Smock Alley Theatre, Historic theatre in Temple Bar, Dublin, Ireland
Smock Alley Theatre is a theatre building in Temple Bar, the cultural quarter at the heart of Dublin, Ireland. It contains several performance spaces housed within an old stone building a short walk from the River Liffey.
The original theatre opened in 1662 and was one of Dublin's first buildings made specifically for live performance. Over the following centuries it changed use several times before being restored and reopened in the 2010s as a working venue.
The name Smock Alley comes from the old laneway where the original theatre stood, in what was then a busy part of the city near the river. Today the building sits in Temple Bar, a neighborhood known for its pubs, galleries, and street life, and the theatre draws a mixed crowd that ranges from locals to visitors.
The theatre is in Temple Bar and easy to reach on foot from most parts of Dublin city centre. Booking ahead is a good idea since performances tend to sell out, especially on weekends.
When workers began the restoration, they found the original 17th-century stone walls still standing beneath later additions, and those walls were kept visible inside the building. In some spaces you can stand right next to them and see how the old structure was built.
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