Temple Bar

You're in Temple Bar, Dublin's liveliest quarter, in front of the most photographed pub in Ireland. But the name has nothing to do with bars: it's far older than any of these pubs.

1A name with a double meaning

In the 17th century the bank of the Liffey ran along here, and a ‘bar’ was a riverside path. The name appears on Bernard de Gomme's map of 1673. It is usually linked to Sir William Temple, Provost of Trinity College from 1609 to 1627, who had a house and gardens here. But it almost certainly also echoes London's Temple Bar: there, as here, there's an Essex Street and a Fleet Street close by.

2Music, rebels and decay

Nearby, on Fishamble Street, Handel's Messiah had its premiere on 13 April 1742. In a tavern on Eustace Street, the Society of United Irishmen was founded in 1791. Then came the decline. By the 20th century the area was full of derelict buildings.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the state transport company CIÉ bought up property to demolish the area and build a large bus terminus. In the meantime, it let the buildings out cheaply to artists, shops and studios. The quarter came back to life, and the plan was dropped in the late 1980s.

The heart of Dublin's nightlife was saved by a demolition plan that never happened.

3What to look for

• The cobbles, kept during the regeneration.
• The red front of The Temple Bar pub.
• The bilingual street signs in English and Irish: ‘Barra an Teampaill’.