Temple Bar is an area on the south bank of the River Liffey in central Dublin. The area is bounded by the Liffey to the north, Dame Street to the south, Westmoreland Street to the east and Fishamble Street to the west. Unlike other parts of Dublin’s city centre, it is promoted as Dublin’s cultural quarter and has a lively nightlife that is popular with tourists. After dark, the area is a major centre for nightlife, with many tourist-focused nightclubs, restaurants and bars. Pubs in the area include The Temple Bar Pub, The Porterhouse, the Oliver St. John Gogarty, the Turk’s Head, Czech Inn (in the former Isolde’s Tower), the Quays Bar, the Foggy Dew, The Auld Dubliner and Bad Bobs. The historic name of the district was not Temple Bar but St. Andrews Parish. It was a suburb of medieval (Anglo-Norman) Dublin, located outside the city walls, but it fell into disuse beginning in the 14th century because the land was exposed to attacks by the native Irish. The land was redeveloped again in the 17th century, to create gardens for the houses of wealthy English families. Many sources agree that Temple Bar Street got its name from the Temple family, and specifically Sir William Temple (provost of Trinity College from 1609-1627), whose house and gardens were located there in the early 17th century. However, given the existence of a storied district of the same name in London, it seems that the new Temple Bar street of Dublin must have been a nod to its older and more famous cousin. read more…
Kilkenny is a city and is the county town of the eponymous County Kilkenny in Ireland. It is situated on both banks of the River Nore in the province of Leinster, in the south-east of Ireland. The borough has a population of 8,661, however the majority of the population live outside the borough boundary, the 2006 Irish Census gives the total population of the Borough & Environs as 22,179. read more…
