Philosophy and Theory of Higher Education Society

The conference will be held primarily on the Trinity College Dublin campus in the city centre of Dublin.

Accommodation

Hotels in Dublin tend to be expensive, and we recommend that you book your accommodation as soon as possible, especially as June is a popular month for conferences in the city.  However, there are many options for hotels and hostels, including on campus at Trinity College, and we have provided a list of hotels that have offers/discount codes available for the PaTHES conference attendees listed below.

On campus

Summer Accommodation

The Trinity College accommodation office recommends their best available rate through their “prepay and save” rate, which offers a 10% discount.

Off campus

1. Trinity City Hotel: https://www.trinitycityhotel.com/en/ – This hotel is located on the doorstep of Trinity College Dublin. 
2. StayCity Aparthotels: https://www.staycity.com/dublin/city-quay – up to 20 studios allocated at StayCity Dublin City Quay from June 9th-12th, studio apartment at 205 Euro per night, inclusive of 13.5% VAT, breakfast can be added at €10 per day per person. All bookings must be received by 15^th April 2025 to avail of the conference rate. Bookings made after that date are subject to availability and the conference rate cannot be guaranteed. For delegates to book directly, they can send an email on to – Ireland Groups irelandgroups@staycity.com along with booking code PaTHES25. Card details required at the time of booking and full payment required 7 days prior to arrival. Individual Bookings can be cancelled without penalty up to 14 days prior to arrival. Anything cancelled within the terms, a full payment refund will be provided. And any booking cancelled outside the terms and conditions will be charged in full.
3. Easy Hotel: https://www.easyhotel.com/ – 50 rooms allocated, 145 Euro per room per night. rooms can be booked via the website www.easyhotel.com using the promo code GRPTCD. The code should be entered in the ‘Enter promo code to get special rate’ field when searching for availability. It is valid for stays on the 9th, 10th, and 11th of June 2025.
4. Maldron Hotel: https://www.maldronhotels.com/ – To avail of the offer of the TCD corporate rate of 205.00 Euro per room per night (including breakfast, tax, and Wi-Fi), please email Brian Moran at reservations.pearsestreet@maldronhotels.com and quote “June Trinity conference”. The rate will be honoured as long as they have space, up to May 16^th.
5. Morgan Hotel: https://www.mhlhotelcollection.com/ – The hotel has offered their most discounted rate (30% off), with flexible cancellation, on a flexible rate (so it will vary by booking date) on available rooms. To access the rate, email reservations@themorgan.com and mention the code TCD2025 for the staff member to offer the discounted rate. You will be asked for a credit card number to make the booking and will pay on arrival.
6. Ashling Hotel: http://www.ashlinghotel.ie/ – Discount code of 15% of their bed and breakfast rates, use promo code PHILTHE2 available for booking from March till the end of May (note also that this is where Ludwig Wittgenstein lived in a small room from November 1948 into the summer of 1949!).
7. O’Callaghan Collection Hotels: www.ocallaghancollection.com  – Promo code available: SPECIAL10BB when booking via the website across the hotels of this collection – this offers a 10% discount on the Best Flexible Rate of the Day and includes breakfast.  With this code, cancellations received up to 28 days prior arrival incur no cancellation charges, between 27 and 14 days 1 night would be charged, within 13 days, full cancellation charges will stand.
8. Skylon Hotel: https://www.dublinskylonhotel.com/ – use code PATHES25 on the website to apply a 10% discount on existing live online rates. This code is not valid in conjunction with any other offer or promotion which may be for these dates. Please inform participants that by clicking on any offers or promotion they will be redirected to the regular booking page.  To book with this code: On the home page click BOOK NOW; choose the valid dates – one, two or three of the valid dates (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th June); type in the code above ( in the promo code field below the dates). Please note that the code will not be valid for any other dates except the agreed ones – 10th, 11th  and 12th June  2025. Availability is live and will be open for as long as we have rooms to sell for these dates.
9. Abbey Court Hostel: https://www.abbey-court.com/ – No discount available, but rates as low as 29.00 Euro a night for a bed in a dormitory, including breakfast.

Transport – Arrival at Dublin Airport

We recommend taking a private coach to the city from the airport, rather than the public transport buses (Dublin Bus), as public transport may not be much use to you for coming from the airport. 

If you’re travelling around Dublin while here, tickets for trains/trams etc. are card or cash using ticket machines (or the ‘Leap card’ which is the integrated transport card). For the buses it’s cash (exact change only) or Leap card.  You can buy a ‘Leap visitor card’ at the airport – and more information is available on the Leap visitor card at the website: https://about.leapcard.ie/leap-visitor-card

Airport Coach

So the best option is to take the Dublin Express: https://www.dublinexpress.ie/dublin-city/dublin-airport-to-dublin-city. The signage is pretty good in both terminals. For both Terminals there are kiosks selling tickets outside the terminal building, on your left as you exit terminal 1, and across the road over the bridge and down the escalator for terminal 2. They look like this:

You can see the route on their website – Custom House Quay will be a good stop for many of you staying in the city. Just get a return ticket. There is also the Aircoach, another company – which is also good, and a similar price.

Airport Taxi

If you want to take a taxi, there can be a bit of a wait, and they’re not guaranteed to take credit card (they may be required to, but some still don’t and prefer cash). So I’d say make sure the taxi you’re taking will accept credit card at the start of your trip. There’s also Uber and Free Now apps in Ireland, so they are also options.

Restaurants, Pubs, Bars

There are lots of lovely restaurants close to Trinity College Dublin and within walking distance around the city centre.

Good coffee, pastries, sandwiches

• Il Fornaio: 15 College Green or Unit 10, Royal Hibernian Way, Dawson St (Italian coffee, pastries, biscuits)
• Lisboa Pastelaria: 7 Andrew St (good coffee, Portuguese pastries, wildly delicious egg tarts, yummy sandwiches)
• Le Petit Perroquet: 17 Wicklow St (good coffee, croissants, breakfast)
• Copper + Straw: 14-18 Aston Quay (very good coffee, gluten free baked goods available)
• The Pig and Heifer: 151 Pearse St (all manner of meat and veggie sandwiches)
• Andrew’s café addendum: Good coffee in Kaph. Try Simon’s Place in George’s St arcade for a coffee and a famous cinnamon swirl. Bewley’s Oriental Café on Grafton St is a national institution, so go get coffee or tea and some cake. There’s also a place called Søren and Son which has coffee beans from Aarhus, so that’s fun!

Traditional Irish Pubs & Other Bars

• One of the points of being in Dublin are pubs (not bars!). Visit The Stag’s Head (try the whiskey tasting menu), Kehoe’s off Grafton St., Bruxelle’s and McDaid’s on the opposite side street off Grafton, The Palace, Mulligans of Poolbeg St., The Long Hall (lovely). These are all proper Irish pubs. Also consider The Oval off O’Connell St. is a nice pub on the Northside (but there are others, like The Glimmerman in Stoneybatter or the Gravediggers in Glasnevin). Noname and Hogan’s on Fade St. are grand and more like bars, and the Globe has late night dancing and good tunes (busy and usually good fun). Anseo on Camden St. also has cracking tunes, lots of different beers etc. on tap.  Big Romance on Parnell St. is cool too (also good music). Dublin doesn’t really do nightclubs, but does club nights. Check event guides. 
• The Stag’s Head: 1 Dame St (excellent traditional Irish pub)
• Bar 1661: 1-5 Green St (cocktail bar)

Japanese, Chinese, Malaysian, Korean food

• Daruma: 13 Parliament St (on top of very lovely food, their coffee is also delicious)
• Day n Night Ramen: 18 Denmark Street Great (everything they make is delicious – super recommend)
• Little Dumpling: 4 Stephen Street Lower (dumplings are a winner)
• Kimchi Hophouse: 160-161 Parnell St
• Bullet Duck & Dumplings: 27 Mary Street Little (Hong Kong BBQ duck, pork, chicken)
• Biang Biang: 21 Mary Street Little (hand-pulled noodles)
• Kopitiam: 53 Capel St (Malaysian food, recommend lamb or prawn rendang, or a nasi lemak)

Activities

Bookstores: Hodges Figgis, The Gutter Bookshop, Books Upstairs, The Last Bookshop, Winding Stair Bookshop

Museums:

The free National Gallery of Ireland is lovely (surprising Caravaggio!), and the (mostly – notwithstanding special exhibitions) Hugh Lane Gallery is a gem (Dublin born Francis Bacon’s studio was brought over like an archaeological dig after he died…can see it here). Often interesting exhibitions in IMMA, also further outside the city.

• National Gallery of Ireland: Merrion Square W. (stunning Irish stained glass as well as other really wonderful Irish art on the first floor), also a super El Greco St. Francis on the top floor, among other lovely things)
• Museum of Literature Ireland – 86 St Stephen’s Green (incidentally also the original building for Newman’s University)

Other nerdy places to visit:

• Newman’s University Church – 87a St Stephen’s Green (where Newman gave the final Idea of the University lecture) – also has a nice bust and portrait of Newman
• National Botanical Gardens, Glasnevin (where Wittgenstein liked to sit and write on the steps of the main glasshouse in the winter 1948-1949 – while he was living in what is now the Aisling Hotel). You can also find a statue of Socrates in the gardens…
• The Oscar Wilde Monument – Merrion Square Park
• Tagore’s bust – St Stephen’s Green (Indian poet & author of An Eastern Idea of the University)

 Walks, hikes, parks

• Easyish: For a nice (but long) walk, get the 18 bus to Kenilworth square. Walk back through Rathmines. Cocktails in the Stella! Drinks in the wherever on your way back. Dinner in Delahunt.
• Medium effort: Get the Dart to Howth, walk around, eat the freshly caught seafood! Have a pint! Do the Cliff walk! 
• More effort: Walk to the sea – Poolbeg lighthouse…bring supplies and use the loo before you go? Or get the DART to Dun Laoghaire and walk along the pier. DART to Bray and climb Bray head.
• Parks/gardens in the city: National Botanical Gardens, Phoenix Park, St. Stephen’s Green, Iveagh Gardens, Dubh Linn Gardens, Merrion Square Park
• Newgrange: if you have a little more time, it’s worth a day trip to see this Stone Age (Neolithic) monument and UNESCO world heritage site in the Boyne Valley, County Meath. Newgrange was constructed about 5,200 years ago (3,200 B.C.) which makes it older than Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids of Giza.

Version: 18 April 2025