22 St. Stephens Green Dublin − Ireland
Cliff Townhouse, Dublin – the only restaurant-with-rooms on St Stephen’s Green – has one of the most prestigious addresses in the capital. It occupies a late 17th-century house on the square’s north side, originally the home of the Earl of Shelburne.
Throughout the 18th century, the house was owned by a number of Ireland’s most prominent families, with John Pratt (Paymaster General), the Ormsbys and St Ledgers among them.
The St Ledgers kept the house until 1790, when it was sold to Thomas Leighton – a modest Ulster trader and shopkeeper who went on to make his fortune with the East India Company. Later knighted, he demolished the existing house and erected two new homes, numbers 22 and 23, selling the latter.
Number 22’s next significant incarnation occurred in 1884, when it became the headquarters of The Friendly Brothers of St Patrick for the county of Dublin Knot, making it the oldest private members club in Ireland. The organisation’s chief concern was to abolish duelling, a grave problem during the Ascendancy period.
Samuel Beckett spent some time writing here. In its more recent history, chef Richard Corrigan established Bentley’s restaurant at the townhouse in 2008. The O’Callaghan family took over the entire property in 2010.
Since 2010, CLIFF’s Executive Chef Martijn Kajuiter has been at the restaurant’s helm, with Sean Smith working as Head Chef. The nine individual guestrooms have been renovated to create a modern restaurant-with-rooms within this classically beautiful building. Cliff Townhouse is managed by Valerie Bracken, who instils the property with warm Irish hospitality.
CLIFF is a privately-owned hotel, restaurant and lifestyle group founded upon authentic Irish values in design, hospitality and cuisine.
In a world of repetitive luxury experiences, CLIFF stands apart — a capsule collection of privately owned venues for overnight stays, dining, weddings, meetings and events.
Each location is distinguished by its individual style, by its heart and soul, but also shares the group’s passion for quite simply getting it right.
We embrace the eclectic and the enigmatic, even the slightly eccentric. We challenge the rules. Tradition often collides with the cutting-edge. But always for a reason — to deliver a truly memorable experience, satisfying your adventurous spirit. We have an eye for detail while adding a little magic along the way.
CLIFF offers coastal chic in Cliff House Hotel, Ardmore, Co. Waterford, city glamour in Cliff Townhouse, St Stephen’s Green in Dublin and now a country retreat in Cliff at Lyons, Celbridge, Co. Kildare.
Everything we do is modern in look and feel. At the same time we believe in a classic service ethic while retaining a love of Irish heritage.
A Kildare cookery school
Cliff at Lyons is home to Cliff Academy, our state-of-the-art kitchen occupying the lower floor of a stone-made house in the central courtyard. Cliff Academy is available for groups to book evening and weekend cooking courses, presided over by Nathan Dimond, Head Chef at Cliff at Lyons. It is also home to our Chef School.
The first privately certified professional cookery school in Ireland
At Cliff Academy we host our Chef School, Ireland’s first school offering City & Guilds qualifications in addition to an exciting programme of Masterclasses delivered by renowned Irish Chefs.
Our striking red-brick façade sets the tone for the restaurant’s classic wood-panelled dining room and marble-topped Oyster & Champagne Bar.
The food, created daily by Head Chef Sean Smith, delivers modern fine dining in Dublin. Our reputation stands on impeccably-sourced seafood cooked with simplicity and elegance.
While seafood lies at the heart of our restaurant’s seasonal menus, meat and vegetarian dishes are also featured, as well as light bites, and hearty salads – ideal for pre- or post-theatre refreshments.
Pretty palettes of shell pink, muted fawn and duck-egg blue are accented by shot-silk curtains, oversized velvet headboards and delicately pleated georgette lampshades.
Reproduction period prints on the walls, elegant side tables and chests of drawers ensure this Dublin townhouse competes with the best hotels in town. Donegal tweed blankets accent the crisp, comfortable beds.
Each room faces the park, with double sash-windows allowing light to flood in, offering leafy views across St Stephen’s Green.
The colours reflect the hotel’s Georgian history, with muted neutrals, deep navy and shell pinks on the walls, stylishly accented with luxurious shot-silk curtains tied with lavish gold brocade.
The large beds are backed with oversized velvet headboards and draped in traditional Donegal tweed blankets. Statement bedside lighting completes the aesthetic.
As the only luxury townhouse restaurant and boutique hotel on St Stephen’s Green, Cliff Townhouse is among the most picturesque, sought-after venues for a wedding in Dublin.
From our flavoursome Irish food to flowers and place cards, our role is to cater for your every need whether you choose to take over the entire townhouse, or simply marry in the company of your closest friends. We will happily share our time-trusted contacts, supplying you with everything from florists and hair stylists to photographers and musicians.
With our nine elegant guestrooms, wedding parties can also benefit from the convenience of a complete, end-to-end wedding package.
Reception settings include the Upstairs Private Dining Room, a high-ceilinged space with an elegant wrought-iron balcony that spans our Georgian building’s façade. This room looks out over pretty St Stephen’s Green, a bright canopy of green during the summer months.
The Upstairs Private Dining Room can also open up to include the Aviator Bar, increasing capacities from 60 to up to 120 for a standing reception.
If a wedding party takes over the entire property on an exclusive use, the restaurant downstairs seats up to 80. Our sample menus can be viewed here.
A COUNTRYSIDE SETTING
For larger gatherings, our sister property Cliff at Lyons welcomes events of up to 214 people. Only a 30-minute drive from Dublin, Cliff at Lyons is hard to beat if you want an Irish countryside wedding. It has a canalside setting, dramatic waterfall and pretty potager garden.
We can also organise two-centre celebrations: a pre-wedding dinner at Cliff Townhouse, with the main event the following day in the countryside, at Cliff at Lyons. The two make a perfect pairing.
The space which is noted for its flexibility is available 7 days a week and includes complimentary Wi-Fi as standard. It can seat up to 44 people for a sit-down meal on individual round tables, or 16 at one table. Up to 60 can be accommodated for a standing reception, and up to 120 if the space is opened up to include the adjacent Aviator bar.
Our first floor private dining room at Cliff Townhouse is among the most elegant in Dublin, occupying a high-ceilinged Georgian drawing room with three, floor-to-ceiling double windows across the façade. These open up onto an attractive ironwork balcony affording views across pretty St Stephen’s Green.
The rooms original cornicing remains in place along with elegant ceiling plasterwork and a large marble fireplace topped with an outsized gilt-framed mirror. Gilt wall sconces afford quiet, atmospheric lighting that together with the chandelier, sets a different mood to a daytime event when the large windows flood the room in bright sunshine.
Theatre style: 50
Classroom: 30
Boardroom: 20
Cabaret: 22
Dinner: Up to 44
Drinks Reception: 60 (120 if opened up to include bar)
Event Space Hire Cost: We work with you to create a bespoke experience and offer a personalised costing to suit your needs. Please note there is a discretionary 12.5% service charge added to all bills.
The main restaurant at Cliff Townhouse has two principle spaces that lend themselves well to private events.
These include a raised, oval-shaped booth to the rear of the restaurant, seating seven, and a front-of-house space near the fireplace and windows that can take a table seating up to 12. Both areas are well suited to those celebrating anniversaries, birthdays, engagements, an intimate business lunch or dinner, your event instilled with the convivial buzz of other diners.
Note that the restaurant can also be taken over on an exclusive basis, in which case it can seat up to 100. This is a popular option for Dublin weddings. Should your numbers be higher, our sister property Cliff at Lyons welcomes events of up to 214 people.
A brilliant option for a mellow and relaxed family celebration or special occasion. Designed for groups of between 10 and 25 guests, Host your own Roast at Cliff Townhouse allows your group of friends or family to meet, relax and spend a Sunday afternoon together enjoying great company and great food all in the privacy of our Private Dining Room.
In the heart of Dublin
A city centre boutique hotel in Georgian Dublin
Our Dublin luxury boutique hotel and restaurant is within easy access of the international airport.
Located in a fashionable city centre neighbourhood rich with culture, historic sites and upscale boutiques.
With Cliff Townhouse as a base, it’s easy to make the most of our destination’s highlights, many of which are accessible within a few minutes’ walk.
Opening up central Dublin is very much part of our commitment to your luxury holiday in Ireland. With genuine pride in Irish culture, we can direct you towards activities suitable for rain, sun, corporate groups or family. This includes shopping, musical events, sporting fixtures, historic sites and theatre.
We encourage all our guests to explore the immediate environs of St Stephen’s Green with its lung of grass at the very heart of the capital. Landscaped in the 18th century, this pretty park sequesters numerous spots for picnics beneath the canopy of trees. Once a space for public hangings, the nine hectares are now the province of people looking for peace and quiet in Dublin city centre.
The northern side of St Stephen’s Green, where Cliff Townhouse is located, was known as the Beaux Walk during the Georgian period, when it was home to some of Dublin’s most esteemed families. Other points of interest include bullet holes in the façade of the Royal College of Surgeons – a defacement that occurred during the 1916 Easter Rising when rebel forces occupied the building.
With this prestigious location, there are numerous upscale boutiques on the doorstep, including those clustering around Grafton Street. Lively Temple Bar borders the neighbourhood to the north with its pubs, clubs and restaurants, while the south is marked by the Grand Canal. Perhaps Dublin’s greatest historic site, Trinity College, is just a five- to 10-minute walk from our door.
To navigate the city, we can recommend local culture guides and private shoppers, as well as driver-guides for those who want to explore further afield. Families might enjoy the hop-on, hop-off bus tours, amphibious vehicle tours, or a horse-and-carriage – all of which pass by St Stephen’s Green.
Boutiques close to Cliff Townhouse and St Stephen’s Green include some of the best shops in Dublin, most of which are centred in and around nearby Grafton Street – a fashionable precinct for more than two centuries, and pedestrianised since 1982.
To explore St Stephen’s Green – where Adams, one of Ireland’s great auction houses is located – is just the beginning of your Irish shopping experience. There are some convenient clusters in nearby malls, which include Westbury Mall, George’s Street Arcade, Powerscourt Centre, St Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre and Royal Hibernian Way on Dawson Street.
The warren of streets to the west of Grafton Street and beyond throws up numerous boutiques, with stores you would only find in Ireland, including fashion-forward, independently owned bookshops, antique stores and more.
This includes St Stephen’s Green, where our hotel is located. In the gardens, statues commemorate the poet W.B. Yeats as well as the Guinness family, who opened up the park to the general public in 1877, allowing regular Dubliners to roam the nine hectares free of charge for the first time.
Across the city, from the famous Gate Theatre south of the Liffey to the Gaiety just steps from St Stephen’s Green, there are numerous opportunities to experience Dublin’s vibrant performing arts – with film, theatre, dance, music, literature and more.
Our Dublin luxury rooms provide the perfect base for those visiting Ireland for a festival, be it cultural, sporting or food-orientated. There are numerous annual events to take note of, including festivals of film, theatre, opera and more.
We might not be a hotel with a gym in Dublin, but Cliff Townhouse still offers ample opportunity for guests who want to keep on top of their wellbeing. We recommend various nearby day spas, and would also encourage joggers to use St Stephen’s Green – a nine-hectare green park immediately opposite.
Spectator sports are popular among the Irish, with fervent support for local and national teams showing itself on match days. City pubs buzz with the cheers of the victorious (and cries of the defeated) while hotels fill up fast during major international fixtures, including the Dublin Marathon. Many of our guests come to Ireland to watch such events.
Here we detail the main sporting event venues in and around Dublin, from horse tracks to football stadiums, as well as some day spas in Dublin you may find useful when attending to your own wellness.
At our St Stephen’s Green restaurant, the atmosphere is one of easygoing conviviality.
This is a popular haunt for Dubliners dropping in for a relaxed lunch, or a dozen oysters and a glass of Champagne on their way to the theatre. The city’s business community also rely on the privacy of our intimate dining space.
Menus, which are available for lunch and dinner seven days a week, are overseen by CLIFF’s Executive Chef Martijn Kajuiter, who holds a Michelin Star at our sister property, Cliff House Hotel in County Waterford. Head Chef Sean Smith ensures every dish is perfect.
Serving brilliantly executed Dublin classics, the Cliff Townhouse restaurant menus are equally suited to a three-course celebration or a light bite in the middle of the day. Staples include generous salads, eggs Benedict, Galway oysters, Irish lobsters, dressed Yawl Bay crabs, wild sea trout and 10oz Hereford rib eye steaks. Click here to view full sample menu.
By day our dining room is flooded with light from two tall sash windows. High ceilings and chandeliers add elegance, while on the wood-panelled, corniced walls there are Art Deco-style light sconces in antique silver. Large, brass-edged mirrors reflect the sunshine, while the parquet floor recalls the building’s Georgian past.
Our classic Irish oyster bar is the place to enjoy a pre- or post-theatre meal, with the Gaiety Theatre and the National Concert Hall just around the corner. We serve a carefully selected range of oysters from Irish waters, including Galways and Carlingford Loughs. Other seafood highlights include our platter of lobster, crab claws and Dublin Bay prawns.
Situated to the rear of the dining room, our Oyster & Champagne Bar features high, navy blue leather chairs with silver studs and a white marble-topped bar with silver Art Deco table lamps. This has become a popular haunt for Dublin power brokers.
The Oyster & Champagne Bar is open seven days a week from midday until 2.30pm, and in the evening from 5.30pm to 10.30pm.
An afternoon tea with a difference, Cliff Townhouse has a quirky and stylish way to take to the high seas, in the most genteel fashion and without leaving Stephen’s Green! Instead of the boring buns and creamy whatnots that usually make up the average afternoon tea, Afternoon Sea at Cliff Townhouse is all about the treasures of the ocean, and a breezy taste in the city.
Featuring a selection of the finest and most delicious seafood savouries, where, instead of the usual suspects, you’ll find fresh brown shrimp croquettes, delicate crab salad or Irish smoked salmon open sandwiches on soda bread with lemon mayonnaise, Rockefeller oysters grilled with spinach and breadcrumbs and a smoky little haddock tartelette.
As the pièce de résistance, instead of coffee or tea, you’ll be brought a cup of the most gorgeously creamy lobster bisque to complete your Afternoon Sea.
The only traditional element of this afternoon adventure is the three-tiered stand on which it’s served!
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Hotel: The Cliff Town House
Address: 22 St. Stephens Green Dublin
Region: Dublin
Country: Ireland
Official website: http://www.theclifftownhouse.com
Telephone: +353 1 638 3939
Fax: +353 1 638 3900
Hotel email: info@theclifftownhouse.com