Cosy in the capital: A pre-Christmas trip to Dublin

A winter's weekend in Dublin delights Gemma Fullam with creativity, culture, coffee and craic

Thu, 04 Dec, 2025 - 17:03

Gemma Fullam

It’s Sunday morning in Dublin and the weekend’s biblical rain has given way to blue skies as I navigate the still-quiet city centre streets.

It’s only taken me 54 years, but I’m finally going to see the Book of Kells, which is now a full-blown experience, with exhibits and audio-visual elements bolstering the wonder of the medieval manuscript entrusted to Trinity College for safe-keeping in 1661.

My timing proves impeccable: crossing the cobbled square, I catch the Trinity College Chapel Choir in full flight outside the university’s Church of Ireland chapel.

They’re singing the entrance hymn of the Choral Eucharist they perform at 10.45am every Sunday morning.

Standing there in the chilly November air, uplifted by the ethereal harmonies, I’m reminded of the late American writer Spalding Grey who, whenever he travelled somewhere, refused go home until he’d experienced a perfect moment. This was certainly that.

My winter weekend had kicked off at another church, The Church on Jervis Street, a historic 18th century building that was a place of worship until 1986, and is now a café-bar and restaurant, having first opened as a pub in 2005.

Inside, it’s all warm wood, burnished brass and red leather banquettes, and with the Christmas decorations newly up, the vibe is fabulously festive.

Guided history tours are a relatively new addition here and bubbly barperson Becca Simons tells me they have proved hugely popular. Simons gives us the tour, brilliantly bringing alive the rich history of the building and the many characters associated with it and the area.

Arthur Guinness was wed here in 1761, and local lads Wolfe Tone and Sean O’Casey were among the 25,000 to be baptised at St Mary’s.

At the far end of the upstairs gallery is a huge organ whose ivories were once tinkled by Handel, while a nearby a plaque declares ‘Taylor Swift dined at this table March 2011’.

It’s no surprise to hear Swifties love to book that particular table.

It being a bar, our tour concludes a bevvy, which is included in the price. Simons does an Irish coffee demo (a Micil tasting tray of poitín, whiskey and Irish Cream liqueur is also an option) and then we have a go. I’ve made Irish coffee before, but my cream always sinks to the bottom.

Simons' hot spoon hack solves that, and her inspired addition of a sprinkling of Terry’s chocolate-orange shavings impresses the I’m Grand Mam lads, who are also on the tour, no end. (Dotes, the pair of them. It’s Kevin’s first ever Irish coffee. He loves it; the Terry’s on top is the clincher.)

I exchange coffee and churches on the northside for a creamy pint and a catch-up southside, meeting a pal in cosy Kehoe’s on South Anne Street before heading to the Stephen’s Green end of Dawson Street for a spot of solo dining at Nanetti’s.

My lovely Italian waiter gives me a prime people-watching perch at which I savour a series of sublime dishes (the pappardelle al ragu was perfection) while catching up on the day’s news.

Gemma in the Little Museum of Dublin on St Stephen's Green.

LITTLE HISTORIES

After a sound sleep and a hearty fry (why not?), Saturday finds me back at the Green for a tour of the Little Museum of Dublin, which has recently been reimagined and reconfigured to be fully accessible.

The entrance is via the basement gift shop stocking a huge range of Dublin-related gifts, from prints of the Poolbeg Chimneys to paperback Ulysses.

Vivacious guide Emma Moohan, nattily dressed in tweeds with a Carrie Bradshaw-esque giant red corsage pinned to her lapel, brings me on whistlestop journey through the story of Dublin, delivering it with pizazz and humour. It's hugely enjoyable.

The U2 room at the Little Museum of Dublin.

The walls of the Georgian townhouse are covered with artefacts and memorabilia from different periods of Dubin’s (and Ireland’s) history, while the self-guided rooms house various exhibits ranging from a U2 room to a tribute to 10-time Lord Mayor Alfie Byrne ‘the shaking hand of Dublin’, not to mention the ‘system rockers’ of 10 singular Irishwomen lining the staircase.

There’s that much to see, you could easily, and happily, spend all day here, but a must-see among the many unmissable exhibits is miniature masterpiece Tara’s Palace, a spectacular dollhouse that’s filled with handcrafted tiny treasures, and modelled on Leinster, Carton and Castletown Houses.

Thoughts of lunch eventually tempt me away, and a meandering route takes me down a buzzing Grafton Street past BT’s dazzling Christmas windows, then around by Suffolk Street and the newly restored Molly Malone statue to Drury Street and the cosy oasis of Drury Buildings.

Having lingered for over an hour over a comforting beef cheek pie, I down an espresso and zip back over the river. On Henry Street, led by Frosty the Snowman, a choir of Christmas characters sing along to a brass band playing a jazzy Last Christmas, while further up, past Arnotts’ jolly gingerbread man-themed windows, a bagpiper belts out Jingle Bells. The rain has stopped again and the music and general conviviality speak to the fact that Dublin can indeed be heaven.

Around the back of the Parnell Centre carpark is the Chocolate Factory, formerly a production hub for Toblerone and Mint Crisp. It now houses an eclectic array of businesses, including a slow-fashion denim brand and a furniture upcycler.

Gemma screen printing in Jando's workshop in Dublin

Jando, a printmaker run by husband and wife team Julie and Owen McLoughlin, has a vast airy showroom on the first floor of what was Dublin’s first concrete building. The neon-pink and white retail area showcases Jando’s now-iconic screenprints of Dublin (including the aforementioned Poolbeg chimneys print).

They’ve lately begun workshops so that you can screenprint your own and today it’s the Ha’penny Bridge’s turn to get the novice treatment. Julie is a born teacher, effortlessly instilling us all with the confidence to believe that we can print something as perfect as her flawless demo, and guides us through the process with infectious enthusiasm.

By the end of the two hours, all 10 of us, amid lots of giggling and admiring ‘oohs’ of others’ colour choices, have each produced two pretty decent prints of the famous footbridge. Result!

Jando has prestigious B Corp certification, so sustainability is to the forefront. Nothing is wasted, and they even filter the acrylic ink out of their water before it goes down the drain. We all get cardboard sleeves to protect our prints, and framing is available for an extra €20 (that’s one Christmas gift sorted!).

It’s a tremendously fun way to spend an afternoon and Julie tells me that come January, people will be able to bring their own designs to print. I make a mental note to come back and immortalise my quartet of moggies in ink.

HUNGRY WORK

All that effort is hungry work — screen printing requires a bit of muscle — so happily I’m booked into Mr Fox, a stone’s throw away, for a pre-theatre bite.

A clue to the name’s origins is in the location: Parnell Square was named for Charles Stuart Parnell who apparently used ‘Mr Fox’ as a pseudonym for liaisons with Kitty O’Shea, and if that wasn’t inspiration enough, it’s also a nod to the urban foxes that roam the inner city.

It’s a basement restaurant done in a soothing green, with butterscotch leather chairs and a patterned tiled floor. My dinner (scallops, followed by slow-cooked short rib) is delicious, but it’s the butter that would bring me back.

Sounds mad, I know, but the piped Parmesan ‘fondue’ accompanying the soft sourdough that kicked off my meal was literally To. Die. For. I shamelessly ate it all. “People say we should sell it,” says my waiter. Yes, please!

I haven’t time for dessert (or more butter) as I have to hot-foot it to the Gate for a 6.30pm curtain up of Neil Bartlett’s production of A Christmas Carol. Lloyd Hutchinson is a tip-top Scrooge and Wren Dennehy playing the Ghost of Christmas Past is standout.

It’s a hugely enjoyable retelling of Dickens’s redemptive morality tale and employs dance numbers, jazzed-up carols and a giant turkey to great effect. I fa-la-la-la-la my way back to my lodgings, admiring the twinkling festive lights en route. The city is pretty now, but come December 1, when the spectacular Winter Lights get switched on, it will be magical.

Back at the hotel, the Travelodge Plus on Townsend Street, the blackout blinds on my super-quiet seventh floor room mean I get my beauty sleep. It’s one of many thoughtful details in the well-designed space. Next morning, the concierge happily stores my luggage after checkout, leaving me free to visit the Book of Kells before I head home.

The 1,200-year-old book doesn’t disappoint. It’s a rare treasure in a city full of them, and as I take my leave of Dublin’s winter wonderland, the sky is blue and the sun is shining.