10 best places to work (or study in) when you find yourself in Dublin city centre

Emily Mullen

Finding a quiet place to work/study in Dublin city centre can be a challenging task

Take it from someone who was recently stranded with a dying laptop in hand after being kicked out of a popular Dublin cafe (that will remain nameless). It’s never been more important to have the right information for when the time strikes when you need to block off some study time, shoot off a few emails in between meetings or work on that novella. Here are 9 decent places to work from in the city centre:

10. Cafe Nero
Temple Bar/Dawson Street

My completely unverified/tested opinion on finding somewhere to work in a busy city, is that coffee chains provide a well-needed space for people to work/study from. Think of the early 2010s when laptops and iPhones were becoming the norm, and you could barely get a seat at Starbucks without tripping over charger wires and bumping elbows with a corner of someone’s Mac. While the coffee at Cafe Nero might be up for debate, its locations at Temple Bar and Dawson Street provide a valuable space for those looking to get their bits done.

9. Marks & Spencer

Dublin 2’s 15-20 Grafton Street (upstairs)

Up above the bustle of the shopfloor, there’s a large airy cafe space upstairs with plenty of seats available. The staff are super warm and polite, which creates a lovely relaxing atmosphere. There are coffees, cakes and hot foods available, with even a terrace area for you to sit out at when Irish weather plays ball.

8. Dubray Cafe
Dublin 2’s 36 Grafton Street (upstairs)

In a surprising twist of events, number 8 is also another spot on Grafton street (one of the city’s busiest streets) and only a couple of minutes from Trinity and Stephen’s Green. After grabbing yourself a nice best-seller in the shop below, you can head upstairs to the Dubray Cafe and grab yourself a coffee and have a read. It’s a great spot to grab a quiet moment to yourself while you look down on the hustle and bustle of town below.

7. Shoe Lane

Dublin 2’s 7 Tara Street (upstairs) more info here

While also serving some of the best coffee in the city, the upstairs of Shoe Lane is a little sanctuary. There’s a communal table for working, a couple of plugs on the go too, it’s even dog friendly for those seriously into multi-tasking. The moody lighting, dark walls and fine wooden fixtures make for a relaxed and calm working environment.

6. Bestseller

Dawson Street

A really sweet romantic little space on Dawson Street- a great spot for your main character moment or indeed where you could write your very own bestseller. There’s plenty of little tables in the place which will prevent you from feeling bad for taking over a whole spot with your pens, notebooks, diaries and electrical equipment.

5. Mind the Step

Dublin 1’s 24 Strand Street Great, more info here

The team at Mind the Step do their level best to create a warm, welcoming and creative space. Opened by Marta and Seán the space combines their two loves, dance and coffee, the spot has two dance studios which run weekly classes from swing to Zumba. The late cafe serves up the ever-classic and reliable 3fe alongside some single-origin coffee, alongside toasties, soup and sausage rolls. While there’s a no laptops allowed on the weekend, during the week it’s a nice spot for some remote working or writing available in the airy space- there’s even a book swap basket to get th0se creative juices flowing.

4. Brindle

Portobello’s 34 Lennox Street, more info here

Relatively new to the scene this cafe-come wine bar is a great place to head to if you find yourself in need of a welcome table in Dublin 8. They have a seating area at the back past the counter, which is bright, airy and filled with tonnes of potted plants. It’s a sweet spot for people to come chill and have a glass of natty wine or a cup of single-origin coffee. It’s extremely dog friendly and a great spot to head to pick up some local artisan produce.

3. Kale & Coco

Dublin 7’s 18 Grangegorman Lower

A fully plant-based food business that specialises in delicious and healthy smoothie bowls, nourish bowls, smoothies and superfood lattes. With the bright interior, sweet tropical decor and a wide variety of singular seating, the cafe has a great environment for chilling alone or with friends- it’s also home to what we hear is the best Açai bowl in Dublin.

2. Brother Hubbard
Capel Street

There are fewer better places in Dublin to while away an afternoon than a Brother Hubbard, what with the punchy coffee, the selection of treats and the kind staff. The spot on Capel Street which used to house the old Gary Rhodes restaurant, is bloody massive, so massive in fact part of it is sectioned off. Typically one of the blockers for taking up a table is that other people might need it to yanno drink coffee but at this Brother Hubbards there is ample space to hang out there midweek and do a bit of work.

1. Books Upstairs

Dublin 2’s 17 D’Olier Street, more info here

In the upstairs of Dublin’s Oldest Independent Bookshop, there is a bright and airy space filled with natural light. The big windows look out on the crush of D’Olier Street from the serenity above. It’s a wonderful space for a quiet read, a gentle catch-up over coffee or a pleasant spot to flick through your new book that you picked up downstairs.