Temple Bar, Dublin

Temple Bar is a Dublin neighbourhood beside the River Liffey, known for its nightlife and cultural institutions. Its streets occupy ground that was once shoreline: during the seventeenth century, land was reclaimed and houses were built where marshy edges had been. The name appeared on a Dublin map from 1673.

It is generally linked either to the Temple family, whose house and gardens stood here, or to London’s historic Temple Bar district; the London connection is especially strong because Essex Street and Fleet Street occur in similar relationships in both places. The area’s most remarkable musical connection is on Fishamble Street, where Handel’s Messiah received its inaugural performance on 13 April 1742. That event is still marked annually at the same location.

Nearby Eustace Street also hosted the 1791 meeting that formed the Society of the United Irishmen. Temple Bar nearly disappeared beneath a transport scheme. In the 1970s and 1980s, plans proposed demolishing property for a bus terminus, shopping centre and underground carpark.

Low-rent leases instead drew artists, galleries, cafés and small shops, helping create the bohemian atmosphere that saved the district from that plan. Today, its cultural institutions include the Irish Film Institute, the Gallery of Photography, the Ark and Temple Bar Gallery and Studios.