A Family-Run Welcome on a Quiet Old Bawn Street
Hanging baskets either side of the porch, a blue metal bench on the drive, and a front door that somebody actually opens for you: arriving at Clarendon feels less like a check-in than like being expected. This is a four-bedroom bed and breakfast in a white-fronted family house on Watermeadow Park, run by Noreen, and she is the reason guests keep coming back to Old Bawn instead of trading up to something on the ring road. Your car goes on the drive at no charge, which is a rare thing this close to Dublin. Breakfast is laid on a lace cloth in the front room under a painting of a sunflower field, and it is the part of the stay people write about first. And the two things most visitors are in Tallaght for sit within a walk: the stadium about ten minutes away, The Square and the tram terminus around sixteen.
Pick Clarendon if you are here for a match, a hospital visit or a quiet night near the Luas, and you would rather be looked after by a host than processed by a desk. Skip it if you need a city-centre address, a lift, a 24-hour reception, or a room that takes children under thirteen.
Clarendon works well for travellers who want a clean, friendly, genuinely easy base in South Dublin, with the car parked outside the window and the tram a short walk away.
Four Bedrooms, Two With Their Own Bathroom
Four rooms, and no two of them the same. The single is the one to ask for if stairs are a problem, because it is the only bedroom entirely on the ground floor and its bathroom opens straight off it. The other three sit at the top of a staircase with a deep red carpet and white panelling, above a hall of pale tiles that catches the light through the glazed front door. Two of those upstairs rooms have a private bathroom, tiled floor to ceiling in warm stone with a corner shower. The twin and one of the doubles share a shower room on the landing between them.
Nothing here has been styled for a photoshoot, and that is a good part of the appeal. The big double has dusty pink bedding against soft lilac walls, twin lamps on pine bedside tables and a dressing table with a mirror and a tea tray set out on it. The singles are done in floral covers with a chair pulled up to the window. The twin is painted a deep blue, white curtains at the glass and a garden view behind them. Each room has a flat-screen TV with cable channels, a tea and coffee tray, fresh linen and towels, and a clothes rack, and the beds are the thing guests keep singling out alongside how spotless the whole house is.
Breakfast, the Drive and Getting Into Dublin
Breakfast normally runs from eight to ten in the front room, and it is continental rather than a full Irish: juice, fresh pastries, cheese and fruit at a table laid for four. If you need to be away earlier, ask. Noreen has said she can usually manage half past seven when guests give her notice, which matters if you are heading for a shift at the hospital or a morning flight. Whether breakfast is part of your rate depends on the option you choose at the time of booking, so check that before you confirm.
The drive takes cars off the street with no charge and no need to reserve a space, and there is bicycle parking too. From the door, the simplest route into Dublin is a walk to the Luas terminus at The Square and the Red Line north, which runs through to Heuston Station, the quays and the 3Arena. Allow about an hour end to end. From the airport, a taxi is roughly a twenty-five to thirty-five minute drive depending on traffic, and the Airport Hopper shuttle runs across to Tallaght if you would rather not take one. A local warning worth having: the house sits on a curved estate road and satnavs regularly misread the number, so search for Watermeadow Park in Old Bawn and ring ahead when you are close.
Why Book Clarendon B&B?
Clarendon is strongest for people whose reason to be in Tallaght is local: a Shamrock Rovers home game, an appointment or a shift at the hospital, a hillwalk in the Dublin Mountains, or a value night with the tram into town.
The car parks free
Private parking on the drive at no charge and with no reservation, which is close to unheard of within 12 km of Dublin city centre.
Walk to the stadium
Tallaght Stadium is about ten minutes on foot, The Square and the Luas Red Line terminus around sixteen, and the hospital roughly twenty.
A host, not a desk
Noreen runs the house herself, and guests describe flexible arrival times, a warm welcome at the door and help getting to the ground on match days.
Easy for early starts
Breakfast is normally eight to ten, and the host can usually bring it forward to half past seven if you ask in advance.
Check Availability at Clarendon
- Free private parking on the drive, no reservation needed
- Free Wi-Fi throughout the house
Interesting Points About Clarendon
- The house has a working phone number that no travel listing publishes. Noreen answers a mobile on +353 85 789 9455, which is the fastest way to sort a late arrival, ask about the ground-floor room or check whether an early breakfast is possible.
- One of the four bedrooms, the single with its own bathroom, sits entirely on the ground floor. The other three are up a staircase with a deep red carpet. No listing spells that out, and it is the single most useful fact if stairs are difficult.
- Breakfast is normally 08:00 to 10:00, but the host has said she can usually manage 07:30 when a guest asks in advance. That matters for hospital shifts and early flights, and it is not shown on any booking page.
- The house has taken student nurses working at Tallaght University Hospital for years, and the host has confirmed she can offer a student nurse rate. The hospital is roughly a twenty-minute walk.
- Watermeadow Park is part of the Old Bawn estate built by McInerney Homes in the 1970s and 1980s, which is why every house has its own drive. That is where the free parking comes from, and why the road is quiet after eleven.
- Satnavs regularly misread the house number on this curved estate road. Search for Watermeadow Park in Old Bawn rather than the full address, and phone ahead when you are close.
Rooms & Accommodation at Clarendon
Single Room with Bathroom
1 guest · Single · Private bathroom · Ground floor
The only bedroom in the house with no stairs between you and the front door, and it has a bathroom of its own. That combination matters far more than a single room usually would: if a knee, a suitcase or a hospital appointment makes a staircase awkward, this is the room to ask for by name. Inside it is a floral-covered single bed, a bedside lamp, a chair at the window and a flat-screen TV, with towels, linen, a clothes rack and a hairdryer supplied. It suits a solo traveller who wants their own bathroom and nothing to climb at the end of a long day.
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Double Room with Private Bathroom
Up to 2 guests · Double · Private bathroom
The bathroom is the reason to pay the difference here. It sits behind its own door off the bedroom, with a toilet, a bath or shower, towels, toiletries and a hairdryer, so nobody has to plan a shower around anybody else. The room itself is a warm yellow with a double bed under the window, a bedside table each side and a TV. It works well for couples staying more than one night, and for anyone who simply does not want to cross a landing in a dressing gown.
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Double Room with Shared Bathroom
Up to 2 guests · Double · Shared bathroom
You give up the private bathroom here and get the brightest, roomiest bedroom in the house in exchange. Dusty pink bedding, soft lilac walls, a lamp on each pine bedside table, and a window over the back garden that makes the mornings feel unhurried. The shower room is a few steps along the landing and shared with one other bedroom, so in a four-room house it is rarely a queue. A sensible trade for guests who would rather put the difference towards the match ticket.
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Standard Twin Room with Shared Bathroom
Up to 2 guests · Twin · Shared bathroom
Two friends travelling to the same match, two separate beds, one shower room along the landing. That is the whole proposition, and for a Rovers weekend or a pair of colleagues on a work trip it is a neat one. The room is painted a deep blue with white curtains and a garden outlook, and the walk to the ground takes about ten minutes, so nobody has to drive or find parking on a match night.
Check PricesAmenities and Facilities
In Your Room
- Free Wi-Fi
- Flat-screen TV with cable channels
- Tea and coffee tray with an electric kettle
- Fresh linen and towels
- Clothes rack
- Hairdryer
- Hand sanitiser
- Non-smoking
- Not available: Air conditioning
- Not available: Cots and extra beds
Bathrooms
- Private bathroom in two of the four rooms
- Shared shower room on the landing for the other two
- Bath or shower
- Free toiletries
- Towels and toilet paper
- Hairdryer
Breakfast
- Continental buffet: juice, fresh pastries, cheese and fruit
- Normally served 08:00 to 10:00 in the front room
- An earlier 07:30 start is usually possible if you ask ahead
- Not available: Restaurant on site
- Not available: Bar on site
- Not available: Room service
Parking and Getting Around
- Free private parking on the drive, no reservation needed
- Bicycle parking
- Luas Red Line terminus about a 16-minute walk away
- Not available: Airport shuttle service
The House
- Garden
- One bedroom entirely on the ground floor
- Non-smoking throughout
- Quiet hours between 23:00 and 07:00
- Not available: Lift
- Not available: 24-hour reception
- Not available: Swimming pool
- Not available: Spa or wellness centre
- Not available: Gym
Location and Getting Around
Old Bawn is the quiet end of Tallaght. Watermeadow Park is a residential road of houses built in the 1970s and 1980s with wide verges and a drive outside every door, which is why parking here costs nothing and why the street is silent well before midnight. What it is not is central Dublin, and that is the honest trade: the city centre sits roughly 12 km north east, about an hour away by tram or bus.
What sits on your doorstep instead is the reason most guests book. Tallaght Stadium, home of Shamrock Rovers and a 10,547-seat ground opened in 2009, is about a ten-minute walk. The Square, with 163 shops, a cinema and a food court, is around sixteen minutes on foot, and the Luas Red Line terminus stands alongside it, with trams running straight through to Heuston Station, the quays and the 3Arena. Tallaght University Hospital, one of the largest teaching hospitals in the country, is roughly twenty minutes away on foot, which is why so many guests here are visiting a ward or working a shift.
For food, Molloy's Bar & Grill on Old Bawn Road is the local: pub food and a Sunday carvery a few minutes from the door. Kundan Tandoori, an Indian and Nepalese kitchen that has been on Belgard Road for years, is a fifteen to twenty minute walk toward The Square. Sean Walsh Memorial Park and Tymon Park put real green space within a short walk or cycle, and the National Basketball Arena sits in Tymon Park about 2.5 km away. Drive fifteen minutes south and the Dublin Mountains begin, with the ruined 18th-century Hell Fire Club on top of Montpelier Hill and the whole city laid out below it. One local tip: this is a curved estate road and satnavs regularly misread the number, so search for Watermeadow Park in Old Bawn rather than the full address.
- Tallaght Stadium: 10-minute walk. A 10,547-seat ground opened in 2009 and home of Shamrock Rovers.
- The Square Tallaght: 16-minute walk. 163 shops, a cinema and a food court under one roof.
- Tallaght Luas stop: 16-minute walk. Red Line terminus with direct trams to Heuston Station and the 3Arena.
- Tallaght University Hospital: 20-minute walk. One of the country's largest teaching hospitals, with Trinity College Dublin as academic partner.
- Molloy's Bar & Grill: A few minutes' walk on Old Bawn Road. The local pub, with a Sunday carvery.
- Kundan Tandoori: 15 to 20-minute walk. Long-established Indian and Nepalese kitchen on Belgard Road.
- National Basketball Arena: 2.5 km, in Tymon Park. Ireland's main indoor basketball venue, opened in 1993.
- Hell Fire Club, Montpelier Hill: 15-minute drive south. An 18th-century hunting lodge ruin with a view over the whole city.
- Dublin Airport: 26 km, about a 25 to 35-minute drive via the M50.
Getting to Key Locations
Photo: William Murphy, CC BY-SA 2.0
Tallaght Stadium
10 min walk
About ten minutes on foot, and the single best reason to book this street rather than a hotel out on the ring road. Shamrock Rovers play here through the League of Ireland season, usually on a Friday night, in a 10,547-seat ground that opened in 2009. Walk it instead of driving, because the parking around the stadium goes long before kick-off.
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Photo: Catatine, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Square Tallaght
16 min walk
Sixteen minutes' walk, and impossible to miss once the glass pyramid on the roof comes into view. Inside are 163 shops, a cinema and a food court, plus the supermarkets worth knowing about if you are staying more than a night. Most days out from the house start and finish at this one address.
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Photo: Colin Park, CC BY-SA 2.0
Tallaght Luas terminus
The Red Line terminus stands beside The Square, roughly sixteen minutes from the front door, and it is how you do Dublin from here. Trams run without a change to Heuston Station, the quays and the 3Arena, and the whole trip into town takes about an hour. Buy a Leap Card before you travel, because it beats paper fares and caps what you spend in a day.
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Photo: Joe King, CC BY-SA 3.0
Hell Fire Club, Montpelier Hill
Fifteen minutes south by car, then a climb through the forestry to the summit. The roofless 18th-century hunting lodge at the top carries a reputation that has outlived every attempt to explain it, and the payoff is the view: the whole city laid out below you. Wear boots, because the track turns to mud after rain.
View on MapHow to Get to Clarendon from Dublin Airport
- Land at Dublin Airport: Clarendon is roughly 26 km south west of the airport, on the far side of the M50. Message the host with your landing time before you fly so she knows when to expect you.
- Take a taxi for the simplest run: The rank sits outside both terminals and the drive takes about twenty-five to thirty-five minutes depending on traffic. Evening, overnight and Sunday rates are higher, so factor that in for a late flight.
- Or use the Airport Hopper shuttle: The Airport Hopper runs from the airport across to Tallaght and is the cheapest single-vehicle option. Alternatively take bus 726 to the Red Cow stop and change there.
- Ride the Luas Red Line to the end: From Red Cow, the Red Line runs west to the Tallaght terminus beside The Square. Allow around an hour and a half in total by public transport and buy a Leap Card if you plan to travel more than once.
- Walk or hop a local taxi to Old Bawn: From The Square it is a short taxi ride or about a sixteen-minute walk to Watermeadow Park. Ring the house if you are unsure, because satnavs misread this road. Check-in runs from 16:00 to 22:30.
Dublin from a Tallaght Base
Staying in Tallaght changes how you do Dublin, and mostly for the better. You take the Red Line in rather than paying city-centre prices to sleep beside it, and the tram puts you at Heuston Station, the quays, Smithfield and the 3Arena without a change. Allow about an hour each way and treat the ride as part of the day rather than a chore.
Once you are in town, the free things are the good things. Trinity College's grounds cost nothing to walk through, the National Museum and the National Gallery are free, and so is the Chester Beatty in the Dublin Castle gardens, which is the single most underrated museum in the city. Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin Zoo and Phoenix Park all sit closer to Tallaght than to the centre, roughly 8 to 10 km up the road, so they are easy half-days from here.
Two practical things. Buy a Leap Card at any shop with the green sign: it is cheaper than paper fares on both the Luas and the bus, and it caps your daily spend. And if you are here for a Shamrock Rovers night, walk to the ground rather than driving. Match-day parking around the stadium disappears fast, and the walk back afterwards takes ten minutes with the crowd.
Dublin in a Day
A three-day walk around the city you will be tramming into, from Trinity College to the Guinness Storehouse.
Is Clarendon B&B in Tallaght worth it?
Yes, when your reason for being in Tallaght is local. For a Rovers night at the stadium, a hospital appointment, or a value stay with the tram into town, this is a spotless four-bedroom house where the host does the heavy lifting, the car sits free on the drive and there is a proper breakfast in the morning. Look elsewhere if you want to open the front door onto the city centre, or if you are travelling with younger children.
What Guests Say About Clarendon
Scores and review counts are aggregated from verified guest bookings on major travel platforms.
Fabulous
Two things run through almost every review here, and the first is Noreen. Guests describe a genuinely warm welcome, flexibility over arrival times and small kindnesses nobody had asked for, including a lift to the stadium on a match morning. The second is how clean the house is kept, with comfortable beds and a continental breakfast that repeatedly gets more praise than a continental breakfast usually does. The recurring caveat is geography: this is suburban Tallaght rather than central Dublin, so a night in town means an hour on the tram, and three of the four bedrooms are up a flight of stairs.
Called it a lovely stay at Noreen's place: a warm welcome on arrival, a spotless and comfortable room, and a breakfast she rated highly.
Niamh
Called it a lovely stay at Noreen's place: a warm welcome on arrival, a spotless and comfortable room, and a breakfast she rated highly.
2026-08-01Described the host as an absolute star, kind and endlessly helpful, and the house as thoroughly homely. He was especially grateful for a lift on the Friday morning and said he would book again for the next event at the ground.
2026-06-20Found the host attentive and the whole place welcoming. He singled out a generous, tasty continental spread at breakfast and a clean, comfortable bed, and said he intends to come back.
2026-06-14Picked out three things: a good breakfast, a friendly host and how peaceful the setting is.
2026-06-23Rated the owner very friendly, the linen and bathroom properly clean, and the breakfast well worth getting up for. He also appreciated being given some flexibility over what time he could arrive.
2026-07-02Two words about the hosts, friendly, and one about the house, spotless.
2026-06-29Thought the setting could not have suited her better and found the house both homely and very well kept.
2026-06-25Booked it for the walk: handy for the football ground and for the tram stop.
2026-07-18Good to Know Before You Book
Tell the house what time you will arrive
Check-in runs from 16:00 to 22:30 and this is somebody's home rather than a staffed hotel, so the arrival time you give matters. Guests report that later arrivals have been accommodated when flagged in advance, using the special requests box at the time of booking or a quick phone call. It is a courtesy rather than a guaranteed policy, so ask rather than assume.
Parking is free and needs no booking
The drive takes cars at no charge and you do not need to reserve a space. Within 12 km of Dublin city centre that is unusual, and several guests name it as the reason they chose Tallaght over a hotel in town. There is bicycle parking too.
Check which bathroom you are booking
Two of the four rooms have a bathroom of their own and two share a shower room on the landing. The single room with a bathroom is also the only bedroom entirely on the ground floor, which is worth requesting by name if a staircase is difficult. There is no lift.
Breakfast is continental, and can start early
The morning spread is juice, fresh pastries, cheese and fruit, normally served between 08:00 and 10:00 rather than a full Irish fry. Ask ahead and the host can usually bring it forward to 07:30. Whether breakfast is included depends on the option you choose when you book, so check the room description before you confirm.
Children over 12, and no pets
The house welcomes children older than 12 but has no cots or extra beds, so it will not suit families with toddlers. Pets are not accepted, smoking is not allowed anywhere, quiet hours run from 23:00 to 07:00, and hen, stag and similar parties are not taken.
Cancellation terms depend on your room and rate
Cancellation and prepayment conditions are set per room type and rate, so they only appear once you have entered your dates. Read them before you confirm rather than assuming a single house policy. Your stay is paid through the platform you book on, but bring some cash for anything extra on site.
Call Clarendon
Want to check about a late arrival, an early breakfast or the ground-floor room? The house answers its own phone.
+353 85 789 9455Photos of Clarendon
Frequently Asked Questions
It is a bed and breakfast, run by the family who live there. Some travel listings file it under hotels, which is a filing convention rather than a description: there are four bedrooms in a private house on a residential street, no reception desk, no restaurant and no bar. What you get instead is a host who meets you at the door and cooks breakfast in the front room.
No, they are two completely separate properties. Clarendon Suites is on Clarendon Street in Dublin 2, in the middle of the city. This Clarendon is a family-run bed and breakfast at 43 Watermeadow Park in Old Bawn, Tallaght, around 12 km south west of the centre, and the two are unconnected.
Tallaght Stadium is about a ten-minute walk and The Square around sixteen. Both are easy on foot, which is why match-goers book here rather than paying for parking near the ground. The Luas Red Line terminus sits beside The Square, so the tram into the city is the same walk.
Parking is free on the private drive and you do not need to reserve a space. Every house on this estate road has its own drive, which is why it works. Bicycle parking is available too, and guests regularly point to the parking as the reason they chose a Tallaght base over a city-centre room.
Check-in runs from 16:00 to 22:30 and check-out is until 10:30. Because this is a private home, the house asks you to confirm your arrival time in advance, either in the special requests box when you book or by phone. Guests report later arrivals being accommodated when they have given notice, but it is asked for rather than guaranteed.
A continental breakfast is served in the front room, normally between 08:00 and 10:00. It runs to juice, fresh pastries, cheese and fruit rather than a cooked Irish, and it earns more praise from guests than that description suggests. Ask ahead and the host can usually start at 07:30. Whether breakfast is part of your rate depends on the room option you select.
Two of the four bedrooms have a private bathroom and two share a shower room on the landing. The single room with a bathroom is the only bedroom entirely on the ground floor, so request that one specifically if stairs are a problem. There is no lift, and the other three rooms are up a single flight.
A taxi is the simplest option and takes roughly twenty-five to thirty-five minutes for the 26 km run via the M50. By public transport, the Airport Hopper shuttle runs across to Tallaght, or you can take bus 726 to the Red Cow stop and change onto the Luas Red Line to the Tallaght terminus. Allow around an hour and a half that way.
The hospital is roughly a twenty-minute walk, which the host has confirmed directly. That proximity is why a good share of guests here are visiting a patient, attending an appointment or working a shift, and the house has taken student nurses for years.
Children older than 12 are welcome, but there are no cots or extra beds, so the house does not suit families with toddlers. Pets are not accepted. Smoking is not allowed anywhere on the property, quiet hours run between 23:00 and 07:00, and hen, stag and similar groups are not taken.
Other Places to Stay in Ireland
The Abbey Hotel, Dublin
Pick this over Clarendon when the trip is about the city rather than Tallaght. It sits a minute from the Ha'penny Bridge with the tram outside the door, but you trade away the free parking, the quiet street and the family breakfast table.
Maya's Lodge
A small family-run bed and breakfast in Whitehall, Dublin 9, on the far side of the city from Tallaght but well placed for the airport and on a direct bus route into the centre.
Brú na Dromoda, County Kerry
The opposite kind of Irish stay. Go there when you want the Ring of Kerry, a river and dark skies rather than a suburban base with a tram line, and you are happy with hostel-style shared space instead of a private guest room.
Ready to Book Clarendon B&B?
Four bedrooms fill quickly around Shamrock Rovers home games and midweek hospital stays. Check your dates while the room you want is still open.
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