Summer Wanderings Around Dublin

Tags

Chester Beatty Library, Dubh Linn Gardens, Ha'penny Bridge, Merchant's Arch, O'Connell Monument, O'Connell Street, Spire of Dublin, Temple Bar

This summer, I had the privilege of showing a friend from the US around Dublin for a very short Saturday. We nearly walked our feet off, but covered a lot of ground! The weather was gorgeous that day, and I took some pictures of our wanderings to show you.

We started off by going to the north side of the Liffey, then worked our way south. When you cross over the River Liffey, the first thing you notice is the large statue of Daniel O’Connell, after whom this thoroughfare is named. O’Connell was an Irish political leader in the early to mid 1800s, with one of his main focuses being the emancipation of Catholics. At that point in time, Catholics were denied many civil liberties, including the ability to sit in the Westminster Parliament. O’Connell also objected to the joining of Ireland with Great Britain. He lived to the age of 71 and was an extremely active political leader of Ireland his entire adult life. For the purposes of this post however, I will stop here and let you pursue more information about O’Connell on your own.

The statue was designed and created by John Henry Foley and completed by his assistant, Thomas Brock. It was widely agreed upon that this monument to O’Connell was Foley’s finest work, and was unveiled to the public at its current location in 1882. Since taking these pictures, I have learned that it was nicked by several bullets in the Easter Rising of 1916, the marks of which you can still see today. I’ll have to go again later and see if I can get photos of those scrapes and holes to show you!

Here, you can see the Spire of Dublin in the background, further north along O’Connell Street. This stainless steel spike is 398 feet tall and stands on the site where Nelson’s Pillar stood until it was destroyed by a bomb in 1966. Dubliners have mixed reactions to the Spire, with the overall feeling is that it was a ridiculous waste of time and money. I will say, however, that it does look rather neat first thing in the morning when the sky is grey as it catches the rays of the rising sun!

Turning south, this is the view across the Liffey.

Walking towards Temple Bar, there were many fun side streets we passed, this one being my favorite due to the bright colors.

We crossed Ha’Penny bridge, and entered Temple Bar through the ever-charming Merchant’s Arch. I swear, no matter how many times I go through this passageway, it still feels like I’m entering another time as I enter one side and come out the other.

While this entire small district is called “Temple Bar,” here is the particular pub by that name. This portion of land gained it’s name from Sir William Temple, who built his home on a piece of newly reclaimed land in the early 1600s. A “barr,” later shorted to “bar” was a raised sandbank in an estuary used for as a walkway. Interesting how it has nothing to do with pubs or drinking establishments as many Americans might at first assume.

Last stop of the day was the Chester Beatty Library and the beautiful Dubh Linn gardens. When I was first here in late winter, I was surprised to see some plants still blooming. However, I do admit that the summer color is much more impressive!