Temple Bar Pub, Dublin — Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

The Temple Bar is Dublin's most famous pub, sitting right in the heart of the district that shares its name. With its bright red facade and flower boxes, it's one of the most photographed buildings in Ireland.

The pub traces its licence back to 1835, when Cornelius O'Meara acquired the premises. By 1840, grocer and spirit dealer James Farley had developed it into a public house. The pub has been serving pints ever since, including on Easter Monday 1916, when barman Edward Walsh was pulling pints as gunfire broke out on nearby Sackville Street (now O'Connell Street) during the Easter Rising.

Today, the Temple Bar claims to house Ireland's largest whiskey collection: more than 450 different varieties. It's also the site of a Guinness World Record: guitarist David Browne played here for 114 hours, 6 minutes, and 30 seconds, the longest marathon guitar performance ever recorded.

The pub is famous for live traditional Irish music, which plays throughout the day and into the night, seven days a week. There are no reservations, no exceptions, so arriving early is the best strategy for a good seat.

The Temple Bar district itself is a maze of cobblestone streets, galleries, restaurants, and pubs that has been the cultural heart of Dublin since the 1990s. The pub sits at the centre of it all.

If you're on a Questo quest through Dublin, the Temple Bar pub is both a landmark and a living piece of the city's social history, where music, whiskey, and stories flow in equal measure.