Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [60]
To really appreciate the book, you can get your own reproduction copy for a mere €22,000. Failing that, the library bookshop stocks a plethora of souvenirs and other memorabilia, including Otto Simm’s excellent Exploring the Book of Kells (€12.95), a thorough guide with attractive colour plates, and a popular DVD-ROM (€31.95) showing all 800 pages. Kids looking for something a little less stuffy might enjoy the animated Secret of Kells (2009), which is more fun than accurate in its portrayal of how the gospel was actually put together.
* * *
During the day and on weekday nights Temple Bar does have something of a bohemian bent about it – if you ignore the crappy tourist shops and dreadful restaurants serving bland, overpriced food – but at weekends, when the party really gets going, it all gets very sloppy. The huge, characterless bars crank up the sounds and throw their doors open to the tens of thousands of punters looking to drink and score like the end of the world is nigh. By 3am, the only culture on display is in the pools of vomit and urine that give the whole area the aroma of a sewer – welcome to Temple Barf.
* * *
HANDEL WITH CARE
In 1742 the nearly broke GF Handel conducted the very first performance of his epic work Messiah in the since demolished Dublin Music Hall, on the city’s oldest street, Fishamble St. Jonathan Swift – author of Gulliver’s Travels and dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral – had suggested that his own and Christ Church’s choirs take part, but revoked his invitation when he discovered that the sacred music would be performed in a common music hall rather than in the more appropriate setting of a church, and vowed to ‘punish such vicars [who allowed their choristers to participate] for their rebellion, disobedience and perfidy’. The concert went ahead nonetheless, and the celebrated work is performed at the original spot in Dublin annually – now a hotel that bears the composer’s name.
* * *
Temple Bar Information Centre (Map; 677 2255; www.templebar.ie, www.visit-templebar.ie; 12 East Essex St; 9am-5.30pm Mon-Fri) publishes the TASCQ cultural guide to Temple Bar, which gives information on attractions and restaurants in the area. It’s available from the information centre or at businesses around Temple Bar. It’s best to check the websites for details of events.
Meeting House Square (Map) is one of the real success stories of Temple Bar. On one side is the excellent Gallery of Photography (Map; 671 4653; admission free; 11am-6pm Mon-Sat), hosting temporary exhibitions of contemporary local and international photographers. Staying with the photography theme, the other side of the square is home to the National Photographic Archive (Map; 671 0073; admission free; 11am-6pm Mon-Sat, 2-6pm Sun), a magnificent resource for anyone interested in a photographic history of Ireland. On Saturdays it hosts a popular food market (see the boxed text, Click here).
At the western end of Temple Bar, in the shadow of Christ Church Cathedral, is Fishamble Street (Map), the oldest street in Dublin. It dates back to Viking times – not that you’d know that to see it now.
On Parliament St, which runs south from the river to the City Hall and Dublin Castle, the Sunlight Chambers (Map) beside the river has a beautiful frieze around its facade. Sunlight was a brand of soap manufactured by the Lever Brothers, who were responsible for the late 19th-century building. The frieze shows the Lever Brothers’ view of the world: men make clothes dirty, women wash them!
To the east, buildings on interesting Eustace Street (Map) include the 1715 Presbyterian Meeting House, now the Ark (Map; 670 7788; www.ark.ie; 11A Eustace St), an excellent children’s cultural centre. The Dublin branch of the Society of United Irishmen, who sought Parliamentary reform and equality for Catholics, was first convened in 1791 in