Vincent Finnegan | Smithfield Commercial Properties

Smithfield - a destination that adds up!

We cannot fault your service in any way. We felt confident and assured by your professional team ...more

Smithfield (Irish: Margadh na Feirme, meaning "Farm Market") is an area on the northside of Dublin. Its focal point is a public square, formerly an open market, now officially called Smithfield Plaza, but known locally as Smithfield Square or Smithfield Market, it is the largest purpose-built open civic space in Europe. It is designed to give the area a new lease of life by bringing people back into this area of the city.

Notable landmarks include the Old Jameson Whiskey Distillery and the Observation Tower. The Market was laid out in the mid 17th century as a marketplace. Until recently the square was lined with inner city 'farm yards' housing livestock. In 1964 Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor spent time there, as Burton worked on the film set in Smithfield for the film adaptation of John le Carré's novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Smithfield "played a role" of Checkpoint Charlie in the movie. Smithfield was recently rejuvenated under the HARP (Historic Area Rejuvenation Plan). An architectural competition was held and won by McGarry NiEanaigh Architects in 1997. The restoration involved lifting more than 400,000 one hundred and twenty-year-old cobblestones, cleaning them by hand and re-laying them.

Contemporary architecture and twelve 26.5 metre gas lighting masts, each with a 2-metre flame, now flank the square. The lighting mast shades are regularly to be seen in different colours, reflecting cultural events throughout the year. Today many people are to be found at Smithfield Market with the plaza providing a convenient through route for local residents, as well as for a significant number of professionals and users of a range of court and legal-related services and buildings in the area. These range from the Prison Probation Services through to the Family Court and the Law Society of Ireland, amongst others, with Smithfield and Smithfield Market situated in convenient proximity to Dublin's legal hub of The Four Courts.