• Royal St George Yacht Club -
  Dunleary, once a small creek, underwent a remarkable transformation with the construction of the new harbour between 1817 and 1842. Kingstown Harbour emerged as a hub for yachting, a sport gaining popularity along the Irish coast in the nineteenth century. An 1898 newspaper article highlighted that during the yachting season, “Kingstown is conceded to be the most charming and prosperous suburban place in Ireland.” Throughout the nineteenth and into the twentieth centuries, Kingstown was the preferred location for royal arrivals and departures. These visits drew significant public interest with their grandeur and spectacle. Queen Victoria visited Kingstown on four occasions: 1849, 1853, 1861, and 1900.

• Pavilion Theatre - The Pavilion & Gardens Kingstown Ltd. officially opened on 22 June 1903. From its inception, the Pavilion Theatre was promoted as offering “first-class entertainments” in Kingstown. It featured various rooms, including tearooms, a smoking room, and reading rooms for both ladies and gentlemen. Additionally, there were promenades, a rooftop garden, a shooting gallery, and a skating rink. The residents of Kingstown and Dublin could gather to enjoy a drink, a concert, a dance, a smoke, or a game of billiards in an environment befitting their social standing. Concerts were held in the early afternoon, with Viennese balls in the evenings. This grand hall could accommodate 1,000 seats. Early events included a 1904 Viennese evening of music and fireworks, a lavish affair attended by approximately 4,000 people. On 31 August 1908, the renowned Irish tenor John McCormack gave a special performance.

• Royal Marine Hotel - The Royal Marine Hotel opened in 1865 and quickly became a popular stopover on the journey to and from London, helping to establish Kingstown as a major holiday destination. The luxurious hotel attracted many aristocratic and royal guests. In 1900, during Queen Victoria’s visit to Ireland, she reportedly enjoyed a 16-course breakfast at the hotel shortly after arriving in Kingstown. The Royal Marine Hotel has also hosted numerous Heads of State, Kings, Queens, and celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, Laurel & Hardy, and Charlie Chaplin, among others. The Irish freedom fighter Michael Collins is believed to have hidden in Room 210 with his partner Kitty Kiernan.

• Marine Terrace - The Dublin Riviera and the former seafront hotels on Marine Terrace and Victoria Terrace

• Haddington House Hotel - In the 1990s, both the Carney Arms and the Carlisle became the Kingston Hotel at numbers 9-12 Haddington Terrace. In 2015, the team at Oliveto’s restaurant took over the hotel, beautifully restoring and refurbishing the four Victorian townhouses. They renamed the hotel Haddington House.

• Dun Laoghaire Baths - In 1843, John Crosthwaite constructed baths at the corner of Scotsman’s Bay. These were rebuilt in 1864 at a cost of £4,000. Originally known as the Royal Victorian Baths, Kingstown Urban District Council acquired the baths in the late 1890s. Between 1905 and 1908, the baths were relocated nearby and extensively remodeled to the designs of W Kaye Parry (the same architect as the Pavilion) at a cost of £10,200. This is when they became known as Kingstown Baths, and later Dún Laoghaire Baths. In the late 1920s, numerous improvements were made to the baths, and Dún Laoghaire was advertised as a center for “luxurious sea bathing,” boasting “the finest and best-equipped baths in all Ireland.” Facilities included pools for ladies, gentlemen, and children. Slipper baths featured a roll-top bathtub with one end curving up like a slipper, hence the name. Needle baths directed jets of water around the torso, and there were also heated seaweed baths and saltwater baths, exemplifying luxurious bathing at its finest.

• Local Historian
• Author
• Tour Guide

The Dublin Riviera offers a guided coastal walk that transports participants back to a golden era when both locals and visitors enjoyed fine dining and socializing at yacht clubs, restaurants, and hotels along the waterfront. They also danced the night away at the Pavilion, ballrooms, and nightclubs. This walk provides a fascinating look into the harmonious relationship between the harbor and the town, illustrating how Dún Laoghaire developed into a sophisticated and glamorous hub of hospitality, entertainment, and luxurious bathing, known as the “Dublin Riviera.”

The tour is led by Eileen O’Duffy, a local historian and author of two books: ‘From Dirt and Dips to Dryrobes, bathing in Dun Laoghaire through the ages’ and ‘Champagne, Cocktails and Crêpes Suzette, wining, dining and dancing in Dún Laoghaire through the ages.’

The meeting point is at 11:30 am, just a 3-minute walk from the Dún Laoghaire cruise passenger drop-off location at the entrance to Quarterdeck, Harbour Plaza (entrance to Old Ferry Terminal).

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.