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There’s more to Dublin than just stag parties
 “Garrison
of the Saxon Augustan capital of a Gaelic nation.”
Those words of Louis McNeice may well be true but Dublin can still proudly
boast that it is the only capital in the world under the sole control
of the Celts.
Despite its increasingly cosmopolitan nature, Dublin remains indisputably
Irish.
As far back as 140 AD Ptolemy observed that Eblana was a place of note.
A powerful, organised people called the Eblani then occupied the region
the Greek geographer and astronomer even refers to the river Liffey (he
calls it the Obaka) and the ford which crossed it although no mention
of those two warring tribes, the ‘Northsiders’ and the ‘Southsiders’.
Baile Atha Cliath the town of the hurdle ford was how the early Kings
of Leinster referred to the town and they showed no preference for Dublin
4 over the ultramontaine people away to the north.
The Liffey still divides the city, which by the Middle Ages had come
to be known by the Irish as Duibhlinn or Dark Pool.
Today most of Dublin’s attractions lie to the south of the river
the elegant Georgian squares, vibrant Temple Bar, Trinity College, Grafton
Street, St. Stephen’s Green and most of the museums.
The obvious exception is Croke Park, which is the third-largest sporting
stadium in Europe.
Dublin’s literary tradition haunts every nicotine-stained pub in
the capital and lurks in every nook and cranny of the city.
The ghosts of Joyce, Shaw, Wilde, O’Casey and Goldsmith are everywhere.
Few cities in the world can have contributed so much to the world’s
literary canon and their presence is usually enough to make the most ignorant
philistine feel intellectually alive.
Well, with the exception of visiting stag parties.
For more formal appreciation of Dublin’s literary heritage, head
for the Dublin Writers’ Centre in Parnell Square, the James Joyce
Centre in North Frederick Street, or the James Joyce Museum, housed in
the Martello Tower in Sandymount, where the first chapter of Ulysses is
set.
The Dublin Literary Pub Crawl tel. 00 353 1 670 5602 (€12/£8.60)
www.dublinpubcrawl.com is a movable feast of readings, anecdotes and history,
presented by inspired actors. Terrific fun.
Until the end of November the tours take place nightly starting at 7.30pm
at the Duke pub, 9 Duke Street.
Theatrical Dublin is celebrated every year in the Dublin Theatre Festival.
Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, it is the oldest English-speaking
theatre festival in the world.
This year’s festival 2007 will run from September 27 to October
14, with a programme which includes Hibiki by Sankai Juku, Homeland by
New York violinist and playwright Laurie Anderson and A Long Day’s
Journey Into Night by Eugene O’Neill. Log on to: www.dublintheatrefestival.com
As well as laying claim to some of the finest writers literature has produced,
Dublin has one other proud boast it surely has the greatest concentration
of real, old-fashioned, honest-to-God pubs anywhere in the civilised world.
And they haven’t just played host to musicians and writers.
Ryan’s in Parkgate is notable in that Ludwig von Wittgenstein was
a ‘local’.
The philosopher regularly sat in the pub, doubtless thinking up bon mots
such as: “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof there must be silence.”
Well, we’ll all drink to that, whether in dimly-lit friendly snugs
throughout the city north and south, gastropubs in Ballsbridge or raucous
late-night clubs in Temple Bar.
For a good mix, head for Doheny & Nesbitt, 4-5 Lower Baggot Street,
complete with Victorian snugs and mirrors and creaking with carved timber
floors.
Or you could try Neary’s on Chatham Street, recently voted the best
pub in Dublin by the findings of a public vote in the Dubliner magazine.
Long Hall, South Great George’s Street, remains a reliable institution
in a fast-changing street of shops and cafes, while Davy Byrne’s,
21 Duke Street, is a must for avid Ulysses fans.
Dublin teems with historical buildings, from the elegant Georgian houses
of Merrion Square to the magnificence of Trinity College, wherein lies
the Book of Kells.
A priceless illuminated manuscript (don’t ask them to switch it
on) it’s amongst the top half-dozen most valuable books in the world.
Trinity is the alma mater of Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde and Oliver Goldsmith.
The statue of Thomas Moore (who wrote The Meeting Of The Waters) is somewhat
fittingly situated between the ladies’ and gents’ toilets.
Just across the road from Trinity is the Bank of Ireland where you can
still change your old punts should you happen across a cache under your
granny’s bed.
This impressive 18th century edifice was once Parliament House you can
take a peek into the House of Lords Chamber.
The National Museum of Ireland on Kildare Street has exhibits on everything
from ancient Egypt to Irish independence, while the Municipal Gallery
of Modern Art, on Parnell Square, has some excellent 20th-century Irish
installation work on the ground floor and a small collection of French
impressionists.
The treasures of the National Gallery of Ireland from Vermeer and Caravaggio
to JB Yeats and Louis Le Brocquy plus all stops in between can be viewed
for free.
The intriguing story of Dublin’s Viking origins are unravelled at
the Dvblinia Heritage Centre.
Originally opened in 1993, the centre is situated in the former Synod
Hall of the Church of Ireland.
It is run by the Medieval Trust, a charitable organisation whose influence
has had the significant consequence of steering the place clear of the
worst excesses of paddywhackery.
Instead an academic, though entertaining, exhibition takes you through
the various ages of what is one of Europe’s most historic cities.
The exhibition’s ‘Journey Through Time’ will guide
you in graphic detail through several other famous episodes in Dublin’s
history such as the crowning of Lambert Simnel, pretender to the English
throne. Tel 00 353 (0)1 679 46 11.
Hard by Dvblinia stands Ireland’s oldest cathedral, Christ Church.
Commissioned in 1172 by Strongbow and Archbishop Laurence O’Toole
(both of whose remains lie in the church), it replaced an earlier wooden
affair made by the Vikings.
After the reformation, Christ Church passed into the hands of the Protestants,
where it remains to this day officially head office of the Sees of Dublin
and Glendalough.
It is today the site of the General Synod of the Church of Ireland.
A short stroll from Christ Church is St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the
most-visited religious site in the country.
St. Patrick is said to have baptised converts to Christianity in the grounds
of the cathedral with water from a local well.
Since then (the 5th century) a church has stood on the grounds.
The Normans built one in the 12th century which was rebuilt in the 13th
century and that building is more or less today’s cathedral.
This was Jonathan Swift’s old stomping ground and the Dean is remembered
in the cathedral.
The area accessible to the public is probably smaller than one would expect
but spectacular nonetheless.
Its gothic-style arches and windows house countless artefacts, plaques
and memorials.
Highlights in the cathedral include the epitaph of Jonathan Swift; a
wooden door through which the Earl of Ormond and the Earl of Kildare shook
hands ending a feud in 1492 said to be the origin of the phrase ‘chancing
your arm’.
No tour of Dublin would be complete without paying your respects to St.
Valentine, who takes his eternal rest in the Carmelite church on Aungier
Street.
The patron saint of chocolates and roses wasn’t Irish it’s
doubtful if Guinness ever passed his lips.
However his remains were brought to Dublin in 1835 by one Father John
Spratt, donated to him by a grateful Pope.
Dublin’s main tourist office is housed in the decommissioned neo-gothic
Church of St. Andrews in Suffolk Street tel 00 353 1 605 7700 www.visitdublin.com
Dublin digs
“This then is the chief city of the aliens. The hotel to which I
had been directed is a respectable old edifice, much frequented by families
from the country, and where the solitary traveller may likewise find society.
For he may use the Shelburne as an hotel or a boarding house, in which
case he is comfortably accommodated, and magically conducted by clerks
and other officers.”
That was William Makepeace Thackeray waxing lyrical about the Shelbourne
Hotel on St. Stephen’s Green in his Irish Sketchbook.
The man who wrote Barry Lyndon and Vanity Fair would be delighted that
the comfortable old edifice has been made even more opulent of late, with
€100million being spent on it over the last six months.
The legendary five-star Dublin digs reopened for business earlier this
year the crystal chandeliers glinted, the champagne sparkled and the grand
piano tinkled away in the background and Dublin society had its headquarters
back.
Many of the hotel’s most famous guests have now given their names
to the suites, the most expensive being the Princess Grace Suite, currently
€1,800 per night. Other heritage suites at
€650 a night are named after
hotel founder Martin Burke, the Earl of Shelbourne, Eamon de Valera, Charles
Stewart Parnell, Peter O’Toole and Michael Collins. Regular rooms
are priced at €355.
A far cry from William Makepeace Thackeray’s day.
As he recorded in his Irish Sketchbook: “A guest can be comfortably
accommodated at the very moderate daily charge of six-and-eightpence.
A perpetual luncheon is thereafter spread, a plentiful dinner and tay
and coffee and cakes to satisfy the largest appetite.”
Tel: 00 353 1 663 4500
Browne’s is the place to stay if you want a city centre boutique
hotel.
A glorious Georgian house on St. Stephen’s Green with only 11 rooms,
doubles start at €185 (£125) breakfast included.
Browne’s Hotel, 22 St. Stephen’s Green 00 353 1 638 3939
Trinity Capital Hotel, Pearse Street
www.capital-hotels.com is an excellent
mid-price option, while Ariel House 50-54 Lansdowne Road tel: 00 353 1
668 5512, is a quiet haven within easy walking distance of Merrion Square
with bright comfortable bedrooms.
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