STL DPL IN IRELAND - LOVE HOTEL

We were looking for someplace interesting for dinner on our last night in Dublin. A short walk from where we were staying was a small, expensive boutique hotel with a terrace restaurant on the top floor. Dublin is booming, and I counted no less than thirteen construction cranes scattered across the horizon. This is the hotel’s lobby. Shouldn’t the romance be established before you check in?                

STL DPB IN IRELAND - ANCIENT KNOWLEDGE

 

Not all of the books in the Long Hall of Trinity College’s Old Library have yet been removed for conservation. This gives an idea of how the stacks looked when the place was in operation. I look at those ladders and, as an American lawyer, I think about liability insurance coverage.                     

STL DPB IN IRELAND - THE LONG ROOM

 

Many people who go to Dublin visit Trinity College. (My favorite alumnus is Oscar Wilde.) The chief attractions are the 7th Century Book of Kells, a magnificent illustrated Bible produced by the monks of the Dark Ages, and the Long Hall of the Old Library, seen here. Most of the books have been removed for  conservation. The six meter globe in the center is called Gaia.                 

STL DPB IN IRELAND - ECCO IL PAPA

 

Seen yesterday in Grafton Street, the busy pedestrianized shopping thoroughfare in the heart of Dublin. The artist had stretched some kind of plastic sheeting between two posts and was painting a portrait of Pope Francis, who died on Monday. It would leave no permanent record and the authorities didn’t object. Imagine that in the U.S. 

Home late tonight but there are lots of Irish images still to edit on the plane.                     

STL DPB IN IRELAND - IN DUBLIN’S FAIR CITY...

 

In Dublin's fair city, 
Where the girls are so pretty,
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone,
As she wheeled her wheel-barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!"

The song is the unofficial anthem of Dublin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Malone . Molly was, by legend, a 17th Century fishmonger, the daughter of fishmonger parents. The statue was installed in 1988 and has become one of the most Instagram-able places in the city.

The statue has obviously been burnished by tourists. Comically, after a recent public poll, the city decided to place monitors (without authority) at the statue asking visitors to respect her patina. They will only be there from 9 to 5, so after the pubs get busy Molly will be defenseless.

However, if your monitor allows it, look closely at her face. The weariness and sadness are powerful.                    

Lamentation

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Home now, reflecting on the experience of the last two weeks. Ireland has strong currents of both joy and sadness. These pictures illustrate the latter.

The top picture is the Famine Memorial, outside of the town of Westport. It is in the form of a "coffin ship," the vessels that carried desperate emigrants to the New World. A large portion of the country's population died during the failure of the potato crop of about 1845 - 1850, both from starvation and related diseases. The sculpture depicts skeletal people almost flying off the island in misery.

The images below are memorials to the deceased rich in Dublin's Anglican Christ Church Cathedral. The difference of expression is shocking.

Probably more pictures from Ireland for a bit. May have some stuff, though, from half-way around the world, since this weekend is St. Louis' big Japanese Festival.

By the way, I got a lot of pictures edited on the plane yesterday. The set is here. Still more work to do.

STL DPB In Dublin, In Jail And In Kathmandu

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We visited Kilmainham Gaol yesterday morning, the most notorious prison in Ireland. It was here that the English confined the leaders of the Irish revolutions (six between 1798 and 1919) and executed many of them. It was an unspeakably cruel place. Our guide gave some of the young members of the group signs reminding us that even children were imprisoned for the crime of being poor. Vagrancy, in this context, meant to be homeless.

On Peter Kelleher's advice, we drove down the coast to the toney village of Dalkey, home of Bono and other wealthy Irish. It felt like a local version of Carmel-by-the-Sea. We climbed to the top of Killiney Hill to see the obelisk, a make-work project for the destitute, and its sweeping view of Dublin Bay and surroundings.

And now for something completely different. Dinner was at Monty's of Kathmandu, a brilliant Nepalese restaurant in the Temple Bar district. It had an all-Nepali staff, fabulous food (the chicken momos were to die for) and the best nan we've had anywhere, including India and Nepal. I gotta have a set of those glasses to remind me of my Buddha nature with every sip of malbec. And then, a few doors from the restaurant, a little more local weirdness.

Today, a stop at Newgrange and then on to Belfast.

St. Louis Ramblers In Dublin

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It's late Wednesday night here in Dublin as I write this. A full day of wandering around the city, details of which will have to wait. Lots of good pix today, too. Not sure when they will get edited. For the moment, a detail from a monument to local pop and folk music heroes, the Wall of Fame. And, since Cieldequimper reminds me that there has to be a Thursday Arch Series photo on Thursday, an image from Christ Church Cathedral, the city's Anglican HQ.

We were out late because of an invitation from one of my readers, Peter Kelleher. He is an Irishman who lived and worked in St. Louis for twenty years and has been back in Dublin for two. STL DPB keeps him up with his home for nearly half his life. Terrific dinner (here), good conversation and a pint at a traditional pub to finish the evening. Adventures are planned on the outskirts of the area for today.

By the way, I generally agree with the statement in the first picture. Given the choice, though, I'd prefer a glass of good Argentine malbec.

STL DPB On The Road: Dublin

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So we got 3 or 4 hours of sleep on the plane, maybe, arrived at the hotel at 10 and the room wasn't ready until 2. Carolyn and I went staggering around central Dublin to kill some time.

Things have changed here since our last visit 8 years ago, not surprisingly. The center looks a bit more worn down. Lots of vacant storefronts. The ethnic mix is different. There are a couple of Polish groceries in the neighborhood of our hotel. The hotel bellman was named Krishna. The young man who took our lunch order had a notable Chinese accent and wore a New York Yankees baseball hat. Someone warned us about unlicensed cabs run by Nigerians, circulating at night. A group of Irish friends at the bar at our hotel were drinking Coors Light (yuck). The people at the next table at dinner (at Sixty6, excellent) were Spanish.

The picture above is The Dublin Spire, planted right in the middle of O'Connell Street on the site where in the 60s the IRA blew up a copy of Nelson's Column, like the one in Trafalgar Square. I don't know what it means but you can find out through the link.

Serious tourism later today.

I Am So Out Of Material...

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...mostly from tons of work to clear before I travel, that I'm going deep into the archives. This was shot in Dublin in October, 2002. Heaven knows what kind of camera I was using back then. I remember this man: his jacket was worn, his expression was sad and his music was sweet. What will the city be like when we get there next week?