Dublin LGBTQ Pride Historical and Cultural Walking Tour

About This Tour

Dublin’s streets hold stories that aren’t always told - and this two-hour walking tour brings the most important ones to life. With a nationally accredited guide, you’ll trace the lives of Irish revolutionaries, civil rights campaigners, pride march pioneers, and gender identity trailblazers who shaped the country’s LGBTQ+ history.

Ireland has come a long way on equal rights, and there’s much worth knowing here - the struggles, the hard-won victories, and the remarkable people behind them. Along the way you’ll cover places like the General Post Office and its queer revolutionary figures, the Abbey Theatre and Panti Bliss’s famous Noble Call, Liberty Hall and the story of Ireland’s first Pride protest, Trinity College and the Sexual Liberation Movement, the Hirschfeld Centre at Diceman’s Corner, The George, and Dublin Castle - where the Marriage Equality Referendum was counted.

What’s Included

• Guided walking tour with a nationally accredited guide covering Ireland’s LGBTQ+ history

Itinerary

1. You’ll meet in the heart of Temple Bar before the tour sets off together. (10 min)
2. The group crosses Dublin’s most-photographed bridge on the way into the city’s queer history. (pass by)
3. At the General Post Office - one of Ireland’s most historically significant buildings and the centre stage of the 1916 Easter Rising - you’ll hear about the gay figures who played pivotal roles that week and how they’re remembered today. (10 min)
4. Ireland’s national stage, the Abbey Theatre, gives the tour a chance to explore one of Dublin’s most compelling contemporary LGBTQ+ icons and their role in shaping the modern country. (10 min)
5. At Liberty Hall, you’ll hear the story behind Ireland’s first ever gay pride parade - and about one of Ireland’s most inspiring trans activists. (10 min)
6. At Trinity College, Ireland’s oldest university, you’ll learn about the famous LGBTQI+ alumni who walked beneath its famous old arch, and explore the wider College Green area. (10 min)
7. Looping back through Temple Bar, the tour explores the changing landscape of queer Dublin in the 1980s - the incredible people who brought hope and light to their community, and the great thinkers and change-makers of the era. (10 min)
8. You’ll cross the River Liffey, Dublin’s famous waterway, on both sides during your time together. (pass by)
9. At the other end of Temple Bar, you’ll visit the site of Ireland’s first gay headquarters - which once had a cafe, disco, cinema, and more. (10 min)
10. Dublin’s oldest operating gay bar, a genuine cultural institution. The guide will talk about the place this beloved pub still holds at the heart of the city’s LGBTQ+ community. (10 min)
11. The tour wraps up at Dublin Castle, with 1,200 years of history all around you and the 18th-century courtyard as a backdrop. (10 min)

Meeting point: Outside the Old Storehouse Bar and Restaurant. Look for the guide holding a green umbrella.

Good to Know

• Wheelchair accessible, with wheelchair-accessible transport options nearby
• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Service animals are welcome
• Public transport is available nearby
• The tour is conducted in English and takes up to 100 people

Local Tips

The 1916 connection often surprises people. Most visitors come knowing the Easter Rising as a story of Irish nationalism, but the tour opens up a dimension of that history that’s rarely covered - the gay men who were central to the events that week and how their contributions have been remembered (and sometimes forgotten). The General Post Office stop tends to be one of the most thought-provoking of the whole two hours.

Panti Bliss and the Noble Call are worth knowing about before you go. If you’re not familiar with the context, a quick look up of Panti Bliss’s Noble Call speech at the Abbey Theatre in 2014 will give you background that makes the Abbey stop much richer. It was a turning point moment in the lead-up to the Marriage Equality Referendum and remains one of the most powerful pieces of public speaking in recent Irish history.

Dublin Castle ending is more poignant than it sounds. The Marriage Equality Referendum results were counted inside Dublin Castle in May 2015. Ending the tour there, in the 18th-century courtyard of a building that represents centuries of external power over Ireland, carries a weight that the guide handles really well. It’s a good place to let the whole tour settle.

The George is one of Dublin’s most enduring institutions. As Dublin’s oldest operating gay bar, it has a history that goes well beyond being a pub. The guide’s account of its place in the community - particularly through the more difficult decades - adds context that you won’t get from simply visiting on your own.

This tour works for all visitors, not just LGBTQ+ travellers. The history covered here is part of Ireland’s broader story - civil rights, identity, political change, and the country’s relationship with its own past. Plenty of people take it as a different angle on Dublin’s history and find it one of the most engaging two hours they spent in the city.

Nearby on IrelandMe

• Dublin Express Private Guided Walking Tour
• Dublin Great Famine Tour with EPIC Museum Tickets
• Dublin Highlights 3hr Private Licensed Guide