The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 were a series of co-ordinated bombings in counties Dublin and Monaghan, Ireland, carried out by the Ulster Volunteer Force. Three bombs exploded in Dublin during the evening rush hour and a fourth exploded in Monaghan almost ninety minutes later. They killed 34 civilians, including an unborn child, and injured almost 300. The bombings were among the deadliest attack of the conflict known as the Troubles, and the deadliest attack in the Republic's history. Most of the victims were young women, although the ages of the dead ranged from 19 up to 80 years.

Dublin is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2022 census, the city council area had a population of 592,713, while Dublin City and its suburbs had a population of 1,263,219, and County Dublin had a population of 1,501,500.