Christmas in Dublin
Christmas in Dublin, for me, is skating on Smithfield Square just as it gets dark and then crossing the same square to the Cobblestone, with a pint in my hand and a trad session going in the front bar.
That rink is part of TwinkleTown, which is as close as the city centre gets to a Dublin Christmas market this year. It’s on two sites, with the ice, the Big Wheel and Santo Panto on Smithfield and choirs singing right beside the cathedral in St Patrick’s Park, and out in Ballsbridge there’s Everwinter, a new chalet market at the RDS with a big covered rink of its own.
Smithfield’s market is small, mind you, and you’ll walk round its stalls in about ten minutes, so I’d come for the rink and let Dublin do the rest, with its lit-up streets, the choirs by St Patrick’s, the pubs and, best of all, the days after Christmas, when Smithfield opens again for its last few nights.
When Are the Dublin Christmas Markets 2026?
The Dublin Christmas markets run from Friday 20 November to Thursday 31 December 2026, with TwinkleTown on Smithfield Square open for the whole run and its second site in St Patrick’s Park from Friday 27 November to Wednesday 23 December. Both are free to walk into.
The Dublin Castle market is off for a second winter, because the castle is busy with government business during Ireland’s EU Presidency, so 2024 was the last time it ran.
The team behind it has moved out to the RDS in Ballsbridge, where Everwinter runs from Wednesday 25 November to Wednesday 23 December, with just its ice rink carrying on from 26 December to 3 January 2027. Entry there is €2.50, and children 12 and under go free, though they still need a ticket.
Everwinter keeps shorter hours than TwinkleTown, 14:00 to 21:00 Tuesday to Friday and 12:00 to 21:00 at weekends, and Everwinter is closed on Mondays, which is easy to miss. Both TwinkleTown sites open from 11:00 to 21:00 on weekdays and from 10:00 to 21:00 at weekends.
All the markets pause for Christmas. Smithfield closes from 24 to 26 December, and St Patrick’s Park and Everwinter’s market have finished by then, so none of the markets opens on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or St Stephen’s Day, although Everwinter’s rink is back on the 26th. Smithfield returns on the 27th and stays open until New Year’s Eve, though its hours for the 31st aren’t out yet.
| Date | What’s on |
|---|---|
| Thu 12 Nov | Wonderlights opens at Malahide Castle |
| Fri 20 Nov | TwinkleTown opens on Smithfield Square at 11:00 |
| Sat 21 Nov | First Santo Panto shows at Smithfield, also Sun 22 Nov |
| Wed 25 Nov | Everwinter opens at the RDS at 14:00 |
| Thu 26 Nov | The Moving Crib opens on Parnell Square, its 70th year |
| Fri 27 Nov | TwinkleTown opens in St Patrick’s Park |
| Sun 6 Dec | ISL-interpreted Santo Panto 12:00 to 16:00, Bray Gospel Choir at the Moving Crib |
| Tue 22 Dec | Santo Panto runs daily on 22 and 23 Dec, Belfast’s City Hall market closes |
| Wed 23 Dec | Last day for St Patrick’s Park and Everwinter’s market |
| Thu 24 Dec | Smithfield closed 24 to 26 Dec, last Luas around 20:00 (last year’s pattern) |
| Fri 25 Dec | No buses, Luas or trains (last year’s pattern) |
| Sat 26 Dec | Everwinter’s rink-only days begin, no trains at all (last year’s pattern) |
| Sun 27 Dec | Smithfield reopens |
| Tue 29 Dec | Last night of Wonderlights at Malahide Castle |
| Thu 31 Dec | Last day at Smithfield, hours not out yet |
| Sun 3 Jan | Last day for Everwinter’s rink and the Moving Crib |
| From Mon 4 Jan | Closed until next season |
Which Dublin Christmas Market Should You Go To?
From 27 November, start in St Patrick’s Park and finish at Smithfield, because they’re a 20-minute walk apart and they’re good at completely different things.
TwinkleTown St Patrick’s Park
St Patrick’s Park is new this year and much gentler than Smithfield, with light displays, a Twilight Garden to wander through and carousels for small children, and what I’d make time for is the choirs, who come from all over Ireland to sing right beside St Patrick’s Cathedral.
It’s where I’d do my browsing, because there’s no rink taking up the room and its stalls are meant for Irish makers and craftspeople. From there it’s a 20-minute walk past Christ Church Cathedral and over the Liffey to Smithfield, two cathedrals and a river before you’ve even laced up your skates.
TwinkleTown Smithfield Square (Rink, Wheel and Panto)
Smithfield is Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland at Dublin scale, with a covered ice rink, a 33-metre Big Wheel, a vintage funfair and Santo Panto in the Spiegeltent, all on the cobbles beside the Jameson distillery, and you walk in for free where the London Christmas markets charge from £5.50 for Hyde Park’s timed ticket. Skating there as the lights come on is as much fun as Dublin gets in December.
Last year the stalls were mostly food with a small craft corner, because the rink takes up so much of the square, so the ice and the wheel are what you’re here for. With kids, so is the panto, because at €5 plus a booking fee for about 20 minutes and a small gift, Santo Panto is the best-value thing on the square (oh yes it is).
Book the rink online, from €10.75 for 45 minutes with skates, which beats the £15 the Edinburgh Christmas market started at for about 40 minutes on its rink last year. Book the panto at the same time, and pay for the wheel when you get there.
When you come off the ice, cross the square to the Cobblestone. There’s a trad session in the front bar every night of the week, the Mulligan family has played there for five generations, and after 45 minutes on the ice there’s nowhere in Dublin I’d rather be.
Everwinter at the RDS
Everwinter needs an afternoon of its own, out in Ballsbridge, about eight minutes on the DART from Pearse to Lansdowne Road and then a five-minute walk. It looks the most like a classic Christmas market of the three, with makers in wooden chalets, and with the old Dublin Castle team running it, I’ve got high hopes.
It’s the dearest of the three, though. Skating on its 600 m² covered rink is €22.50 an adult at peak times and €15.50 off-peak, and Robert Fossett’s Circus (no animals) is €13.50 to €14.50 for an adult. With the fairground on tokens as well, I’d save it for a family day out, or for a day when you’re craving chalets more than a funfair.
The Best Time to Visit the Dublin Christmas Markets
Go on a weekday afternoon and stay until dark. Have a browse round St Patrick’s Park after lunch, get to Smithfield around three, and you’ll get the rink in daylight, the Big Wheel at dusk, which comes just after four in mid-December, and the whole square lit up against a dark sky by about ten to five, just as you’re ready for the Cobblestone.
Weekends are when it jams up. On a Saturday the cobbles fill with buggies and it’s hard to move, so at the weekend I’d skate in the morning, when it’s quieter, and keep the evening for a pub.
What to Eat and Drink at the Dublin Christmas Markets
Order a hot whiskey, not a mulled wine. A mulled wine at Smithfield was €8 the year before last, and for that kind of money a pub with the fire lit will make you what Dublin does best in December, whiskey, hot water, a bit of sugar and a slice of lemon studded with cloves, which warms you right through after an afternoon in the damp.
The food at the stalls is international street food at prices that sting, with three churros at €8.50 last year, so eat near the markets rather than at them. Stoneybatter, a few streets behind Smithfield, is where I’d go for dinner once the session’s had an hour of me, with better food and better pints than anything on the square.
Out at the RDS it’s a different story, because Everwinter cooks over charcoal and does raclette, and melted cheese and charcoal smoke on a December night is exactly what I want from a Christmas market supper, so if you’re making the trip out there, eat there.
Where to Find Irish Gifts
This year St Patrick’s Park and Everwinter’s chalets are where I’d shop, because every site has promised Irish makers and those two give them the most room, and I’m delighted to be able to say that.
The last two Christmases left me frustrated with Dublin’s markets, because they were billed as Irish while most of the stalls came over from Britain, and at least one Irish brand was quoted €5,000 to €8,000 just for a space.
To buy straight from the makers, time your trip for one of Dublin’s craft fairs. Two are pencilled in for December, the Fumbally Christmas Market in the Fumbally Stables in Dublin 8, about seven minutes’ walk from St Patrick’s Park, from 4 to 6 December, and the eco craft market at the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin on 12 and 13 December, from 10:00 to 16:00.
Dublin at Christmas Beyond the Markets
Most of Dublin’s Christmas happens away from the markets, in a crib that moves, a castle garden full of lights and a zoo full of lanterns.
- The Moving Crib on Parnell Square is in its 70th year, free and open from 26 November to 3 January, 11:00 to 17:00 (closed on 25 and 26 December and 1 January, and shutting at 15:00 on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve), and I’d time a visit for Sunday 6 December, when the Bray Gospel Choir sings carols there.
- Wonderlights lights up the gardens of Malahide Castle from 12 November to 29 December, 17:00 to 20:30, from €17.50, and Malahide is only about 20 minutes on the DART from Connolly.
- Wild Lights fills Dublin Zoo with lanterns from 12 November to 5 January, 17:00 to 21:00.
- Winter Lights projects Christmas scenes onto city landmarks through December and into January, so an evening walk through the centre gets a show of its own.
- The Christmas Eve busk at the top of Grafton Street raised money for the Simon Community last year, and if you’re in town on the 24th, that’s where I’d want to be when Christmas starts.
If You’re in Dublin Over Christmas
Plan Christmas around the fact that Dublin stops. It starts winding down on Christmas Eve, when the last Luas ran around 20:00 last year, and on the 25th there were no buses, no Luas and no trains and almost everything was shut, so book Christmas dinner well ahead and stay within walking distance of it.
Last year St Stephen’s Day brought Sunday buses but no trains at all on the 26th, so the Enterprise to Belfast and the DART were both off.
Then from the 27th the city wakes back up, and this is the stretch I love most. Smithfield reopens until New Year’s Eve, Everwinter’s rink runs until 3 January, and the nights between Christmas and New Year feel like one long Saturday in the pubs.
Weather and Other Things to Know
The rink at Smithfield is covered, and you’ll be glad of it, because it rains in Dublin on about half the days in December. It’s mild, around 9°C by day and 4.5°C at night, so a waterproof jacket and waterproof shoes matter more than a heavy coat, especially on the 20-minute walk between the two TwinkleTown sites.
If you’re coming from Britain, start with the money.
- Dublin is in euros, not sterling. The TwinkleTown box office takes cash and cards, and at Everwinter most makers take cards while some want cash.
- Smithfield is cobbled, which makes buggies and wheelchairs bumpy going, and the organisers ask wheelchair users to mention it when booking.
- Dogs are welcome around the Smithfield stalls and in St Patrick’s Park, just not on the ice.
Adding Belfast to the Trip
If you want a full chalet market as well, take the train up to Belfast and stay the night. The Enterprise runs from Dublin Connolly in about 2 hours 10 minutes, from €13.99 online, with 15 trains a day Monday to Saturday and 8 on Sunday, and the Belfast Christmas market packs over 100 stalls onto the City Hall lawns from 14 November to 22 December.
Come between 27 November and 22 December and you’ll catch both TwinkleTown sites and Belfast in the same trip. Newry’s Christmas market is on the same line, about an hour and a quarter from Dublin, with up to 70 stalls in its Variety Market from Thursday to Sunday between 19 November and 20 December, so you could hop off there on the way up.
Is the Dublin Christmas Market Worth It?
Yes, as part of a Christmas weekend in Dublin. Forty-five minutes on the ice at Smithfield as the light goes, then a session in the Cobblestone, is why I’d come, and Dublin fills the rest of the weekend with ease. Just don’t fly over for the stalls on their own.
It’s a brilliant trip for families, with the rink, the wheel and the panto all on one square, and for anyone who loves a pub at Christmas as much as a market. If you’re after a sea of chalets, add Belfast, two hours north.
Give Smithfield a weekday and the last of the daylight, and finish the night in the Cobblestone.
