Hare Krishna Cultural Centre (ISKCON Dublin)
Dublin 1, Ireland
- Deities
- Radha Krishna
- Traditions
- vaishnava
- Worship status
- active
- Address
- 83 Middle Abbey Street, Dublin 1, D01 EV91
- Coordinates
- 53.3483554, -6.260767
- Darshan hours
- Daily, 12:00 pm-8:00 pm; consult iskcondublin.com for the current schedule before visiting.
- Best time to visit
- The temple hosts 25+ festivals a year, including Janmashtami and other major Gaudiya Vaishnava festivals; confirm the current calendar with the temple.
- How to reach
- At 83 Middle Abbey Street in Dublin 1 (the North Inner City postal district), central Dublin; reachable by local bus and on foot from Dublin city centre.
- Associated saints
- A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Location
Open in Google MapsThe Hare Krishna Cultural Centre is ISKCON’s (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) presence in central Dublin, now based at 83 Middle Abbey Street, Dublin 1. It represents a second, distinct node of organized Hindu worship in Dublin alongside the Ananda Sidhi Vinayaka Temple in the suburb of Kingswood, Dublin 24, already documented elsewhere in this directory — together reflecting the growth of Ireland’s Hindu community across both the city centre and its suburbs.
ISKCON’s presence in Dublin dates to spring 1973, when devotees led by Prabhavisnu first arrived in the city. The community’s first temple opened in 1978 at Belvedere Place, where it registered ISKCON as an Irish charity, before a 1982 move to Castlefield House in Templeogue, where Sri Sri Radha Madhava deities were installed in 1983 as Ireland’s first Radha Krishna temple. Over the following two decades the congregation relocated repeatedly across Dublin and even briefly into County Meath, before settling into its current combined temple-and-restaurant premises on Middle Abbey Street, building on the Govinda’s vegetarian restaurant chain the community launched in Dublin in 1998. Today the centre follows the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition founded in the West by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, holds daily darshan from noon to 8 pm, and reports more than 25 festivals a year and over 500 community members.
Sources
- historical record: Cross-checked against Wikipedia's 'Hinduism in the Republic of Ireland' article, which lists the Hare Krishna Cultural Centre (ISKCON) in Dublin 1 among the country's recognised Hindu temples/centres, distinct from the already-documented Ananda Sidhi Vinayaka Temple in Kingswood, Dublin 24.
- historical record: Wave 2 follow-up: the centre's current official site, iskcondublin.com (the older domain krishna.ie now redirects there), confirms the current address, daily darshan hours, and community scale (25+ festivals a year, 500+ community members, 2,000+ meals served monthly). An archived 'History' page from the temple's former krishna.ie site gives a detailed institutional history: ISKCON devotees, led by Prabhavisnu, arrived in Dublin in spring 1973; the first temple opened in 1978 at Belvedere Place, where the community (under Adi Karta) registered ISKCON as an Irish charity; the temple moved to Castlefield House, Templeogue in 1982, where Sri Sri Radha Madhava deities were installed in 1983, becoming Ireland's first Radha Krishna temple; charity status was controversially revoked and later reinstated; the community relocated repeatedly through the 1980s-90s (Dawson Lane, Clontarf, Navan/Ratoath in Co. Meath, Dun Laoghaire, Stillorgan, a 'Golden Avatar' restaurant on Crow Street, Temple Lane, Dame Street, South William Street, and Ringsend); its Govinda's vegetarian restaurant opened 1 April 1998 at 4 Aungier Street; and the current combined temple-and-restaurant site at Middle Abbey Street followed. Coordinates confirmed via an OpenStreetMap POI explicitly named 'ISKCON Dublin.'
For review
- Minor Eircode discrepancy: OSM tags the address's postcode as D01 W573, while the temple's own site gives D01 EV91 - likely reflects different postcode granularity for the same building rather than a real conflict.