Ballsbridge Travel Guide

If you walk for just over half a mile west of Baggot Street Bridge (buses from the centre of town: #5, #6, #6A, #7A, #8, #10, #46 and #46A) you'll get to Ballsbridge , a respectable, essentially Victorian suburb with some pleasant guesthouses , as well as many of the foreign embassies and smarter hotels - and, for soccer and rugby fans, the essential Lansdowne Road Stadium.

The showgrounds of the Royal Dublin Society are also here (off the main Pembroke/Merrion Road) - the first of its kind in Europe, founded in 1731 to promote improvements in agriculture, stock breeding and veterinary medicine. The Society was highly instrumental in the development of Dublin as a modern metropolis, and encouraged the foundation of the National Museum, the National Library, the National Gallery and the Botanic Gardens. If you're in town for the Spring Show in May, don't pass it by; the Dublin Horse Show (usually in August) is even more impressive - its international showjumping draws the horsey elite (human and equine) from both Ireland and Britain. Details and tickets from the Royal Dublin Society, PO Box 121, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 (tel 669 2386).