The Village: Dublin's Best Park, Farmers Market & A Beach Walk
The Village Tour
I promised that you'd see local Dublin and this is as local as it gets. This is my village and you're going to see authentic off the beaten track Dublin today.
Raheny Village
We start in Raheny Village. Now I confidently can say no other guide to Dublin has ever recommended that you come to Raheny. At first glance, it might look like just another suburb. But that's exactly why it's special. This is real Dublin life, not the tourist version.
These are the places I hunt for when I travel. Where locals actually live. What their houses look like. Village life unfolding from a coffee shop window. Give me this over shuffling past the Book of Kells with two hundred other tourists any day.
Come On A Guided Walk Of This Route With Me!
🕙Group guided walk Saturdays at 10am. Private tour any day.
🏡 3 hours full of characters, stories and local life
Food & Drinks In Raheny
Walk down past the ruin church and you'll come into the main street, all 300 metres of it. It's small but packs a punch.
Bowls Healthy Eating is where I go most often. Sarah & Andy serve up delicious and healthy food. Menu changes every week with recipes from around the world.
Bread Naturally might be the best bread in Ireland. They sell out daily.
Perky's Coffee House Tucked away in a cute house. At Christmas, their hot chocolate is the best in the world. Will Ferrell told me that.
Ireland's Holy Trinity
While you're on the Main Street, stop and look around you carefully. You'll see something that is in every Irish village in the land. A Chinese takeaway, an Indian one, the Italian chipper, the bookies and the pub. This is Ireland's new holy trinity or whatever the five leaf version is. You could be in Ballygonowhere, population 300, and it will have these five things. Essential to Irish life.
St Anne's Park
You'll pass by some neighbourhoods as you walk to St Anne's Park. On my guided walk we talk more about the housing crisis in Ireland and what led to it.
The Guinness Family Park
The St Anne's Park we have today is thanks to the Guinness family who bought it, got tired of it, and gave it to the city. Based on how much I've contributed to them, I should have a few trees named after me in this park.
St Anne's Park Today
I walk this park every day and still spot new things. Here's what’s packed into it:
35 playing fields, tennis, pitch 'n putt, zipline, model car track, Park Run
Rose garden (25,000 blooms!), walled garden, river, duck pond, microclimate.Clock tower, grand avenue, holy well, Arthur’s follies, dig site. Red Stables café, market, concerts, playground, dog parks
And I’ve definitely missed a few. But now you see why I live here.
In Summer check the St Anne's Park concert schedule. It is a fantastic concert venue and very local. This year the Lumineers, Stereophonics, The Corrs and others are playing.
Gaelic Games
When you enter the park, you'll see the two Gaelic sports of Hurling and Football being played. These sports are only played in Ireland. Look for the purple tops on the kids and adults throughout Raheny.
If you're on my walking tour, I'll tell you why my dad has been banned for life from playing Gaelic sports!
The Dark Hedges of Raheny
All the tourists race to Northern Ireland to see the Dark Hedges from Game of Thrones. But here in St Anne's Park, we have our own version, although it's more squirrel chasing dogs you have to look our for instead of dragons.
Park Run
On a Saturday mornings, there is a Community Park Run. I love the concept behind it. It's a 5km run, but it's not about winning, it's about bringing the community together. You can do it too! It's free. Run or walk it.
St Anne's Farmers Market
Also on a Saturday morning (see why I suggest coming on a Saturday) is the Farmers Market. I buy all my groceries here direct from the organic farms. Come hungry, order your food and sit down on the grass with Dubliners.
The Red Stables
On other days, eat at the lovely cafe in an old stable. The food here is really fresh and tasty. Bathrooms here too.
The Rose Garden
During the summer, this is the nicest part of all of north Dublin when the 25,000 roses bloom. Take your coffee to go, silence your phone, and sit awhile here on a bench here. You may look like the Irish Forrest Gump but it's perfect.
Walled Garden & Clock Tower
The route brings you through the walled garden and under the bell tower that was used to summon the workers.
The Naniken River
This next part is my favourite in the whole park, but it's quite to hard to find. As you walk along it, you could be in rural Ireland, not in one of our biggest parks. So peaceful. Just the calming trickle of water.
Stay Here
If you want a truly local Dublin experience, stay in the Village. It's only a 15 minute bus from the city. You'll be living like a Dubliner with the relaxing sea on doorstep instead of the noise of the city.
Our local hotel is a castle! Check rates at Clontarf Castle
Bull Island
Back in 1800s Dublin, someone had the bright idea to build a wall into the bay to stop ships getting stuck. Grand plan, worked perfectly except for the tiny detail of nature deciding to dump several million tons of sand behind it. Six kilometers of it, to be exact. Congratulations Dublin Port, you accidentally created an island.
The first to notice were thousands of Brent geese up in Arctic Canada, who took one look at their -40°C winter and said "lads, you'll never guess what just popped up in Dublin." Now they fly 5000km here every winter. Imagine choosing Irish winter as your warm holiday destination.
Bull Island has since collected more titles than the Dublin Gaelic football team: National Bird Sanctuary, National Nature Reserve, Special Protection Area, Special Area of Conservation, and UNESCO Dublin Bay Biosphere Reserve.
To get there, you cross the wooden bridge.
Dollymount Activities
Further along the Bull Wall, you'll find male and female bathing shelters where for some reason people like to go swimming in our freezing water.
I draw the line at winter swimming, but I do kiteboard here. Dollymount Beach is Dublin's kitesurfing capital. When the wind's right, it's world class. Pure Magic Watersports runs the lessons. Do a lesson here!
Or you can just walk the Bull Wall, which is what all the locals do. With views all across Dublin Bay and a brisk sea air. Then enjoy a coffee in a shipping container, Happy Out. You can visit the other shop on my Sea Tour.
Walk Details
🗺️ Local Walking Tour Through Real Dublin
Escape the tourist traps and explore a village where actual Dubliners live, shop, and swim with stories only a local can tell.
🕙 Small group guided walk every Saturday at 10am
📅 Or book a private tour any day that suits you
💶 €30 per person (group) / €150 for private tour
- Distance: 8km along paths, park trails and beach
- Time: 3 hours (including food and stops)
- Difficulty: Easy - all paved surfaces available
- Start: Take the DART to Raheny Dart Station
- End: Choose Dollymount Bus Stop, Raheny Dart, or Clontarf Dart
- Best Day: Saturday (farmers market day)
- Facilities: Toilets at Red Stables and Happy Out beach cafe
Have Questions?
Leave it in the comments below or on Facebook - I answer quickly on both.
