Temple Bar – Nightlife District

Temple Bar – Dublin’s Cultural Quarter

The architecturally award winning Old City area of Temple Bar offers a welcome calming alternative to the rush and bustle of our busy, city centre. With its outdoor café terraces, delicious eateries and pedestrianised streets this historic area is the place to visit for the discerning and adventurous shopper with high quality fashion, footwear, furniture, food and culture.

The area is also home to one of our three outdoor markets here in the Temple Bar area- the all new Designer Mart at Cow’s Lane. Every Saturday from 10am-5pm over 30 Irish and Irish-based designers showcase an eclectic mix of contemporary and vintage crafts, handmade clothing, ceramics, visual art, jewellery and crafts.

Take some time and come and experience Dublin’s new Old City for yourself -its on 5 mins walk from anywhere in Temple Bar and is well worth a visit!

So how did Temple Bar get its name? It started off as just the name of a single street situated not far from here. That street is named after Sir William Temple who lived in a mansion nearby in the early 17th century. His garden ran down to the river banks from where there was a walk-way known as a bar which built up from river sediment. The bar walk-way was called after Temple hence Temple’s Bar or Temple Bar. The name appears on a map at least as far back as 1673.

However, the usage of the name “Temple Bar”, as referring to the whole area and not just to the short street which connects Fleet Street to Essex Street East, came out of a 1985 report “The Temple Bar Area – a Policy for the Future”.

From Our Dublin Hostel

While in Dublin there are plenty of popular and interesting attractions to visit, so why not check out our Dublin Sightseeing Page for a list of top Dublin Attractions or have a look at the Dublin City Guide to give you some tips.