The venue is nearly three centuries old and the profits still go to philanthropy. The Royal Dublin Society was founded as the Dublin Society on 25 June 1731 to see Ireland thrive culturally and economically, received royal patronage from George IV in 1820, and played a founding role in the institutions that became the National Library, National Museum and National Gallery. The Ballsbridge story began in 1879, when the Society leased fifteen acres from the Earl of Pembroke to house its Horse Show and Spring Show; the campus has since grown to some 43 acres spanning the Merrion Road, Anglesea Road and Simmonscourt sites. As an events complex it is Ireland's most versatile: the Main Hall and its satellite halls handle exhibitions and trade shows, the RDS Concert Hall carries recitals and ceremonies, meeting rooms and restaurants thread the campus, and the outdoor Arena hosts sport and stadium concerts. RDS Simmonscourt is the big indoor room - around 7,000 capacity, or 6,500 theatre-style, divisible into five interconnecting spaces - and its back catalogue includes Thin Lizzy, Queen and AC/DC concerts plus the Eurovision Song Contest in 1981 and 1988. The Dublin Horse Show, held on the grounds since 1881, remains the flagship week, filling the campus with international showjumping including the Aga Khan Trophy and the kind of crowds that make it one of the country's biggest annual events. The commercial venue business exists to fund the mission: revenue from the campus pays for the RDS Foundation programmes in agriculture, arts, enterprise, equestrianism, science and technology, continuing the Society's original 1731 purpose. With the Arena undergoing redevelopment and the campus regeneration programme underway, the RDS enters its fourth century as it spent its first three - the default answer to the question of where Ireland holds anything too big for everywhere else.

Type: Indoor Event Space

Address: Anglesea Road, Dublin, Ireland

Website: https://www.rds.ie

Cover Charge: 1

Capacity: 7000

Opening Date: 01/01/1879

Serves Food

Outdoor Area

Accessible