Royal Dublin Society

The RDS is great as an outdoor music venue, lots of space and that big arena atmosphere. Indoor gigs can be a bit overcooked in the sound department as it is, essentially, just a big concrete box.

7up on Ice is cool, but gets a bit frustrating for anyone who can actually skate-you'll be spending a lot of time alone.

The RDS has also become the adopted home of Leinster Rugby, as Donnybrook can no longer satisfy the demand for tickets. I was at the Leinster-Ulster game on St. Stephens Day, and I have to say it was the most atmosphere-free match of anything I've ever attended.

I'm not sure if it's the fault of the fans or the stadium itself but, for me, watching sports should involve a bit of shouting. There were no songs to be sung, and the closest we came to straining our voices were the rare drones of "Leinster, Leinster, Leinster". It was all a bit crap really, and massively at odds with the last four games I've attended-which were all at Croker(Dublin/West-Meath, Ireland/Italy, Ireland/Montenegro, Ireland/France).

Ah, the RDS. From the Spring Show to the Horse Show to concerts and exhibitions. I've been going to the RDS for as long as I can remember.

From working the Sam Spudz stand, to overdosing on HB Twisters, to going up the two story stable building - wow, horses and ponies on the 1st floor :) My abounding childhood memories of the RDS are the from the horse show.

Then there are the concerts: Blur, The Eagles, Paul McCarthy, Tom Jones and a relocated Lisdoonvarna festival. I even saw The Bee Gees do a sound check once when I was here looking for someone working an exhibition.

The once in a lifetime memory of volunteering at the Special Olympics, I was based here on a merchandise stand.

On Friday I was here for the All Ireland Craft Beer and Cider festival. Located in Hall 4 (Industries Hall), which was a perfect space for the event. I love the exposed wooden rafters and the red metal columns. The one gripe was the lack of seating, but that's more for the organisers of the event really. Long tables with benches would probably work well at the beer festival.

Long live the RDS I say, I look forward to the next event I may be at here.

The RDS is a bit of a weird one to review. It's huge, used for some many events and has lots of different venues/buildings. Usually everything I go to here goes pretty well, however I would rate the events individually rather than reviewing the venue.

A couple of things I would note though is that WIFI can be hit and miss, as well as phone signal in some buildings. Also the inhouse coffee suppliers (I think they're called Inspire) are horrific. Avoid getting their coffee at all costs!

While the RDS might not be the greatest music venue soundwise, they do have a lot of fairs and shows on, such as Top Gear and Science fairs. It's also currently home to Leinster Rugby, so that's a very good reason for me to like the RDS and the buildings themselves are quite pretty. There is at least two coffee shops/ cafes in the RDS as well, where you can sit and recover from the event you just went to.
Also, this is where UCD students, like me, have to sit their exams twice a year, so you get a general idea of how big the place actually is. The RDS is fairly close to the city centre and surrounded by good pubs, so even if you're not going to a gig here, you should drop by.

I went to Dublin horse show at RDS.
I had a great time. Because Ireland won first prize in Nations Cup!
RDS is a big place. There is a lot of hall. We can see Horse show, rugby game, even some special events! (See some shows, buy goods, eat foods, drinking...)
We can go to there by Bus or car or DART. Fortunately, I live in Ballsbridge, so I can go to there by walk. If you want to see Irish something, you can see or experience there.

The Royal Dublin Society or RDS as it is more commonly known holds a multitude of events throughout the year. From job expos to sports events to music concerts, for example the Eagles will be performing this summer there.

I have been there a good few times, from trying to skate on ice to presenting a secondary school project. It's a good venue and anything I have been to as been run with extreme professionalism.

If you've ever attended an open air concert, sat exams for a Dublin University, wandered around a careers exhibition, watched a horse show, perused a DIY, health, spirituality, fashion or wedding fair in Dublin, the chances are that you've been to the RDS.

The RDS is a sprawling complex in Ballsbridge which houses a number of massive halls and outdoor stands. It is probably the premier place in Dublin to hold an exhibition and it is basically offers facilities for thousands of people to gather together in one spot to look, listen and learn.

I have mixed feelings about the RDS. On the one hand, I was herded into a hall with thousands of students to sit amid a sea of desks and do my final exams there, on the other hand, I've enjoyed open air concerts by Simon and Garfunkel and The Boss there. Maybe I can forgive the exams if the RDS hosts a concert by Neil Young!

The Royal Dublin Society is a colossus of a venue and has staged many stellar performances including U2, Paul McCartney, Pavarotti, Michael Flatley, two Eurovision Song Contests and recently Bruce 'The Boss' Springsteen wowing crowds here.

The space itself is spread across four facilities, a concert hall with a capacity of 900 people, the main hall, with capacity for 3000-5000 people, Simmonscourt Pavilion with space for up to 7000 people and the RDS stadium itself with space for up to 35,000 people. So this place is huge!

It also hosts shows, like the home show and horse show, conferences and sporting events.

The ROyal Dublin Society was founded in 1731, to promote an awareness of Art, Science, Industry and Agriculture around Ireland. There are 10 exhibition halls, RDS stadium, meeting rooms, bars, and a restaurant there too.


The main purpose for the RDS stadium was for the Annual Dublin Horse Show. The venue gets used for many concerts, where many singers and bands have performed. Some of the singers and bands are, Linkin Park, Guns N' Roses, Michael Jackson, Shirley Bassey, Kanye West and the list goes on.


The RDS stadium had hosted the Eurovision song contest twice, in 2006 it presented the smackdown part of the WWE too and it had a car park for 2, 000 parking spaces too.

What a great place to see a concert and end my amazing trip to Ireland with a bang. RDS arena was a sight to see. Although it rained earlier in the day- The sun came out just in time as we headed to see Bruce Springsteen. We took a cab from our hotel since we weren't quite sure how to get there. When we arrived, almost 2 hours before the show- the lines were endless around the complex- so instead of standing there doing nothing, we decided to check out the pub scene surrounding the complex. The area surrounding the Arena was beautiful- nice pubs, beautiful gated houses and tree-lined streets. Since we had such a rough night before at a wedding in Donegal, we grabbed a beer at one of the pubs and took a tour of the neighborhood. Ahh, I love the fact that i can stroll the streets with a drink in hand- a luxury we do not have in Philadelphia.

When we decided to finally enter the arena- there was still a long line but the staff had it moving rather quickly. Once inside there was a really nice grassy courtyard surrounded by vendors selling food and drinks. The crowd was great ( even for a somewhat sober person with a massive hangover)- We had pitch tickets and being that we didn't rush to be the first ones in there, our standing room was pretty far back- stilll didn't take away from the show. Bruce was great and the crowd really got into it. Loved the fact that it was light out until almost 11 pm.

Would love to go back to RDS sometime in the future and catch another show or even a sporting event. Place was top notch in my opinion,