Somebody needs to give me a week solely to explore the street art of Dublin, seriously. The city centre alone is more or less plastered with it. Wether it’s in your face, in your way, or sneakily hidden; wether it’s a tiny sticker on a traffic sign or a massive painting covering a whole wall; wether it’s beautiful, funny, political, philosophical, or absurd – it’s everywhere!
Another thing that I found special about the street art in Dublin is that you repeatedly find the works of the same artists. I hadn’t encountered that elsewhere before. It’s like being in a gigantic exhibition, where you wind up in front of a painting, light your pipe carefully, and then constate with effortless sophistication: “Ah, why! Is this not another fine example of so-and-so’s gentle strokes with the spray can, hum, hum. I can see he slightly changed style from his last opus in [insert street name] Street, which he did four months ago”.
Or like a treasure hunt, when you discover that there are different stickers of the same type all over the city, and you kind of get in a frenzy… “Gotta catch them all!!”.
I also found that quite a bit of the existing art is legal. The Dublin City Council will work together with (street) artists (who can contact the Arts Office for a collaboration or if they want to use property of the council) and initiate projects, like the Dublin City Beta Projects, which are about testing concepts in the city, right on the streets. They have some excellent stuff going on!
Last but not least, I found a lot of commissioned work as well. It’s not just the very funky or freaky shops that have graffitti on their walls and shutters; it’s all sorts of businesses. Looks great!
What else did I find? …Ah, Kurt and Cortney, Thom Yorke, and then there’s one of the Gorillaz guys, and then… er… I’m lost: who’s he?
This one is from Vadis and Tilf for the “Muro Street Art Event”.
This is from a guy called Marcamix, who does stuff for the Evolve Urban Art Agency.
That’s Elvis and a Geisha, no?
Masks and lips – these are not so easy to spot.
Dining in an alley-way… behind some bins!
Solus is also a well-known street-artist.
“You are not alone” and “I’m okay” were part of the Street Art For Mental Health 2013 campaign.
Vadis (from before) and Zlashing are quite productive.
There is stuff EVERYWHERE.
So who’s the New Kid On The Block?
Dublin hosts everyone.
But I’m afraid we’re nearly done.
Some serious eye-candy, to make it easier on you.
Yep, she doesn’t look happy about it, either…
Oh my god! They even have poetry!
Right, that’s it, folks. And it’s nothing but a tiny fragment of what you can see in Dublin, really. I hope you enjoyed it – I did!
Further Reading
We’ve visited Dublin and Ireland a number of times, and from those visits we’ve put together a number of posts to help you plan your own trip. We’re always adding to these, so do sign up to stay up to date with latest posts!
- To help you plan your time in Dublin we have some itinerary posts, one for spending 2 days in Dublin, and one for 3 days in Dublin
- We also have an overview of things to do in Dublin to give you some general inspiration, as well as an overview of a traditional Irish night experience in Dublin
- One of the most popular day trips from Dublin is a visit to the Cliffs of Moher. We have a full post on visiting the Cliffs of Moher from Dublin to help you plan this trip yourself.
- If you’re exploring more of Ireland, take a look at our guide to spending 2 days in Belfast, and our guide to the Coastal Causeway
- One of the most popular attractions in Northern Ireland is the Dark Hedges, made famous by the Game of Thrones TV show. You can read our complete guide to visiting the Dark Hedges here.
- If you’d like a guide book for your time in Dublin, we can recommend the Rick Steves Snapshot Dublin guide, and the Lonely Planet Dublin guide
And that’s it for our photo essay on some of the street art we encountered in Dublin! We hope you enjoyed it. As always, if you have any comments or feedback, let us know in the comments below!
Kevin says
Loved the Dublin street art – well done!
Must keep a better eye out when I’m in the city again.
Laurence Norah says
Thanks very much Kevin! It is a great city for street art, hope you find more on your next visit 🙂
Laurence
Laura Ready says
Hello I would love to know which street in Dublin the grey door featured in this photo is located on please?
https://www.findingtheuniverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/DSC0294925255B725255D.jpg
laura
Laurence Norah says
Hey Laura,
This is a great question. Unfortunately, as this photo was taken in 2012, I’m afraid I don’t recall the exact street it was taken on 🙁 Sorry not to be of more help!
Laurence