Qibla direction in Dublin

How to face the Qibla in Dublin

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 24.1° towards south: the result is the bearing of 114.1°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 24° off.

Scholars agree that someone who can see the Kaaba must face it exactly, while someone far away faces its direction (jihat al-Ka‘bah) as precisely as reasonably possible. If a mosque is nearby, its mihrab and prayer lines are the easiest reference, since they were set when the building was laid out. At home, mark the direction once with tape or a small arrow so the whole family prays the same way.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

This is a place where maps mislead badly: a straight line on a flat map from Dublin to Mecca points to 131.9° (south-east), a full 17.8° away from the true Qibla of 114.1° (south-east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 57 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Dublin first heads south-east, and that is the direction to face.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 53.3331° N, 6.2489° W to the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E). It is the method used by mosque architects and by every serious Qibla calculator, and it gives one exact answer for each point on Earth.

Distance from Dublin to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 5,256 km from Dublin as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,971 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 6 h 41 min, although most pilgrims from Dublin connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Dublin run 3 hours behind Mecca in winter and 2 hours behind Mecca in summer, because of daylight saving time. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Dublin rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Dublin

On 243 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Dublin while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in March (31 days); for example, on 1 March 2027 it happens at 08:14 local time.

On 92 days the sun stands exactly opposite the Qibla: then the shadow of any vertical object, a pole, a door frame or a plumb line, points straight towards Mecca. This is most frequent in July (31 days), for instance on 15 May 2027 at 20:26.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Dublin: at 10:18 and 10:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Dublin compared with other cities

The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Limerick (175 km), prays towards 111.1°, a difference of 3.0°.

Among the 3 cities in Ireland on this site, Dublin has the largest Qibla bearing; the smallest is 110.7° in Cork. Across the country the direction varies by 3.4°.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Ireland.

Qibla in cities near Dublin

• Limerick111.1° · 175 km
• Cork110.7° · 219 km