The Spire

The basics

Less than 10 feet (3 meters) wide at the base and just 6 inches (15 centimeters) at its peak, the Spire is far too slender for climbing or taking in views, although there is a ladder inside the structure for maintenance workers. Unlike similar monuments, there’s no large plaza at the base: It simply stands where its predecessor, Nelson’s Pillar, stood, until the IRA blew it up in 1966. Most travelers visit the Spire for a quick photo stop or use it as a rendezvous spot: It’s a popular meeting point for Dublin city tours.

Things to know before you go

• The Spire is a good choice for sightseers and shoppers looking for a meeting point on O’Connell Street.

• Don’t worry if the Spire sways in the wind: It’s designed to do that.

• The area around the Spire, like the rest of O’Connell Street, is wheelchair accessible.

How to get there

The Spire sits at the heart of O’Connell Street, Dublin’s main thoroughfare, about a 0.5-mile (750-meter) walk west of Connolly station. You can catch the Luas Green Line tram to O'Connell - GPO, or take one of a range of buses.

When to get there

The Spire is open daily year-round, but is at its most impressive at night, when light beams from the apex. If you’d like to get a photo of it without the crowds, come as early in the morning as you can.

Walking through history on O’Connell Street

O’Connell Street played an important part in Ireland’s fight for freedom from the English: There’s a statue of the nationalist politician Charles Stewart Parnell at the street’s north end. During the Easter Rising, freedom fighters seized the General Post Office (GPO), a grand neoclassical building. Today, while still a working post office, it features the GPO Witness History Visitor Centre that tells the story of 1916.