As much as I would love to say that it was James Joyce’s ‘Dubliners’ or ‘Ulysses’, or even someone cooler like U2 that brought me to Dublin, it just isn’t true.
There was only one reason really: Boyzone, Stephen Gately in particular. My first, and probably only, pop star crush. Those were the days when there was only one MTV playing English music, you were either a Boyzone or Backstreet Boys girl and all the ‘foreigners’ were thought to be Americans. Ireland was a tiny dot on the world map I possibly couldn’t even place.
No matter what, I wanted to go there. In all their interviews, the boys talked fondly of their home country and their humble roots that ran deep in the north side of Dublin.
Now north side of Dublin is the area that lies north of the river Liffey. How a waterbody as narrow as Liffey, at least as it runs through the city center, can lead to such hardened social identities is still a mystery. But historically, the northside is seen as more working class than its ‘posh’ neighbours south of the river. While for the locals this means higher house rates to pay in the south, for those traveling it hardly matters. The Dublin city center is globalised enough to iron out any strong local overtones.
The heart of the city is overrun by tourists and businesses catering to them. Hostels and pubs chief among them. Dublin seems sort of a drinking capital for the youth of the world; most of whom I met spent about three days in the city, hitting all the bars listed in yellow pages before taking their hungover heads back to their home countries.
There is a general sense of revelry about the city. Though the country is deep rooted in Catholicism, and community churches are amply found in Dublin, it usually brims irreverence. While the world is usually turning consumerist and vain, Irish seem never happier than in their tracksuits.
The wide bustling O’Connell street, with a spine of decorative lampposts running through it, is the tourist hub of Dublin. And given its status, the government, or whoever the power that may be, came up with the idea of 'improving the streetscape' and sprinkling a little bit of history, culture and art along the way. They erected the ‘Spire’ in the middle of it, which was supposed to be their ode to the turn of the millennium. Just a little hiccup there, since it was ready only by 2003 and now sticks out like a sore pointy thumb. The Dubliners now fondly call it the ‘Stiffy by the Liffey’ or ‘Stiletto in the ghetto’.
They have come up with equally delightful nicknames for the many statues built around the city center:
James Joyce is called ‘The Prick with the stick’
Oscar Wilde: Queer with the leer
Molly Malone: The Dolley with the trolley
The famous Dublin doors also have an undercurrent of rebellion. The Georgian architecture of the day laid out strict construction rules they had to adhere to, the result of which was that all the blocks of buildings looked exactly the same. So the people painted them in bright colours and put shiny decorative knockers on them as a statement of individuality.
Once viewed as drab, these residential blocks now give Dublin much of its character and colour.
It is not really a city with ornate architecture, but the Custom House stands out on the north bank of the river. A stark contrast to the modern buildings, which gleam with its steel and glass assurity the 18th Century neo-classical structure is a reminder of the times gone by. Walking along the river and glimpsing past its many bridges, you can see the history unfold. One the one side is the quaint Ha'Penny bridge, built in the early 19th century, and on the other is the Samuel Beckett bridge, shaped like a harp (some sort of an Irish national symbol) and completed in 2009.
There was only one reason really: Boyzone, Stephen Gately in particular. My first, and probably only, pop star crush. Those were the days when there was only one MTV playing English music, you were either a Boyzone or Backstreet Boys girl and all the ‘foreigners’ were thought to be Americans. Ireland was a tiny dot on the world map I possibly couldn’t even place.
No matter what, I wanted to go there. In all their interviews, the boys talked fondly of their home country and their humble roots that ran deep in the north side of Dublin.
Now north side of Dublin is the area that lies north of the river Liffey. How a waterbody as narrow as Liffey, at least as it runs through the city center, can lead to such hardened social identities is still a mystery. But historically, the northside is seen as more working class than its ‘posh’ neighbours south of the river. While for the locals this means higher house rates to pay in the south, for those traveling it hardly matters. The Dublin city center is globalised enough to iron out any strong local overtones.
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| Dublin docks |
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| O'Connell street gets ready for St Paddy's day |
The heart of the city is overrun by tourists and businesses catering to them. Hostels and pubs chief among them. Dublin seems sort of a drinking capital for the youth of the world; most of whom I met spent about three days in the city, hitting all the bars listed in yellow pages before taking their hungover heads back to their home countries.
There is a general sense of revelry about the city. Though the country is deep rooted in Catholicism, and community churches are amply found in Dublin, it usually brims irreverence. While the world is usually turning consumerist and vain, Irish seem never happier than in their tracksuits.
The wide bustling O’Connell street, with a spine of decorative lampposts running through it, is the tourist hub of Dublin. And given its status, the government, or whoever the power that may be, came up with the idea of 'improving the streetscape' and sprinkling a little bit of history, culture and art along the way. They erected the ‘Spire’ in the middle of it, which was supposed to be their ode to the turn of the millennium. Just a little hiccup there, since it was ready only by 2003 and now sticks out like a sore pointy thumb. The Dubliners now fondly call it the ‘Stiffy by the Liffey’ or ‘Stiletto in the ghetto’.
They have come up with equally delightful nicknames for the many statues built around the city center:
James Joyce is called ‘The Prick with the stick’
Oscar Wilde: Queer with the leer
Molly Malone: The Dolley with the trolley
The famous Dublin doors also have an undercurrent of rebellion. The Georgian architecture of the day laid out strict construction rules they had to adhere to, the result of which was that all the blocks of buildings looked exactly the same. So the people painted them in bright colours and put shiny decorative knockers on them as a statement of individuality.
Once viewed as drab, these residential blocks now give Dublin much of its character and colour.
It is not really a city with ornate architecture, but the Custom House stands out on the north bank of the river. A stark contrast to the modern buildings, which gleam with its steel and glass assurity the 18th Century neo-classical structure is a reminder of the times gone by. Walking along the river and glimpsing past its many bridges, you can see the history unfold. One the one side is the quaint Ha'Penny bridge, built in the early 19th century, and on the other is the Samuel Beckett bridge, shaped like a harp (some sort of an Irish national symbol) and completed in 2009.
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