Advice for Dublin must see/do?

ATMs for cash, and credit cards for large purchases such as hotel expenses.

As far as what to see, Kilmainham Gaol is top of my list. Trinity College, the Book of Kells, Grafton St, Temple Bar, the Georgian houses on Merrion Square are all close behind. I recommend a hop-on, hop-off bus tour to everyone as an overview. The guides are entertaining and informative, and the ticket is good for 24 hours, so you can use the buses to get from place to place the next day.

In Dublin I just did cash from an ATM, no problem.

Honestly, Dublin was not my favourite stop. My favourite part of Dublin was getting out of Dublin (oops). I did enjoy staying at Trinity College, although found the Book of Kells a non-event. I did the 1916 walking tour which was interesting, but fairly disjointed in that we seemed to walk places that had no relevance, but were just handy places to stop. I did the galleries and museums, which were fairly small, but did have some nice exhibits.

I would suggest the more tour things the better, as without the history the city is much, much less interesting (be it the hop on tours, walking tours, whatever).

One of the more interesting places we visited in Dublin was St. Audoen's church. There are actually two of them side-by-side. The older, more medieval (and smaller) is Anglican. Next to it is the Catholic St. Audoen's which is primarily Polish these days. The Anglican side is barely hanging on with something like 8 or 9 parishioners. The Catholic side has benefited from the influx of Eastern Europeans eager to practice their religion after suppression under communism was lifted. Another excellent thing we did was attend Evensong at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Absolutely gorgeous if you enjoy liturgical music.

Incidentally, if you are walking from Christ Church to the Brazen Head Pub you will pass St. Audoen's.

Meg,

First of all, ATM's. There are several located a block or two from the Harding Hotel. The staff there will be able to direct you.

The Kilmainham Gaol is definitely one site I'd recommend. It was a significant part of Irish history and the guided walking tour is quite interesting. Unfortunately at this time of year it's likely to be a bit "chilly" inside, so dress warmly (must have been terrible for prisoners in those cold stone cells).

The Guinness Storehouse is worth a look if you're really interested, but if you have other places to see you could probably pass on that. However the view from the Gravity Bar on the top level is great and the souvenir shop has lots of Guinness items if you need any gifts to take back for family.

Christchurch Cathedral (which is just across from the Harding) is beautiful and (I think) worth a few minutes.

A local walking tour would be good, to get some sense of the history of Dublin. I quite enjoyed the last one I took. There should be local guides listed in the Ireland book (although I haven't checked recently).

The Temple Bar area is a great place to spend an evening, and easily walkable from the Harding (go right out the main door and down the hill to the right). I enjoyed having a few pints in Oliver St. John Gogarty's Pub. There was a Soccer match on the last time I was there, and the place was crazy! I could hardly get in the door.

If you want to check out the area across the river, the Arlington Hotel sometimes has Irish dancing in the Bar in the lower floor (there's another Bar on the main floor).

Finally, I enjoyed the Red Bus tour, as it went past some interesting spots (including the Irish "White House" as I recall).

A day trip to Powerscourt Gardens might be possible (might not be too pleasant at this time of year).

If you enjoy a pint, you could also try Murphy's or Beamish.

Cheers!

Here's another vote for Kilmainham Gaol it's a monument to perverse logic. During the famine, they had to make conditions worse in the jail, so that people wouldn't prefer it to the workhouses. The "panopticon" is designed to give the guards a constant view of every cell--but its architecture would make a stunning shopping mall. The leaders of the Easter Rising were executed there--but their successors imprisoned enemies there during the civil war.

I am a very big beer fan, but I thought the Guinness Storehouse was overpriced and not all that interesting.

The Book of Kells is fascinating, but you have to have a high tolerance for crowds.

If you have an interest in archaeology, you might want to look at the National Museum of Ireland, which is within walking distance of Trinty College.

The National Museum at Collins Barracks is half decorative arts and half military history--a very odd combination. The former is room after room of pretty things. The later traces the wars and rebellions in which Irish troops have participated. you can choose or or the other, or both, and have plenty to see.