Dublin

March

• St. Patrick's Festival: Featuring the much-loved Festival Parade and the dazzling fireworks display of Skyfest, the Festival also plays host to a river lantern procession, a daytime street carnival and a Brazilian Afoxe Parade.

May

• Wicklow Mountains Walking Festival: The festival offers a choice of picturesque walks in the beautiful Wicklow Mountains. Each walk is led by experienced guides. The Festival takes place in May and October.

June

• Flora Women's Mini Marathon: This 10-kilometre (6-mile) race is the biggest all-woman event of its kind in the world. Approximately 40,000 women from around the world participate, raising money for the charity of their choice.

• Taste of Dublin Festival: A four-day celebration of Dublin's finest food and drink. Twenty-five of the city's most prestigious restaurants and chefs come together in Iveagh Gardens to prepare and serve a stunning selection of sample-sized signature dishes. Live musical, dance, comedy and theatre performances round out the event.

• Bloomsday: Every year on June 16, Bloomsday celebrates the events of a single day in 1904, as chronicled in James Joyce's novel Ulysses. Visit locations described in the book and take part in readings, walks and convivial activities of all sorts that in some way connect with Ulysses, its author and its world. A Bloomsday Festival runs from June 10 to 16.

August

• The Dublin Horse Show: First held in 1864, this show is one of the world's top international equestrian events and is an important marketplace for Irish sport horse breeders. The Dublin Horse Show offers the finest display of competitive international show jumping. In addition to the Nation's Cup, there are 10 other international competitions during the five-day event. With seating for over 20,000 spectators the main arena comes alive as competition begins...

September–October

• Dublin Fringe Festival: Enjoy Dublin's lively theatre scene and check out the city's impressive line-up of contemporary performing art, from September 10 - 25, 2011

• Dublin Theatre Festival: For a period of three weeks, Dublin comes alive with the very best of Irish and international theatre during this lively event. Now in its 54th year, it is the oldest dedicated theatre festival in Europe and is considered to be Ireland's premier cultural event.

• Dublin Marathon: Runners from all over the world make their way through the historic Georgian streets of Dublin on October 31, 2011.

On the east coast of Ireland, where the River Liffey enters the Irish Sea, Dublin is the capital of the Republic of Ireland. Around 1.1 million people – nearly one-third of the Irish population – live in the Greater Dublin Area. Known for its distinctive Georgian architecture and beautiful garden squares, the city still retains the charm and intimacy of the small town that was the birthplace of Wilde, Yeats and Beckett.

Four Seasons provides an ideal base for exploring the sophisticated shops of Grafton Street, delving into its thousand-year-old history or venturing out to the Irish countryside.