Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [65]
The main entrance to the green is through Fusiliers’ Arch (Map) at the northwestern corner. Modelled on the Arch of Titus in Rome, the arch commemorates the 212 soldiers of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who died in the Boer War (1899–1902).
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CATHY KELLY
With 11 bestselling novels under her belt and a hectic worldwide schedule that keeps her constantly on the move, it’s a wonder that author Cathy Kelly gets the time to enjoy the city she grew up in. Asked to describe Dublin in one sentence, she takes a breath and declares that ‘Dublin is a city that feels like a village – where you can meet the same person twice in one day, where you can go from beautiful Georgian architecture to Viking remains with only a couple of miles on a modern road in between, and where something that will happen, or someone you meet, will make you laugh at some point. There is a phenomenal Dublin sense of humour and it’s alive, actually, and living in the city, ready to grab you.’
Cathy moved out of the city about 10 years ago, but she didn’t go far, choosing the County Wicklow town of Enniskerry because ‘it’s got a rural feel, but the centre of Dublin is perhaps forty minutes away by car’. And when she’s in back in Dublin, she’s pretty adamant about what to do.
‘Get walking,’ she says firmly. ‘One of Dublin’s joys is that it is a compact city and, weather permitting, you can walk to most places.’ Surprisingly (for a native), she strongly recommends the Viking Splash Tour – ‘It’s like being on a school tour again and with a mad hat on, a latent childishness comes out and you can yell to your heart’s content – and travel around the city yelling at Celts and seeing the main historic sights from your growly vehicle’ – but warns, ‘If you go in November, like I did, wear lots of warm clothes. There are no walls or windows.’
But Cathy’s greatest love is for the city’s Georgian heritage, especially Merrion Square (opposite) and the National Gallery. ‘Just dip in for an hour,’ she says, ‘and stand in front of a few paintings to ground yourself. I can’t even say what I love most: sometimes it’s the pure energy of the [works of] Jack B Yeats, and other times I want to marvel at the fire inside Caravaggio’s Taking of Christ.’ She also recommends visiting the weekend gallery that takes place along Merrion Square’s railings, ‘where many talented artists, who can’t afford the gallery commissions, sell their paintings off the rails’.
Dublin is best enjoyed outdoors, she believes, and with this being Ireland, the downside is the weather. But don’t let that put you off, she laughs: ‘As a practised Dubliner, I always have a hat, flat shoes and a raincoat. Umbrellas whack off other people on narrow streets. It’ll only be soft rain, so with the hat, you’ll be fine!’
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LITERARY ADDRESSES
Merrion Square has long been the favoured address of Dublin’s affluent intelligentsia. Playwright Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) spent much of his youth at 1 North Merrion Sq. Poet WB Yeats (1865–1939) lived at 52 East Merrion Sq and later, between 1922 and 1928, at 82 South Merrion Sq. George (‘Æ’) Russell (1867–1935), the self-proclaimed ‘poet, mystic, painter and cooperator’, worked at No 84. Political leader Daniel O’Connell (1775–1847) was a resident of No 58 in his later years. The Austrian Erwin Schrödinger (1887–1961), cowinner of the 1933 Nobel Prize for Physics, lived at No 65 between 1940 and 1956. Dublin also seems to attract writers of horror stories: Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1814–73), who penned the vampire classic Carmilla, was a resident of No 70.
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Across the road from the western side of the green are the 1863 Unitarian Church (Map; worship 7am-5pm) and the Royal College of Surgeons (Map), with a fine facade. During the 1916 Easter Rising, the building was occupied by the colourful Countess