Dublin and the Dubliners
As capital of Europe’s most explosive economy, Dublin seems
to be changing before your very eyes. New construction is everywhere,
the streets buzz, traffic is increasingly congested, and in the
frenetic pace of rush hour everyone in Dublin seems intent on changing
places with everyone else. At night the streets are crowded with people
bent on having a good time. Prosperity is in the air; the roar of the
“Celtic Tiger” can clearly be heard.
But this is not the whole picture. The proverbial
hospitality and warm welcome are still here. This busy, modern European
city sits on a thousand years of history — history is present
everywhere, from elegant Merrion Square to the bullet holes on the
General Post Office. It’s also a city of the imagination, reinvented
and reappraised in the literature of its exiles. And the old Dublin is
with us, too — the irreverent city of wit and charm and that peculiar
magic possessed by Ireland and the Irish.
Prosperity has brought with it a new emphasis on historic
preservation. Dublin excels in packaging its past for the visitor. You
can view artifacts from the Bronze Age, trace the history of the Easter
Rising, or revisit Leopold Bloom’s odyssey in Ulysses. Old buildings
are being recycled; for example, the 17th-century Royal Hospital now
holds the Museum of Modern Art. And Dublin, a city large in
expectations, is still small enough for the visitor to see most of its
sights on foot.
City on the Liffey
The River Liffey flows from west to east through the center
of the city to Dublin Bay. The river forms a natural line between the
north and south sections of the city. This geography is important in
understanding Dublin. Historically and culturally this north-south
distinction has always been significant, and it still is today, with a
dose of good-humored rivalry between the two areas. “ I never go north
of the Liffey,” one man remarked.
Farther out, both north and south, are the sweeping curves
of the Royal and Grand Canals. The occasional cry of gulls and
unexpected distant vistas will remind you that Dublin is by the sea,
and the Wicklow mountains, which hold Dublin closely to the coast, are
visible from everywhere.
Dublin is an intimate city, physically small but tightly
packed, a perfect place for walking. College Green, the home of Trinity
College, provides a natural focus just south of the O’Connell Street
bridge. O’Connell Street, the city’s grand boulevard, leads north to
Parnell Square. To the south and east is St. Stephen’s Green and
Georgian Dublin where the national museums are located. Along the
Liffey to the west is Temple Bar, center of nightlife and home to many
of Dublin’s cutting-edge artists and artistic endeavors. Up the hill
from Temple Bar are Dublin Castle and Christ Church Cathedral.
It won’t rain on you in Dublin all the time. The climate
here can best be described as “changeable” and yet the sudden shifts
from light to dark, sunshine to shower, are part of the city’s magic.
Buildings seem to transform themselves depending on the light; Dublin
under a lowering sky is a different place from Dublin in sunshine.
Enjoying Dublin
Literature has always flourished in Dublin, the only city
to have produced three Nobel Prize winners for literature — Yeats,
Shaw, and Beckett. Joyce, the high priest of literary Modernism,
imagined and interpreted Dublin for the world in Ulysses (you’ll see
references to it all over). However, sometimes it seems that the city
produced artists of this stature by accident, even against its will.
Beckett and Joyce, among others, had to leave their homeland to
understand it — and to be understood.
Dublin theater is legendary, and no visitor should miss
seeing a performance at the Abbey Theatre or Gate Theatre. The city’s
impact on the rock and pop music scene with the likes of U2 and Bob
Geldof is well known — there’s even a self-guided tour of their haunts.
Traditional Irish music is also alive and well, especially in the pubs,
and there has been a revival of storytelling, poetry reading, and
traditional dancing. And in this city, where literature and theater
have historically dominated the scene, visual arts are finally coming
into their own with the new Museum of Modern Art and the many galleries
that display the work of modern Irish artists.
The constantly crowded and busy Grafton street is the most
visible center for shopping, but there are shops all over that carry an
international array of goods as well as the Irish crafts and souvenirs
you expect. And while multinational chains have made inroads, they seem
less blatant here than elsewhere. Many shops, and also hotels and guest
houses, have been owned and managed by the same families for years, and
theirs is the welcome of traditional Dublin hospitality.
Dublin’s food has undergone a metamorphosis. There was a
time when you might have apologized for it, but no longer. Dublin has
international restaurants galore, and the New Irish Cuisine is built
upon fresh products of Ireland’s seas, rivers, and farms. Coffee has
replaced the ubiquitous tea — Dublin is now almost as much a coffee
city as Vienna or Seattle.
City and Countryside
In a city of such human proportions it is not surprising
that parks and gardens abound for recreation and relaxation. Phoenix
Park in the northwest is the largest open space, but squares like St.
Stephen’s Green are the garden oases of the city.
On the coast, Sandymount, Dollymount, and Killiney strands
are the places to go. The beautiful Wicklow Mountains, and the Wicklow
Mountains National Park provide a more rugged countryside, and the area
has breathtaking houses and gardens such as Castletown, Mount Usher,
and Powerscourt. To the north and west are the ancient sites of
Ireland: Malahide Castle, the evocative hill of Tara, and the long
barrows of Knowth and Newgrange.
The DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) runs north and south
along the coast. It’s an ideal way for the visitor to reach outlying
sights and villages. There are many guided bus tours to sights outside
the city, and some are accessible by city bus.
Young at Heart?
Dublin is a young city. Almost half of Ireland’s population
is under twenty-five, and with its universities and professional
schools, Dublin also has a large student population. The universities
attract students from all over the world, and this influx helps to make
Dublin a busy, buzzing international city. However, young and old,
stranger and Dubliner rub shoulders quite happily. Religion and respect
for parents has not yet gone out of fashion. And young graduates are
not leaving now — multinational corporations and European Union
investment mean there are plenty of opportunities for them at home.
Unemployment is at an all-time low. The Irish are actually beginning to
come home.
