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ADVENTURES IN IRELAND
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Dublin, it can be
argued, is everything the rest of Ireland isn’t. It’s urban, congested, chaotic,
trendy, dirty, youthful, international, scholarly, artistic, loud, and sleepless.
It’s the one place in Ireland where you cannot easily see the sky
— Dublin is more
manmade than natural.
Don’t the Irish know it! Fully
one-quarter of Ireland’s citizenry lives within Dublin’s confines. Of
course the nation’s government clusters here. Much of its international
commerce congregates here, too, more and |
DUBLIN'S TEMPLE
BAR |
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more in new high-tech corporate parks ringing the city. Ireland’s great
university, Trinity College, has attracted Ireland’s best and brightest
minds for centuries. Perhaps something of a surprise, the artists of
Ireland — best known
for representing Ireland’s rural soul —
rise more frequently from Dublin’s significant art/writing/music
scene than from the hinterlands. |
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STREET BUSKERS |
Visitors on holiday want to explore
Dublin’s historic sites, many tied to the nation’s epic struggle to overcome
outside domination—whether from Vikings, Normans, Cromwellians, or more recent
incursions. Others look forward to crawling from pub to pub in a city where such a
pub-crawl can become a lifelong journey. Surely the music draws
— traditional Irish (Celtic) music, dynamic Irish dance, classical
performances, and major and minor league poppers and rockers.
So —
where do you go to find
Dublin at its core? One can suggest several districts
— O’Connell Street, Trinity
College, |
| and Drury Street come
to mind. But, for most people, Dublin in a nutshell might best be found
in the cobblestone lanes of Temple Bar. |
Temple Bar has been there for a while. Invading
Vikings founded the city 1,000 years ago at this spot
— they called it Dubh
Linn — on the River Liffey. The rest of Dublin grew up around the Temple Bar, which,
though across from the elegant north side of the Liffey, continued to be a lively presence
in the city. It’s but a short walk across the arched Ha’Penny Bridge from the
broad avenues of Neo-Classical Dublin to this village within the city. It’s just as
easy to walk from the gates of Trinity College, Temple Bar’s neighbor to the east.
Entering through an arched
passage too narrow for cars tells you instantly you have arrived at Temple Bar. Excited
laughter mixes with all kinds of music and a smorgasbord of |
ENTRANCE TO
TEMPLE BAR |
| smells from cuisines
both recognizable and mysterious. Pedestrians are kings and queens here.
And jesters. And street musicians. And fashion martyrs. |
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SHOPPING CAN
BE RECKLESS
IN TEMPLE BAR |
Shops, pubs, and restaurants line the
alleyways, competing, often outlandishly, for your attention. The youth culture is strong
here — these streets appeal to youth of every age. Just as the crazy colors and crazy
fashions of the shops grab at your eyes, the din of voices in packed bars claws at your
ears. There’s the smell of Guinness in the air, fresh from their hop store a few
blocks away. When it’s time to eat, the choosing is hard. What’ll it be:
traditional Irish, Italian, Greek, Spanish, Mexican, American?
And to quench a thirst or
accomplish a youthful travel goal take a pub-crawl
— there are dozens of pubs in the
quarter. |
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Looking for traditional Irish music in a
lively Irish
pub? There are many small pub venues with occasional music, but music happens daily at
Fitzsimon’s on the outside of Temple Bar by the Ha’Penny footbridge along
the River Liffy and Oliver St John Gogarty’s on Fleet Street near the center
of Temple Bar. At either location you’ll get Irish music, song and dance afternoons
and evenings daily, and a lively crowd almost always. Fitzsimon’s features a
carvery lunch from 12:30-3PM and suppers from 6-11PM in its second-floor riverside
restaurant. Gogarty’s second-floor restaurant features traditional Irish food
from land and sea with good quality and moderately high prices. |
OLIVER ST. JOHN
GOGARTY'S IN
TEMPLE BAR |
| Temple Bar was threatened with
urban renewal twenty years ago when a cadre of enterprising property owners took on the
town fathers and won. They did so by uniting to turn their eclectic district into the Left
Bank of Dublin. Their entrepreneurial spirit of those times continues to this day, as do
their unified promotions. At any of the district's merchants, ask for the guide to the
pubs, clubs and cafés of Temple Bar, the hippest street in town. |
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Learn more about travel
with HOME AT FIRST
to CENTRAL IRELAND. |
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