Part One - A walk through Dublin - 2001

By Allan Jackson

The Republic Of Ireland plays host to upwards of six million tourists each year and you'll meet a sizeable number of these when you're out and about in Dublin.

Making matters even worse is the fact that approximately 60% of Ireland's four million population live in the city. The city's roads and pavements are very crowded but the place is so charming that you won't mind dodging through the seething mass of humanity.

Which is just as well because we're about to take a gentle walk through the heart of the city to see what there is to see. The city centre is pretty compact and we should be able to cross it in less than an hour unless we get distracted by the sights along the way or get a sudden attack of shopping.

We start at northern end of O'Connell Street under the statue of Charles Stewart Parnell who is one of the great heroes of Ireland's struggle for independence from Britain. He was elected to the British Parliament in 1875 and almost managed to achieve Home Rule for Ireland but was derailed when news broke of an adulterous affair he was conducting with one Kitty O'Shea.

Turning from the statue, we walk southwards on the wide traffic island in the middle of O'Connell Street. On our left you'll see The Gresham Hotel; on the right is the Royal Dublin Hotel and, after a few more steps, we nearly bump into a statue of Mathew the Apostle.

Directly to our left is the Tourist Information Office where we can stop to book accommodation, tours or get any information we need. Along a bit on the right is the Dublin Bus Office where we can get local bus tickets and timetables or, at the Bus Eireann desk, book inter-city bus trips.

Directly in front of us on the traffic island is a sculpture of a female form reclining in a fountain. Created by Eamonn O'Doherty in 1988, the lady is known officially as Anna Livia but she's known more familiarly to locals as the Floozy in the Jacuzzi.

We now come to Earl Street North leading off to the left and Henry Street off to the right. Some of the most hard-core shopping in Dublin happens in these two streets and we can easily pass a few minutes or few hours browsing around.

Up ahead on the right with a very imposing set of pillars in front of it is the General Post Office, scene of one of the most important events in Ireland's struggle to free itself from British rule. The Independence of Ireland was proclaimed from the steps of the building during the ill-fated Easter Rising of 1916.

Bullet marks on the pillars still bear testimony to the desperate fight which took place as the rising was crushed by the British. Many of the rising's leaders including Patrick Pearse and James Connolly were executed but it marked the beginning of the end for British Rule and led to the establishment of the Irish Free Sate in 1921.

Moving on we come to where the 120-metre stainless steel Dublin Spire is being built on the site of Nelson's Pillar which stood in this spot from 1808 until 1966 when it was blown up by persons unknown. During the excavations an historic plaque marking the laying of the foundation stone of the pillar was found and preserved.

The spire will have a base three-metres in diameter tapering to 100mm at the top and cost three million Irish Punts. The structure is due for completion in 2002 and it may very well complement the surrounding architecture but I'll reserve judgement on that for the time being.

To our right is the excellent Eason book shop which is well worth a visit and, beyond that, Middle Abbey Street which is home to a number of bargain book shops and the Irish Music Hall of Fame.

All the way down the street on the left you'll have seen parked open-top tour busses which are the best way of seeing the city. There's a tour leaving at least every 10 minutes and your ticket will be valid for the entire day enabling you to hop on or off the bus as often as you please.

Next we come to the statue of Daniel O'Connell who was the first Catholic Irishman to be elected to the British Parliament. He was largely responsible for the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 which granted full political and civil liberties to Catholics in Great Britain and Ireland.

Daniel stands atop a plinth staring southwards across the River Liffey and the bridge which also bears his name. He is supported by representations of the trades of the people he represented in parliament and four angels or victories, one of whom still carries a bullet wound sustained in the Rising of 1916.

Going south again, we cross the river on O'Connell Street Bridge which is wider than it is long. If we turned right immediately on crossing the river and then took the second street to our left, we'd be in Temple Bar which is the centre of Dublin's nightlife and has more bars and restaurants than you could visit in a year.

Not wanting to be delayed too much, however, we keep on straight ahead as the road becomes Westmoreland Street. We pass the Manchester United Shop and the magnificent Bank Of Ireland building and then go round the front of Trinity College which is well worth a visit.

The college was established in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth 1 to 'civilise the Irish and cure them of Popery' and, until the 1960s, the Catholic Church still considered it a sin for its members to attend. Admission is free except to the library which houses the 8th-century Book of Kells, a sumptuously decorated manuscript comprising 680 pages of the Gospels in Latin.
We move on in what has become Grafton Street while we weren't looking and ahead, on the corner, a statue of the most famous barrow-girl of all time. During the day Molly Malone wheeled her wheelbarrow through streets broad and narrow selling cockles and mussels but it turns out that, after dark, she sold herself as well.

Molly, known locally as The Dish with the Fish, The Dolly with The Trolley or The Tart with the Cart, has her back to Nassau Street which mostly contains shops selling Irish-made products. We move on into the pedestrianised section of Grafton Street which is one of the city's premier shopping areas and one of its busiest areas.

There always seems to be something going on in Grafton Street and you can often hear musicians who sound as though they belong in a concert hall and not on the street. At the top of the street we see an arch with some very familiar place names chiselled on it; Colenso, Ladysmith, Umgeni Heights, Talana and Laing's Nek.

On crossing the road, we find that it's the Fusiliers's Arch commemorating members of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who fell in the Anglo-Boer War. Through the arch lies St. Stephen's Green which is a really lovely park and well worth a wander.

By now we are pretty weary and our feet are sore so we'll regretfully call an end to our walk for the time being. I don't know about you but I'm about to rest for a while on that nice bit of lawn and then I'm for a late lunch and a pint or two of 'The Guinness'.

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