The second installation of colourful umbrellas has been put in place, and it makes the narrow lane look bright and cheerful in good weather. The umbrellas are still looking well in 2026 after having had a recent refresh.

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Dublin is of course much more than the traditional tourist attractions. It makes for a great city to just walk around enjoying and photographing the parks, riverside quays and narrow lanes in the city centre.

Why not join Panoramic Ireland on a photography tour of Dublin — find out more here.

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The lane with its colourful installation of umbrellas has become a busy spot for bloggers.

A Brief History of the Installation

The umbrella installation at Anne's Lane first appeared around 2018, part of a broader effort by local businesses to animate Dublin's smaller laneways and give them a distinct identity. The concept drew on similar installations seen in cities across Europe and beyond — Águeda in Portugal being among the most well-known — where suspended umbrellas are used to turn narrow urban spaces into something worth seeking out.

Anne's Lane already had the right ingredients: a tight, sheltered corridor of old brick and render, a bar with outdoor seating, and enough footfall from the nearby Grafton Street end to give it a natural audience. The umbrellas gave it a visual identity that spread quickly through social media, and it became one of those small Dublin discoveries that visitors tend to share.

The current installation represents the second iteration, refreshed and updated to keep the colours vivid and the rigging in good order. It is a small but considered piece of urban placemaking in a part of the city that repays slow, curious walking.

Photographing the Umbrellas: Light and Conditions

The lane presents a particular set of photographic conditions. It is narrow, north-facing for much of its length, and the umbrellas filter and fragment whatever light reaches down from above. Getting the best out of it requires a little thought about timing and approach.

• Overcast days work best. Bright direct sunlight creates hard shadows and blows out the lighter umbrella colours. A soft, overcast sky acts as a natural diffuser, letting the colours read cleanly and evenly across the whole canopy.
• Shoot upward. The most interesting compositions look straight up into the canopy rather than along the lane. Get low or position yourself in the centre of the lane and let the umbrellas fill the frame, using the gaps between them to pull in sky.
• Include people selectively. A lone figure walking beneath the canopy gives scale and life to the scene. A crowded lane tends to reduce the graphic quality of the umbrellas. Early morning, before the Grafton Street area gets busy, gives you the best chance of a quieter frame.
• Evening light adds atmosphere. When Zozimus is open and the lane is lit from below, the umbrellas take on a warmer, more theatrical quality. Worth a second visit after dark if you were there in daylight.
• Lens choice: A wide-angle lens, 16–24mm full-frame equivalent, handles the tight lane and lets you shoot upward without cutting off the edges of the canopy. A standard 35mm works well for including a person in the foreground with the umbrellas behind.

What Else Is Nearby

Anne's Lane sits at the edge of one of the most walkable parts of central Dublin. South Anne Street itself connects Grafton Street to Dawson Street, with St. Ann's Church — a handsome Romanesque-revival façade — marking the Dawson Street end. A few minutes' walk brings you to the leafy surroundings of St. Stephen's Green, worth a slow circuit in good weather.

Heading in the other direction, the laneways off Drury Street and Fade Street offer more of the same character: independent cafés, old shopfronts and the kind of compressed urban scale that photographs well. Powerscourt Townhouse on William Street South is worth a look inside for its restored Georgian courtyard. Duke Lane and Duke Street, running parallel to Anne's Lane a block to the north, have their own quiet atmosphere and a cluster of long-established Dublin pubs.

This whole quarter of the city — roughly bounded by Grafton Street, Nassau Street, Dawson Street and Dame Street — is dense with material for street photography. It is the kind of area where an unhurried morning or afternoon with a camera consistently produces something worth keeping.

Photographing Dublin with Panoramic Ireland

Panoramic Ireland offers private Dublin photography tours that take in locations like Anne's Lane alongside lesser-known corners of the city that most visitors never reach. Tours are private, relaxed and built around your interests and camera — whether you are shooting on a smartphone or a full-frame camera.