Dublin: Molly Malone, St. Stephen's Green, EPIC

I had cold cereal for breakfast with provisions from Lidl the day before. Afterwards I got a coffee from The Buttery, a TCD cafeteria, but it was cheap, and made my throat sore. More likely it was the change of temperature that triggered the sore throat. I was self conscious of my coughing when visiting EPIC later.

Here you see the entrance to the Old Library where the Book of Kells is kept.

I had booked a half-day trip to Glendalough for Sunday afternoon and the pick up spot was the Molly Malone statue made famous by the song Cockles and Mussels, so I reckoned I should find out where it is. In the story she was a fishwife who plied her wares during the day, was a part-time prostitute at night, and died young in a fever epidemic. There is no evidence such a person ever existed but Dublin has named June 13 as Molly Malone day to spur tourism.

The sculptor Jeanne Rynhart (who also sculpted Annie Moore in Cobh) has been criticised for making her buxom and her dress low-cut but defended her work saying that this was representative dress, as women breastfed publicly in those days, and breasts popped out often.

Visitors usually gave her breasts a rub or a grope when posing for pictures, for good luck, frisson, or whatever.

The statue stands in front of St. Andrews Church.

Another view.

I liked the colour of this bar.

Panorama:

From there I walked to the other end of Grafton Street, where the entrance to St. Stephen's Green is.

There are horse-drawn buggies on the opposite side of the street, offering rides.

The tram tracks are part of the Luas network.

The pond in the middle.

Another view.

More waterfowl.

I think this is the gardener's cottage.

James Joyce gets a bust.

The park was the scene of the Easter Uprising of 1916 which was a notable event in the struggle for Irish Independence. Signs throughout the park explain the series of acts and consequences.

In the eastern corner of the park is Edward Delaney's Famine Memorial.

A panorama of the green entrance:

For lunch I decided to try the Malaysian food in Kopitiam Dublin, on Capel Street in North Dublin, on the other side of the River Liffey. It was quick to get there by public transport. That street is home to many Asian businesses.

Their version of wad tan hor was edible enough, although the brown sauce looked strange. The portion was filling.

For the rest of the afternoon I took myself to EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum also north of the river on Custom House Quay.

It uses multimedia very effectively to explore all aspects of Irish Emigration. It's an all-digital museum.

As with the Belfast Titanic, I felt I could not do it justice by taking photos of it. It really has to be experienced in person. The museum has won many awards as a tourist attraction.

Of course the Irish Famine figures large but the museum covers far more than that, including recent departures in the last century for reasons of work, when Ireland was a backwater in Europe.

A display about the kinds of hurdles emigrants faced in arriving at their new countries.

A display showing the diversity in the destinations reached by the Irish diaspora. The Irish have left their mark all over the world.

And that was it for my touring for the day. I coughed a lot in the museum, and fortunately had some lozenges to help. For dinner I bought some takeaway from Grafton Street and ate it in the kitchenette of my lodgings.

Dublin: Trinity College, Grafton Street

The bus driver wasn't accepting fares, either the machine was out of order or it was in sympathy with the UK strikers. The trip back to Dublin was uneventful, but the train was packed. I swapped seats with a man so he could stay with his group, but the rightful occupant came along later and they had to separate anyway.

It was colder in Dublin than Belfast. I found Il Capo, a recommended pizzeria near Connolly and had a good pizza for lunch which you can see.

By the time I got to Trinity College, the check-in for the accommodation was open. I was issued with a card key to access my room. I didn't figure out how to lock my room with the card until later, but I was the only lodger in that group of rooms which had a keyed entrance so it didn't matter much.

Trinity College is an enclosed space and you pass through the main door to enter. That door is closed in the evening, and you have to use a side entrance. There are a lot of tourists during the day, some to see the Book of Kells in the Old Library. Lodgers like me were issued with a card to show security stating that we were staying in the residences.

I also took the opportunity to get access to the laundrette. It was a pity the rooms were several minutes walk away from the office and laundrette. It was a shorter distance in the other two college residences.

The tower you see in the photos is the Campanile at the west end of library square, the patch of lawn visible.

After resting, I wandered out to the pedestrian shopping street, Grafton Street. I found Bewley's and tempted by the cakes, I went in. It was a fairly posh place.

They have memorabilia under the tables you can look at while waiting for your beverage and pastry. The tea and cake were fairly good but not something you need to go out of your way to try.

Dunnes Stores again.

I took pictures of whatever took my fancy during my walk of Grafton Street and nearby streets, so there's not much narration.

Hairy Lemon pub. This was actually on the way to the Lidl supermarket on Aungier Street.

Cafe and pub.

Truth in advertising?

The road outside the Gaiety Theatre.

The front of the theatre.

Stephen's Green shopping centre.

The opposite side of Grafton Street there.

Both near the entrance to St. Stephen's Green.

Street florist.

McDaid's. Maps has just informed me that it was Brendan Behan's favourite pub. He's famous, but I know little about him. I like his witty self-description as "a drinker with a writing problem". Drink was indeed the death of him, at 41.

Another bar with an attractive front. It being Friday evening, all the drinking spots were well patronised.

Boodles is a jewelry store.

This would be Ann Street with St. Ann's Church in the distance.

Another florist.

Weir and Sons is a jewelry and watch store.

Seating spills onto the street.

The cold weather was a bit tiring and I had to get my laundry done so that was the end of explorations for the day.

Panoramas, in roughly reverse order: