Siúlóid a Trí · 3 huaire

Caisleán, Tríonóid
& an Sean-Pharlaimint.

3 huaire, 2.8 km, sé stad. Buail ag geata Chnoc Chorcaí de Chaisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath, críochnaigh ag an Olympia. Seacht gcéad bliain de cheannas na Breataine, searmanas tarchurtha 1922, seimineár Protastúnach 1592 agus Parlaimint a díscaoileadh in 1800 — gach rud léite ag leibhéal na sráide. €48 in aghaidh an tsiúlóra. 12 siúlóir ar a mhéad.

Duration

3 hours

Group size

4 to 12

Achar

≈ 2.8 km

Láthair chruinnithe

Geata Chnoc Chorcaí, Caisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath

This walk is outdoors only Ní théimid isteach in Árasáin Stáit Chaisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath. Ní théimid isteach i Halla na Cathrach, Sean-Leabharlann Choláiste na Tríonóide, sean-seomra Theach na dTiarnaí Bhanc na hÉireann, ná aon fhoirgneamh eile ar an mbealach. Tarlaíonn an tsiúlóid go hiomlán ar shráideanna agus ar chosáin phoiblí Bhaile Átha Cliath, agus sa Chlós Uachtarach inrochtana go poiblí den Chaisleán. Más mian leat dul isteach sna hÁrasáin Stáit nó i Seomra Fada na Tríonóide, áirithigh iad sin ar leithligh ar an lá is fearr leat.

The walk in brief

Ceithre fhoirgneamh, ceithre chéad bliain, tráthnóna Seoirseach amháin.

Tús ag geata Chnoc Chorcaí, áit ar tugadh Caisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath do Mhichael Collins ar an 16 Eanáir 1922 i searmanas seacht soicind is caoga. Siúil isteach sa Chlós Uachtarach, ansin trasna chuig Halla na Cathrach — sean-Mhalartán Ríoga na cathrach. Trasna Sráid an Dáma chuig geata tosaigh Choláiste na Tríonóide, a bunaíodh in 1592 mar sheimineár Protastúnach an bhunaíocht Angla-Éireannach. Críochnaigh faoi cholúnáid chuartha shean-Thithe na Parlaiminte, díscaoilte ag Acht an Aontais in 1800 agus a bhfuil Banc na hÉireann ann anois.

Buail ag geata Chnoc Chorcaí ag 10:00 (siúlóid mhaidine) nó 14:30 (siúlóid tráthnóna). Críochnaigh trí huaire ina dhiaidh sin faoi cheannbhrat iarainn Amharclann an Olympia — dhá nóiméad ón Luas ar Shráid Westmoreland. Ritheann na hÁrasáin Stáit agus Seomra Fada na Tríonóide a dturais istigh féin; áirithigh iad ar lá eile.

A small group at the Cork Hill gate of Dublin Castle, the Bedford Tower clock face just visible inside the Upper Yard.

The route

Sé stad, dhá scíth shuite.

Every Castle walk visits all six, in order.

0:00 · Cork Hill gate, Dublin Castle
The gate that closed an empire.

We meet at the Cork Hill gate, beneath the carved figure of Justice (the back of whose blindfold faces Dublin, a long-running joke). Forty minutes on the medieval foundation, the Norman Black Pool that gave Dublin its name, the Castle as the seat of the Lord Lieutenant, and the morning of 16 January 1922 when Collins arrived seven minutes late and turned the British Empire over to a delegation of seven men.
0:45 · The Upper Yard
The view from the cobbles.

We walk into the Upper Yard (which is a free, public, outdoor square — not the State Apartments) and read it from the cobblestones. The Bedford Tower, the State Entrance, the Throne Room windows. Twenty minutes, finishing at the bench by the Castle Garden where the original Black Pool sat.
1:15 · City Hall, Dame Street
The Royal Exchange that became a corporation hall.

Up the steps to City Hall — the eighteenth-century Royal Exchange of the Dublin merchants, taken by Dublin Corporation in 1852 and the present-day seat of Dublin City Council. We circle the building, read the Doric portico, and pause for a first sit-down on the granite steps.
1:45 · Dame Street and the old Smock Alley
The seventeenth-century theatre street.

Down Dame Street toward College Green, with detours into Crow Street, Eustace Street and the lost site of Smock Alley Theatre — the seventeenth-century playhouse where Garrick and Sheridan worked. Fifteen minutes on the Georgian rebuilds, the print shops, and the survivor pubs.
2:00 · College Green & the old Parliament
The Houses that voted themselves out of existence.

The widest moment of the walk: standing at the centre of College Green between the curved colonnade of the old Parliament (now Bank of Ireland) and the front gate of Trinity College. Twenty-five minutes on the 1800 Act of Union, the parliamentary debates of the 1780s and 90s, and the architectural swap that left Westminster the only legislature on these islands. A coffee stop in Trinity's Front Square (which is open to the public, which we walk through, but where we do not visit the Long Room).
2:40 · Olympia Theatre, Dame Street
Music hall, riot, survival.

Back along Dame Street to the Olympia Theatre — opened 1879 as Dan Lowrey's Star of Erin, riot-magnet of the 1907 Synge season, still working. Twenty minutes under the iron canopy, our final reading, an open Q&A and our recommendation note for which interior tour to book tomorrow.

What's included

Three hours with a resident guide
Small group, no more than twelve walkers
Two seated stops, including coffee in Trinity's Front Square
Printed pocket-map of the Castle/Trinity axis
A one-page recommendation for the State Apartments and Long Room tours, sent on booking

Good to know

About 2.8 km on flat city paving with a short cobbled stretch in the Castle
Step-free throughout, with one narrow Trinity gate
No interior visits to any building on the route
The Castle Upper Yard is occasionally closed for state functions; we re-route via the Lower Yard
We walk in light rain — bring a waterproof
Children welcome from age 12 with a paying adult

From the route