DUBLIN

Enjoy the Irish capital's historic landmarks, including art galleries, a 500-year-old university, the lively bar scene and delicious Irish meals

- HANNAH BRANDLER

1 ST STEPHEN'S GREEN

Georgian townhouses surround this pristinely kept park in the city centre. The nine-hectare rectangular green was opened to the public in 1880, and features 750 trees, seasonally changing flower beds, a large lake and a sensory garden with signs in Braille for the visually impaired. If you time it right during the summer months, you might also get to experience a lunchtime concert at the bandstand. Aside from picturesque scenery, the park provides a path down memory lane, with 15 commemorative statues of historic figures dotted across the green. These include a recently restored Henry Moore bronze sculpture Knife-Edge in the Yeats Memorial Garden - the structure (also known as the 'standing figure') pays tribute to Irish poet William B Yeats. Other notable statues include a bronze bust of literary figure James Joyce, and the Three Fates statue at the centre of a limestone fountain at the Leeson Street entrance - the latter was gifted to the Irish by the people of Germany for the help given to refugee children after the Second World War.

2 NATIONAL GALLERY OF IRELAND