.
The original 1780 distillery where Jameson was made until 1971, now a visitor centre and tasting rooms. The tour is paid; you can also just stand under the old chimney and read the Bow Street frontage. Whiskey, not whisky — the 'e' is the Irish spelling, and they'll remind you.
02
Jameson Distillery Bow St.
The original 1780 distillery where Jameson was made until 1971, now a visitor centre and tasting rooms. The tour is paid; you can also just stand under the old chimney and read the Bow Street frontage. Whiskey, not whisky — the 'e' is the Irish spelling, and they'll remind you.
03
3
The Lighthouse Cinema
Tucked into Market Square off the plaza, the city's best arthouse cinema — four screens, a good café-bar, and a programme that runs to the films nobody else shows. Check what's on; an afternoon screening is a fine way to break the walk.
03
The Lighthouse Cinema
Tucked into Market Square off the plaza, the city's best arthouse cinema — four screens, a good café-bar, and a programme that runs to the films nobody else shows. Check what's on; an afternoon screening is a fine way to break the walk.
04
4
Dublin Fruit and Vegetable Market
The grand redbrick-and-glass Victorian market hall on Mary's Lane, built 1892, with carved stone reaching of fish and produce on the façade. Long the wholesale heart of the city; it has been under slow restoration. Walk the exterior for the ironwork even if the doors are shut.
04
Dublin Fruit and Vegetable Market
The grand redbrick-and-glass Victorian market hall on Mary's Lane, built 1892, with carved stone reaching of fish and produce on the façade. Long the wholesale heart of the city; it has been under slow restoration. Walk the exterior for the ironwork even if the doors are shut.
05
5
St Michan's Church
On Church Street, the church whose limestone vaults have naturally mummified the dead — leathery bodies you can see on a guided tour, including a figure they call the Crusader. Bram Stoker is said to have visited. Macabre, brief, and genuinely strange; the tour is the only way in.
05
St Michan's Church
On Church Street, the church whose limestone vaults have naturally mummified the dead — leathery bodies you can see on a guided tour, including a figure they call the Crusader. Bram Stoker is said to have visited. Macabre, brief, and genuinely strange; the tour is the only way in.
06
6
The Cobblestone
Back toward the square, the pub that is really a music venue — trad sessions most nights, played by people who can actually play, in a room that fills with locals. End here. You don't have to stay for the whole session, but you'll want to.
06
The Cobblestone
Back toward the square, the pub that is really a music venue — trad sessions most nights, played by people who can actually play, in a room that fills with locals. End here. You don't have to stay for the whole session, but you'll want to.

Smithfield and the markets

On the map.

Things to notice.

Smithfield Square

Smithfield Square

Jameson Distillery Bow St.

Jameson Distillery Bow St.

The Lighthouse Cinema

The Lighthouse Cinema

Dublin Fruit and Vegetable Market

Dublin Fruit and Vegetable Market

St Michan's Church

St Michan's Church

The Cobblestone

The Cobblestone

Two more, on similar days.

Stoneybatter: the village

Temple Bar: the cobbles by day, before the night takes it