GardenCounty DublinOPW Heritage Ireland4.7
Free for everyone; no ticket, booking or membership card is needed. OPW's free official audio tour of the park is on the GuidiGO app; the weekend 'Green Mile' tours from the Little Museum of Dublin are a third party's.
Arrive on foot, by bike or by public transport.
OPW names no car park: 'Centre of Dublin, at the top of Grafton Street' with bus, bicycle and walking directions. OPW's park site says most buses serve the city centre and stop near the park and the Luas green line terminates at the St Stephen's Green stop. The nearest commercial car park is Q-Park St Stephen's Green at Glover's Alley, about 220 m from the arch; its tariff is not stored.
Driving pin: the Fusiliers' Arch, the main entrance at the top of Grafton Street, where OPW's own pin sits.
St Stephen's Green lies at the top of Grafton Street in the very centre of Dublin's shopping district, one of Ireland's best known public parks. The City Assembly marked out its central acres in 1663 and the Beaux Walk on the north side was the fashionable promenade of the eighteenth century, but from 1814 the square was a private park for key holders, until Sir Arthur Guinness, Lord Ardilaun, bought it and opened it to the citizens in 1880. The nine hectares keep their original Victorian layout, with extensive tree and shrub planting, spectacular spring and summer bedding and a long herbaceous border. The ornamental lake is home to waterfowl, the waterfall and Pulham rockwork on the western side are worth seeking out, and the sculptures include the James Joyce memorial and one by Henry Moore. A children's playground, a garden for the blind with scented plants and more than 3.5 kilometres of accessible paths complete it. Dogs are welcome on a lead away from the playground, lake and fountains.
Open all year: Monday to Saturday from 07:30, Sunday and bank holidays from 09:30, Christmas Day 09:30 to 12:30. OPW's place page prints no closing times; its park site's 2026 table closes the gates at 18:00 from 19 October, 17:00 from 25 October, 16:30 from 9 November and 16:00 from 23 November, rising again through the spring to 21:00 in May, June and July. Closing times may change at short notice. Allow one to two hours.
More than 3.5 km of accessible paths; a playground with separate areas for smaller and older children; a garden for the blind with Braille signs and scented plants; free lunchtime concerts some summer days. Drones are not permitted. No toilets, cafe or shop are listed by OPW. Reviewers warn that the gulls are bold around food.
Dogs: Pet dogs are allowed on a lead throughout the park but not in the playground or around the lake and fountains.
Photo: A swan on the ornamental lake in St Stephen's Green before the Victorian lakeside shelter, with benches and a flower bed in the foreground. Oliver Gargan, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dublin_-_Saint_Stephen%27s_Green_-_20190115034037.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.
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Dogs, with restrictions
OPW's free official audio tour on the GuidiGO app, just over an hour with ten stops from the Fusiliers' Arch to the site of the lost Eglinton statue, with an offline map; free entry during park hours.
Dogs, with restrictions
More than 3.5 km of accessible pathways around the lake, bedding and lawns inside the park gates; free during park hours.
