Spire of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

Standing: Must see
Rank: Rank 53 of 3,101

Reviewed by Elena Voss · Roavina Travel Editor

About Spire of Dublin

The Spire of Dublin, also called the Millennium Spire or the Monument of Light, is a stainless steel, pin-like monument 120 metres high on O'Connell Street, Dublin's main thoroughfare. It stands on the site of Nelson's Pillar, which was destroyed by a bomb in 1966. Designed by Ian Ritchie of Ian Ritchie Architects, it was chosen from 205 entries in an international open competition held in 1998, and its eight hollow steel sections were installed on 21 January 2003.

Checked 2026-11-10 · Source

What's inside

The Spire is an elongated cone made of eight hollow stainless steel sections, the longest 20 metres. It is 3 metres in diameter at the base and narrows to 15 centimetres at the top. The pattern around its base is based on a core sample of the rock under the site combined with the DNA double helix. At dusk the base of the monument is lit, and the top 10 metres are illuminated by light-emitting diodes shining through 11,884 holes, so the tip can be seen glowing above the street after dark.

Checked 2026-11-10 · Source