Bits and Bobs from Dublin

Just a few images and thoughts to share before we leave the Emerald Isle.

One of the best-known figures in Irish folklore is the beautiful woman from the folksong "Cockles and Mussels", Molly Malone.

I managed to get this shot of her statue between men posing while rubbing her boobs. Charming...

This shop's logo offers a perfect explanation of why Ireland is the Enerald Isle.

At Kennedy's bar I had the most perfect Irish coffee I've ever had. The food was pretty good, too.

On Liffey Street in the Temple Bar area is the famous sculpture, "The Meeting Place," less generously known as "The Hags with the Bags." It was originally unveiled to celebrate Dublin's millennium.

Also built to celebrate the millennium is the Spire of Dublin. It missed the millennium, however, as construction was completed in 2003. Among its less flattering nicknames are "The Spike" and "The Stiletto in the Ghetto."

The first time I passed the Daniel O'Connell monument, there was a political rally going on. Very appropriate considering that the stonework still bears visible bullet holes from the 1916 Easter Uprising.

Here's the colorful Blooms Hotel, named after the character of Leopold Bloom, the central figure of James Joyce's Ulysees.

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The Four Angels fountain by Edward Delaney is located on a traffic island on Dame Street. It represents the heralds of the four provinces of Ireland. I couldn't help thinking that they might have found a more auspicious location.

Also on a traffic island on Dame Street, facing Trinity College, is the statue of Thomas Davis, a journalist, poet, and politician who influenced the generation who acheived Irish independence in the 20th century.

The Tree of Gold, located outside of what was once the Central Bank headquarters, was commisioned in 1991 to commemorate Dublin's year as the European City of Culture.

In an earlier post I mentioned a sculpture I had seen and needed to investigate.

Located across the street from Kilmainham Gaol, it's The Proclamation Sculpture by Rowan Gillespie, which honors the leaders of the Easter Rising, and the authors of the Irish Proclamation of Independence. It features abstract and faceless bronze statues standing in a circle around a pillar, the words of their proclamation engraved into the metal table.

These eerily blindfolded statues each have an execution order or a verdict carved into their base, and their torsos are riddled with holes to represent where they were hit by the firing squad.

My impressions of Dublin are many and diverse. It's a lovely city filled with friendly and charming people who are fiercely proud of their history. Many, rightfully, seem to carry a bit of a chip on their shoulders from their colonial past. I was left wondering if there was any hope for reunification, especially in this world where division and disunity seem to be order of the day.