Cafeography
Dublin · Temple Bar & Dame Street

Cafés in Temple Bar & Dame Street

Narrow cobbled lanes between Dame Street and the Liffey, with early counters on Trinity Street.

Photo: Renata Moraes, Pexels License

Temple Bar is the block between Dame Street and the Liffey, bounded by Westmoreland Street to the east and Fishamble Street to the west. Its name probably comes from Sir William Temple's 17th-century house and gardens. In the 1970s and 1980s the state transport company planned a bus terminus here; instead, in 1991, the government set up Temple Bar Properties to regenerate it as Dublin's cultural quarter.1

The pubs take the evenings, and the cafés sit at the edges and in the side lanes. Keogh's Cafe on Trinity Street opens at 06:30 Monday to Saturday, Rumi Cafe on Essex Street West at 07:00, and House of Read on Parliament Street at 08:00. A few cafés on Ormond Quay, across the river, round out the area.

Local tip: Keogh's Cafe on Trinity Street opens at 06:30 Monday to Saturday and 08:30 on Sundays, well before the lanes fill.

At a glance

36Cafés listed
7With opening hours
06:30Earliest opening
23:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Keogh's Cafe, from 06:30 (Mon–Wed 06:30–18:00 · Thu–Sat 06:30–19:00 · Sun 08:30–18:00).
  • Closes latest: Tea Garden, until 23:00 (Mon–Thu 15:00–23:00 · Fri–Sun 13:00–23:00).
  • Most listed streets: Essex Street East (4), Ormond Quay Lower (3), Wellington Quay (2).
  • Most common features: indoor seating (19%), partial wheelchair access (14%), smoke-free indoors (11%).

Mantle

  • 11 Anglesea Street
  • Mon–Tue Closed · Wed–Fri 08:30–16:30 · Sat 09:30–16:30 · Sun 10:00–16:30
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Rumi Cafe

  • 1 Essex Street West
  • Mon–Sat 07:00–19:00 · Sun 08:00–18:00
  • +353 87 222 7111
  • Card payment
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Coffee chains in Temple Bar & Dame Street

Fishamble Street and the west end

Handel's Messiah had its first public performance in a music hall on Fishamble Street on 13 April 1742.2 It is performed at the same spot every year on the same date. The west end, between Parliament Street and Fishamble Street, is also where most of Temple Bar's residents live, about 2,000 at the 2011 peak.1

Chorus Café is on Fishamble Street. Round the corner, Rumi Cafe at 1 Essex Street West charged €3.20 for a flat white in October 2026, the same as its sister café on Francis Street.3

Eustace Street and the cinema

The Irish Film Institute occupies part of the old Friends' Meeting House of Dublin's Quakers on Eustace Street, which Frederick Douglass visited in September 1845 as a guest of the Quakers.4 The IFI Café Bar is inside.

The Society of the United Irishmen was formed at a meeting in a tavern on the same street in 1791.1 The street also has the Focus Ireland café at No. 15. Meeting House Square, behind the cinema, has The Ark, a children's cultural centre opened on 1 July 1996, and the quarter's other institutions include the Gallery of Photography and the National Photographic Archive.1

Aston Quay and the north quays

Copper + Straw on Aston Quay charged €4.00 for a flat white in 2026.3 In 2023 it had plugs but no Wi-Fi, and ran a 12:00–13:00 happy hour with drinks at €2.50.5

Across the river on Ormond Quay Lower, Tea Garden serves from 15:00 Monday to Thursday and from 13:00 Friday to Sunday, and stays open until 23:00 every night. Country Cafe on Ormond Quay Upper opens at 07:30 on weekdays.

Dame Street and Parliament Street

Parliament Street carries the long view south from Capel Street, across Grattan Bridge, to City Hall.6 House of Read at 4 Parliament Street opens 08:00–19:00 Monday to Saturday and from 09:00 on Sundays.

KC Peaches at 54 Dame Street stays open until 20:00 on weekdays and 19:00 on Saturdays. Cool Hand, the Dublin roaster that roasts in store, also has a counter in Temple Bar.7

Sources

  1. Temple Bar, Dublin, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. Fishamble Street, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  3. The Flat White Index: Ireland (café prices logged August to October 2026), The Flat White Index, accessed October 2026
  4. Irish Film Institute, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  5. The Best Cafés in Dublin To Work From (September 20, 2023), All The Food, accessed October 2026
  6. Capel Street, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  7. Cool Hand Coffee Roasters, Cool Hand Coffee Roasters, accessed October 2026
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FAQ

Temple Bar & Dame Street cafés: questions

Where was Handel's Messiah first performed in Dublin's Temple Bar?

Handel's Messiah had its first public performance in a music hall on Fishamble Street, at the western edge of Temple Bar in Dublin, on 13 April 1742. It is performed there every year on the same date. Chorus Café is on Fishamble Street, and Rumi Cafe on Essex Street West opens at 07:00 Monday to Saturday.

Which cafés in Temple Bar, Dublin, open early?

Keogh's Cafe on Trinity Street opens at 06:30 Monday to Saturday and 08:30 on Sundays. Rumi Cafe on Essex Street West opens at 07:00 Monday to Saturday, and House of Read on Parliament Street at 08:00. KC Peaches on Dame Street stays open until 20:00 on weekdays.

Is there a café at the Irish Film Institute in Temple Bar, Dublin?

Yes. The IFI Café Bar is inside the Irish Film Institute on Eustace Street in Temple Bar, Dublin, in part of the old Friends' Meeting House of Dublin's Quakers. Frederick Douglass visited the meeting house in September 1845.

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