St. Manor is Stoneybatter's main artery
Few spoke of the working-class district of Dublin and none approached here. We cross the river liffey to leave the **bourgeois** and sophisticated Dublin of Grafton Street and Merrion Square to the south and enter the Dublin proletarian, non-conformist and effervescent.
Gotten up in red brick, Stoneybatter still remembers the sweat poured into his smoky factories, the barricades erected in front of its warehouses and its gloomy alleys.
But things have changed a lot in recent years. "TheBatter" is now the place exclusive signature coffees, from pubs with Celtic pedigree, independent cinemas, recording studios and even a book publisher.
The Last Supper at Cafe Cagliostro
THE NORTH DOES NOT FORGET
First the Celts and then the Vikings. "The Batter" is one of Dublin's oldest neighborhoods whose origins date back to the iron age and the rocky road that connected Dublin with the Hill of Tara, a sacred place for the Celtic kings.
With the Norman invasion of Dublin (12th century), the Vikings, who had made the city their own since the 12th century. IX, were expelled north of the Liffey, where they would found l to Ostmenstown (Eastern Men's Village), now known as Oxmantown and located in the current Stoneybatter.
Good test of the above northern neighbors of the neighborhood are the names of its streets: Thor Place, Sigurd Road, Ivar Street or Viking Road. Only Ragnar is missing.
But back to that Stoneybatter so cool. A mestizo town between the manufacturing tradition and celtic spirit of yesteryear with the new cosmopolitan and cultural air granted by the young artists and artisans that have taken root here.
Observation Tower at Smithfield Square
Despite of gentrification c neighborhood, and the rise in prices, that feeling of community is still preserved, the taste for style "old school" and respect for the traditions that are increasingly difficult to find in the capital.
Let's get situated. We are a 20 minute walk from Dublin city center or 10 if we take the red line Luas tram. To the south, the liffey separates us from the elegant The Liberties; To the East, smithfield of the commercial O'Connell Street while the Phibsborough neighborhood Linda in the northern part and the jungle phoenixpark, in the west.
Deer have ruled the Phoenix since 1662, when this reserve was created. 700 hectares for which they run freely between forests, meadows and gardens.
The dimensions make it the largest urban park in Western Europe and make the bike the best ally to travel the paths that pass by the Wellington Obelisk, the Papal Cross, the Dublin Zoo or the Presidential Residence. They say that it is not uncommon to find hallucinogenic mushrooms around here, but that's another story.
Smithfield Square, a modern pedestrian space
SMITHFIELD, BETWEEN WHISKEYS AND BAGPIPES
Smithfield Square is the gateway to old working-class Dublin. The historic horse and cattle market has been reinvented as a modern pedestrian space, illuminated at night by twelve futuristic streetlights and easily located by the Observation Tower, the old chimney of the Jameson distillery with more than fifty meters high. A pity that it is no longer accessible for security reasons.
The museum and visitor center Old Jameson Distillery (from 14 euros) is the legacy in Smithfield of the distillery of the Ireland's most famous liquor, whose current headquarters are in Cork.
The Whiskey Sanctuary, Jameson Distillery
Take a tour of the history of whiskey purest in the world, at least according to the Irish, due to its triple distillation compared to the double of Scotch "whiskey". Everything stays between Celts. they call it The water of life" , so pick up the glass, take a deep breath, toast the cry of slainté and taste the essence of Ireland.
Other essential places in Smithfield are the Generator Hostel (from 16 euros), the largest hostel in Dublin where there is never a lack of adventurous atmosphere nor international holidays; the internationally renowned Lighthouse Cinema and The Cobblestone pub, which deserves a separate chapter.
Dublin's biggest hostel
ANY DAY IN "THE BATTER"
avant-garde coffee shops, craft breweries, pubs, restaurants... The offer of fashionable places has become almost endless in Stoneybatter, so the only way not to go crazy is to plan (or try) the day in the working-class heart of Dublin. We can also follow the smell of coffee, the rhythm of folk or our own intuition directly. Anything goes.
After a day entrusted to the Phoenix Park, Smithfield and Cobblestone we will start the next one as the canons dictate in "The Batter", with a reactivating coffee in the Love Supreme (57 Manor St).
Love Supreme or love for coffee
They had told us that in this small place, with chairs and hanging pots their brick walls served the best coffee in the neighborhood. We ordered an expresso to go, tried it and believed it.
Before approaching the brunch of rigor in A SLICE of a Cake (56 Manor Place) we walked to **The Lilliput Press** (62 Sitric Road) to discover one of the most famous (and smallest) publishing houses in Dublin.
Antony Farrell shows us his extensive collection and he tells us the story of the bookstore as he settles into a reading chair with his greyhound at his feet.
Since 1984 Lilliput Press distributes biographies, historical novels, memoirs and books of all kinds from Stoneybatter.
Farrell explains that the publisher's name comes from a westmeath village, bookseller's home county, from which Jonathan Swift was inspired to name the Lilliput of "Gulliver's Travels".
Antony Farrell at The Lilliput Press
Back to the table. Another succulent alternative to ** A SLICE of a Cake ** (10 euros) is to surrender to the veal of My Meat Wagon (25 euros), specialist in roasts and grilled meat, although the salad and duck fillet of the wow (20 euros) are also usually very tempting.
Lovers of sweets will go without hesitation to the ** Green Door Bakery ** and they will choose the almond croissant from the wide assortment of desserts and sweets in this cute bakery.
In the afternoon, we will debate between visiting the National Museum of Ireland and walk to Arbor Hill Cemetery, where the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising are laid to rest; or take a walk "street art" for the project murals SUBSET at Smithfield.
This collective of artists have set out to turn Dublin into an open-air museum with their rebellious spirit and airbrush painting.
Specialists in grills and roasts
As night falls we get closer to the L. Mulligan Grocer , a gastro pub with a taste for the organic and for detail.
The stewed lamb accompanied with a Yellowbelly Red Noir beer it's a safe bet. So is trying their catalog of gins. Forgive us at Old Jameson.
The Frank Ryan's Bar is your place to live a football or rugby match as in the stadium and the says bar for a pint before starting the night.
The Glimmer Man Pub , with its heritage Irish pub aesthetic, is a wise choice for anyone looking for a cocktail or level whiskey and, with the permission of ** The Cobblestone, ** Walsh's doesn't disappoint when it comes to traditional live music, either. Not even for a Guinness, it would be missing more.
The Cobblestone, an ode to Celtic culture