Drury Street Car Park: Rates, Hours & Parking Tips

There’s a certain relief in pulling into a city-centre car park that isn’t a guessing game. Drury Street Underground Car Park in Dublin 2 has built its name on exactly that: 24/7 access, 465 spaces, and a family-run setup that Dublin Town flags as privately owned, providing a clear answer between operator rates, hotel deals, and free Sunday rumours for anyone heading into Dublin 2 with a car.

Hourly rate: €4.50 ·
Evening rate: €12.00 ·
Overnight rate: €14.00 ·
Open: 24/7 ·
Spaces: 465 ·
Operator: APCOA

Key facts at a glance

Eleven facts, one pattern: the operator publishes the details that matter, from tariff brackets to season tickets.

The pattern: all the numbers a driver needs are on public rate boards; the skill is picking the right one.

How much does it cost to park in Drury Street Car Park?

It depends on when you arrive and whether you book ahead. The operator’s rate board splits the day into hourly, evening and overnight brackets, so a short errand and a concert night are very different prices.

Drury Street Car Park daily and hourly rates

• Hourly €4.50 · evening €12.00 · overnight €14.00 (APCOA Drury Street – Dublin (operator’s listing))
• Prebook from €4.05 via APCOA’s booking portal (APCOA prebook portal)
• Facility-site online booking from €14.50 (Drury Street Car Park – Dublin (official site))
• A €15 drive-up daily rate is the figure most commonly cited for a full day at the facility site (Drury Street Car Park – Dublin (official site))

If you’re staying the night, the overnight tariff is the number to remember: €14.00 undercuts the 24-hour rates that nearby hotels pass on to guests. Brooks Hotel quotes €20.00 for a 24-hour stay (Brooks Hotel Dublin (parking guide)), and Drury Court Hotel advertises the same €20.00 rate for 24 hours at APCOA Drury St (Drury Court Hotel (location guide)).

Cheapest parking options in Dublin City Centre

• Overnight at Drury Street: €14.00, below the €20.00 hotel-resident rate quoted nearby
• Prebook: from €4.05, the lowest advertised entry price in the area (APCOA prebook portal)
• On-street metered parking: free after 7pm on Saturdays and all day on Sundays
• Q-Park St Stephen’s Green: discounted 24-hour rate through Drury Court Hotel, amount not published (Drury Court Hotel (location guide))

Free Sunday street parking is the cheapest option in Dublin 2, but it comes with a catch: no guaranteed space, no CCTV, no booking. The distance between “free” and “found” is the real cost.

Comparison with other nearby car parks

• Drury Street is the only option of the three with a published 24/7 access policy.
• Street parking is the only free option, and only on Sunday.
• Q-Park St Stephen’s Green is the only one with an unpublished discounted rate.

Three options, one pattern: a covered space in Dublin 2 carries a published tariff, while the street resets the price to zero on Sundays.

The implication: if you only need a few hours, the €4.50 hourly rate is fair; if you’re staying until morning, the overnight tariff beats the €20.00 that nearby hotels quote their guests — as long as you pick the right bracket rather than paying for a full day you didn’t use.

Is there parking available at APCOA Drury Street Car Park in Dublin?

Yes — and it is one of the better-documented car parks in Dublin 2. The facility is run by APCOA, described by Dublin Town as privately owned and family-run (Dublin Town (city-centre business directory)), and it stays open around the clock.

Location and access

• Facility-site address: 36/37 Drury St, Dublin 2 (Drury Street Car Park – Dublin (official site))
• APCOA’s own listing uses 59–62 Drury St, D02 V261 — check your booking confirmation before navigating (APCOA Drury Street – Dublin (operator’s listing))
• Drury Court Hotel describes it as “the first car park on Drury Street, directly opposite the Hairy Lemon” (Drury Court Hotel (location guide))
• Entrance height: 2.00 m (Ireland Rent A Car (car hire parking guide))

The dual addresses cause real confusion, but the practical fix is simple: enter the address from your booking confirmation into the sat nav rather than relying on memory.

Operating hours and availability

• Drive-in and drive-out access: 24 hours, seven days a week (Ireland Rent A Car (car hire parking guide))
• Spaces: 465 (APCOA Dublin listing (operator’s network page))
• Closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and St Stephen’s Day, per Brooks Hotel’s parking guide (Brooks Hotel Dublin (parking guide))

The 24-hour access matters if your train arrives late or your night out runs past midnight — it turns the car park into a reliable fallback instead of a time-limited one. APCOA’s Trinity Street listing even points drivers to Drury Street as the nearby alternative (Trinity Street – APCOA (operator’s listing)).

Security features

• CCTV monitoring on site (Ireland Rent A Car (car hire parking guide))
• Management describes the car park as “widely regarded as one of the safer car parks in Dublin” (Drury Street Car Park – Dublin (official site))
• Direct phone line: +353 1 671 0032 (Dublin Town (city-centre business directory))

What this means: for a private car park, a published safety record is part of the pitch — and in Dublin 2, that is worth more than a few extra centimetres of headroom.

What time is street parking free in Dublin?

If your goal is the cheapest possible spot in Dublin 2, the street beats every car park on Sunday. Once the meters switch off, on-street spaces cost nothing — but the rules around them are stricter than many drivers remember.

Sunday free parking policies

• On-street metered parking is free after 7pm on Saturdays and all day on Sundays.
• Paid meters resume on Monday morning, so a car left overnight on Sunday still needs a ticket before you drive off.
• If the street is full, the multi-storey alternative on Drury Street — evening rate €12.00 — is the indoor backup.

Double yellow line restrictions

• Double yellow lines mean no waiting and no parking at any time in Ireland.
• The rumoured 10-minute allowance on a double yellow does not exist.
• A quick stop at a shop entrance is still a contravention, even if the driver stays in the car.

Grace periods in Ireland

• There is no statutory 15-minute grace period after paid parking expires.
• Private operators set their own tolerance; Euro Car Parks, for example, advertises a 10-minute grace period in some of its car parks.
• At Drury Street, the facility’s published terms do not promise a grace period (Drury Street Car Park – Dublin (official site))

The trade-off: choose the free street spot and you accept walking, circling and no shelter; choose Drury Street and you pay the evening rate to skip all three.

Is there a 15-minute grace period for parking?

No — at least not as a rule you can rely on. There is no statutory 15-minute grace period in Ireland, and no car park is obliged to offer one.

Grace periods in public car parks

• There is no statutory 15-minute grace period after paid parking expires.
• Public car parks may allow a short buffer, but it is discretionary and rarely signposted.
• Drury Street’s own terms do not set one out (Drury Street Car Park – Dublin (official site))

Euro Car Parks 10-minute rule

• Euro Car Parks has advertised a 10-minute grace period at some of its locations.
• That policy is specific to Euro Car Parks sites — it does not transfer to APCOA-run Drury Street.

Consequences of overstaying

• Overstay the paid time and the operator can issue a parking charge notice.
• Leave a charge notice unanswered and the amount typically increases before it moves to debt collection.
• An extra paid hour at Drury Street costs €4.50 — cheaper than any charge notice, and it stops the argument from starting.

The reality: grace is a courtesy, not a contract. The only way to guarantee a buffer is to read the rate board and terms before you walk away from the car.

What’s the worst that can happen if you don’t pay a parking ticket?

The worst case isn’t a bigger fine. It’s a debt-collection letter or court action over a charge that started as a genuine mistake.

Private parking charge notices vs council tickets

• A Penalty Charge Notice comes from a public authority and carries statutory enforcement powers.
• A Parking Charge Notice from a private operator like APCOA is a contractual claim rather than a fine.
• The distinction matters: private operators pursue unpaid notices through civil debt recovery, not the criminal courts.

Can you ignore a parking Charge Notice?

• Ignoring a private parking charge rarely ends the matter; operators typically add an administration fee before passing the debt to a collection agency.
• Charge notices include an appeals window — using it in writing is the cheapest way to challenge a mistaken ticket.
• For an APCOA-run car park like Drury Street, the operator’s published terms are the contract you accept when you drive in (Drury Street Car Park – Dublin (official site))

How to avoid escalating fines

• Use the prebook option from €4.05 and the price is locked in advance (APCOA prebook portal)
• Photograph your ticket and the rate board on arrival; dated evidence settles most disputes.
• If a notice does arrive, respond within the stated window rather than hoping it expires.

Why this matters: a €4.50 hourly ticket at Drury Street is the cheap outcome; a contested charge notice that ends in collections is the expensive one.

What’s confirmed, what’s not

A little clarity after all those numbers: some facts are pinned down by the operator and local guides, while others are the kind of “everyone knows” rules that deserve a closer look.

The pattern: the hard numbers are public; the “everyone knows” rules are the ones to verify.

What the operators say

“Drury Street Underground Car Park is widely regarded as one of the safer car parks in Dublin.”

— Management, Drury Street Car Park – Dublin (official site)

“The first car park on Drury Street, directly opposite the Hairy Lemon.”

— Drury Court Hotel (location guide)

“Open 24 hours a day except on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and St Stephen’s Day.”

— Brooks Hotel Dublin (parking guide)

The pattern: each quote points the same direction — central, safe and open — which is exactly what a driver needs after dark in Dublin 2.

The takeaway

For anyone driving into Dublin 2, the practical question isn’t whether Drury Street has space — it’s which tariff you’ll actually be charged. Prebook through APCOA and the price starts at €4.05 (APCOA prebook portal). Walk up in the evening and the rate is €12.00; stay overnight and the published tariff is €14.00 (APCOA Drury Street – Dublin (operator’s listing)). The hotel-resident deals stack up to €20.00 for 24 hours (Brooks Hotel Dublin (parking guide)), which only makes sense if you genuinely need a full day under cover. For the visitor weighing a night out in Dublin 2 against a parking fine, the choice is clear: book ahead, read the rate board, and treat Sunday street parking as a bonus, not a plan.

Related reading

• APCOA Drury Street – Dublin — the operator’s tariff page with season-ticket details.
• Dublin Town – Drury Street Car Park — the city-centre business directory entry, including the phone number.
• Drury Street Car Park – Dublin — the facility’s own site with online booking and the safety statement.

These pages are the authoritative places to check before you drive in — tariffs change faster than blog posts.

Related reading: Dublin Town – Drury Street Car Park · APCOA Drury Street – Dublin

Frequently asked questions