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DUBLIN’S
TEMPLE BAR
Bohemian Pubs and Traditional Music
Temple Bar is Dublin’s shining example of urban revitalization.
The district of pubs and restaurants, bohemian atmosphere of arts shops
and streets filled with party people, locals and tourists looking for
entertainment, a good meal or just a drink to slake an Irish thirst was
originally Dublin’s old city. Getting its name in 1673 from English-Irish
aristocrat Sir William Temple around whose estate on the River Liffey
a dock and freight landing grew. When a Customs House was built in 1700
on Wellington Quay where the Clarence Hotel now stands, the area south
of the river, bounded by Dame Street, Fishamble Street and Westmoreland
Street, filled with freight warehouses, along with the saloons, brothels
and bawdy theaters that populate any sailor’s shanty town. In the
late 18th Century as ships got bigger,
the Customs House moved farther
north to the harbor and the thriving area fell into a long decline and
decay until by the 1980s a plan to bulldoze the whole district for a
bus terminal was nearly avoided, as cheap rents attracted artists, music
shops and boutiques. The Temple Bar turned from an eyesore of urban blight
into one of Dublin’s most popular attractions, with over 27 pubs,
bars and restaurants within easy walk from the city center. And since
Ireland’s drinking and driving laws are quite strict, walking (or
one of the taxis which eagerly line the quay just outside the pedestrian
zone) is probably the best way to go.
In Temple Bar you’ll find establishments from Oliver St John Gogarty
with its walls hung with the cultural flotsam and jetsam that has signified
the Bohemian pub style which has traveled the world to the iconic identity
of the Thunder Road Cafe with its Harley Davidson motorcycle theme of
gleaming American “hogs” on the walls and not the streets.
On a stroll through the cobblestone lanes of Temple Bar in summer you’ll
likely encounter street buskers to costumed giant Leprechauns passing
out bar coupons. Traditional Irish music can be heard year round in Temple
Bar and traditional Irish food can be had at Gallagher's Boxty House
Restaurant, but for a weekend in the cold of January, traditional Irish
music takes over Temple Bar.
Temple Bar TradFest 2010
For the last five years traditional Irish music and culture has returned
to modern Dublin at the end of every January. For 2010 the Temple Bar
Trad Festival will light up the lively Temple Bar district with vibrant
atmosphere of songs, dancing, art, with headline concerts, free events,
a photography exhibition, films, family activities and a colorful parade.
Musical performances ranging from small intimate affairs to larger shows
held at The Button Factory include the Kilfenora Ceili Band, Matt Molloy,
Finbar Furey, John Carty, Arty McGlynn, Tony Linnane and Noel Hill. © Bargain
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Temple
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SEE ALSO:
DUBLINIA - VIKINGS & MEDIEVAL DUBLIN
JAMESON
WHISKEY DISTILLERY TOUR
DUBLIN’S
GUINNESS STOREHOUSE
DUBLIN CITY HALL - STORY OF THE CAPITAL
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