10 Questions About…

It was a leisurely day today. Aine and I took a long walk-through town. We stopped in Project Art Centre, which has long been one of my favorites, small experimental art. We saw Culchie Boy, I Love You by Kian Benson Bailes. It’s interesting with sort of an animal-predatory undercurrent with Irish roots.

We walked down the Liffey toward the bay. We stopped in at St Mary’s and found some very modern and imploring ways to get donations.

Then we walked and talked and saw great street art, felt the wind in our faces, got rained on intermittently. We stopped at the Grand Canal Docks.

Poor Aine walked so much more than she wanted to – and she was a great sport. But it was really nice to spend time together. At night I met up with an old friend Karina. It’s always fun to catch up with my friend who knows more about books than anyone I’ve ever known. I tried Korean food for the first time, which I really liked and we enjoyed a few pints. Kate went to Dun Laoghaire on her own, which was great given she’ll soon be living in Ireland. And both Kate and Aine met with their Uncle Fearghal for dinner. A good time was had by all.

Everyday a new adventure! I’ll lead with the headline for a change and say our big event today was a memorial for Sinead O’Connor. The hosts (ROSA Socialist Feminist Movement) did a nice job lifting up the issues that were important to Sinead O’Connor – autonomy and respect for people and disdain who hold back those rights. (I wrote more about it for my music blog – including a full video of the singalong.) For family purposes, part of the thrill was the presence of local media. Lots of photos taken, especially of Kate who was early, and lots of questions for all of us. It was a moving event. It ended in a singalong to Nothing Compares 2 U, which of course reminded us the days after Prince’s death. Very moving.

Before that, the girls and I went our separate ways for a while. I started off for the Dublin Castle and found the Ireland Glass Biennale 2023, an exhibition of work from some of the world’s most innovative glass artists, designers and craft practitioners. It was freaking amazing. Sadhbh Mowlds did an amazing sculpture of a woman shaving her legs in front of the mirror. It was scarily realistic in an uncanny valley way. Pearla Segovia did a similarly realist sculpture of two women looking at each other with no faces. And my cutest favorite my Krista Israel. Even without a face, it seems so cheerful.

I did a walk through Trinity College just to make sure that my favorite place of happy memory really closed. Sad to report that the Science Gallery is cleaned out. But I did see a lot of awesome street art on my walk.

Then I decided to listen to church bells from St Patrick’s, Christchurch and St Audoen’s, which led to a fantastic new rabbit hole. First, many years ago, I lived behind the church. It’s an old area – we didn’t have a toilet in the house. We had a modern toilet in a room outside the backdoor. Turns out St Audoen’s was a happening place in medieval times; it was where papal bulls were pronounced and public penances carried out. Also, they have amazing bells, 6 from 1423 that were renovated in the 1980s. Today they rang a special sound to celebrate their 600^th anniversary and to remember Sinead O’Connor. It’s free and absolutely worth a visit if you’re in the area.

Post memorial, the girls and I checked out Christchurch, which is just a stone’s throw from St Audoen’s. It is almost 1000 years old and has also served as hub for the community, albeit the Protestant community. The building is amazing but it’s the catacombs that we came for. It used to be like a public square where vendors would sell their wares and life would happen … such as putting people in the stockade. We heard all about it from a (recording of) 90 year old Catholic who talked about sneaking into the church only to get a firsthand demonstration of the stockage from a church leader. Very funny in retrospect and a story that would get someone in serious trouble today! Another highlight is the petrified cat and rat that were found in the organ pipes. Assumption was that they were in a chase, jumped in and got stuck.

Another glorious day in Dublin. OK, we got caught in one little rain burst but otherwise – sunny, warm, breezy – amazing. I started my day at the Phoenix Park. We’re not too far from it so it was an easy hike. My goal was to find the wild deer. Apparently, there are 600 of them, so it sounds easy. But the park is almost 3 square miles – not so easy. I was about to give up when I saw them. I see a lot of deer in Minnesota but these deer are different. Their antlers are spectacular. I got pretty close, actually much closer than I probably should have – but I live to tell the tale.

Then I stopped into the Museum of Decorative Arts and History. It was a quick trip but I’m a sucker for any kind of reenactment setup. And there’s a room full of “overflow” silver and art is amazing.

Next, I met up with the girls in Temple Bar. Sadly, the Market isn’t really what we remember from when they were kids. It’s much smaller now but always fun to walk around that area. We caught lunch and headed to the National Gallery, a big favorite from when they were kids. They’ve moved so many things around but they still have a nice mix of old and new art. Some of my favorites: Shield with Head of Medusa by an unkown artist (seen with Aine below), Late Late Show host Gay Byrne by John Kindness, Sinead O’Connor by Jane Brown and a mirror (featuring me and Aine below) in one of the majesty galleries.

Because we were back in the neighborhood we knew, we stopped by Merrion Park to see the statue of Oscar Wilde. Years ago, I heard they were going to add an audio component of him (or someone) reading his most quotable quotes. I hope that happens someday. Then we headed home. We stopped by the charity shops where I got two new dressed. (Score one for the usually bad shopper!) The next statue was musician Luke Kelly, posing with me below – later posed with Phil Lynott.

I took a long walk. Saw some amazing street art and then went to the Irish Museum of Modern Art, where I saw all of the awesome outside art the girls love when they were little and I saw the Irish Coast Guard land a helicopter. I watched for a minute, hoping it was an art installation. It wasn’t but I didn’t see much happen after the landing. The IMMA is built in the old Kilmainham Hospital. So some irony there.

At night we went to the Port House, our favorite tapas restaurant and then on search for the perfect pub. We went to a couple. It was heartening to see so many people at the pubs – post pandemic and really post Celtic Tiger. I haven’t seen the pubs fill so fast in a very long time. Also through the day saw some awes street art!

Aine, Kate and I do not bask in the joy of traveling. But we made it! We have landed in a really nice AirBnB in The Liberties, Dublin 8. This is a part of Dublin that we do not know well, although we toured the area once, 11 years ago on a memorably rainy day. It’s an historical area and I think of it as an inner city working class neighborhood. Back in the day it was where the weavers, tanners and market traders live. It still has a vibrant ethos of folks selling stuff on the sidewalk flea-market style. Very entrepreneurial and DIY vibes.

The Liberties are much farther west than areas we know. So, we’re getting our bearings. Being jetlagged is not helping. But we’ll get there. It is very close to the Guinness Storeroom. It’s not far from Christchurch where I lived long before the kids were around. It’s amazing to see how much is building up now.

It’s also fun to remember how much history has happened here and how much is celebrated. On one building I sawt a memorial saying it was where The Chieftains played their first gig and across the street Robert Emmet died in the cause of Irish Freedom (1803).

We all went on walks; ok mostly me alone. So I have random pictures of the area.

We all pulled it together to walk to the City Center for dinner. It was fun to see Temple Bar on a Friday night. It was fun not to feel obliged to duck into any of the pubs of Irish music and hen parties. We ran across a nice memorial for Sinead O’Connor.

We’re waiting for our favorite Guide of Dublin Free Events before we make any big plans. We are saving ourselves for a full Saturday!