Dublin Rathgar

Rathgar is largely a quiet, upper middle class suburb with good amenities, including primary and secondary schools, nursing homes, child-care and sports facilities, and good public transport to the city centre. The housing stock largely comprises red-brick late Georgian and Victorian era terraces and much of the area lies within an architectural conservation zone.

It has a variety of retail outlets as well as a good choice of pubs in the village including the 108 Bar and Comans Bar, which run a strict and controversial clamping operation in their carpark. The controversy surrounds Comans' failure to accept personal checks in return for their unclamping service. Rathgar maintains a nice village feel as it has a bakery, a delicatessen, a butchers, a bike shop and a nice wine shop all within 20 yards of the main cross. A small scale supermarket 'Superquinn' has been started where an old furniture shop was located and is due to be finished by Summer 2008. Good restaurants include Poppadoms (Indian), Bijou (French Style), Monty's (Nepalese) and TK II (Thai).

Also in the area is the Russian Embassy at which many locals left wreaths after the Beslan atrocities.

Rathgar has a number of fine architectural features, notably Christ Church Rathgar (part of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland) at the junction of Rathgar Road and Highfield Road in the village centre. The Roman Catholic Church of The Three Patrons (The three patrons referred to are the Patron Saints of Ireland: St Patrick, St. Bridget and St. Columba) on Rathgar Road is known as "The Servants' Church" because in the late 19th and early 20th century it was the place of worship for the large number of servants who worked and lived in the large houses in the area. While externally the church is of little note internally it has a warm and peaceful feel. Both can be seen in the external links section below. The Church of Ireland Theological College is in Rathgar.