A Dublin Walking Tour
Claudia Kelly, editor, Irish Man
It’s not often that one gets to be a tourist in your own city but when a friend returned home to Dublin and suggested a saunter, how could I say no? Johnny has been off gallivanting around the world for the last decade and there have been so many changes, he wanted to ensure the places he loved were still there, and what was new and worth knowing?
We met where all good walking tours should begin – at the gloriously grand Shelbourne Hotel. At the front of centre of Dublin life since it first opened its doors. On the side of St Stephen’s Green, in the heart of Georgian Dublin, the hotel has hosted everyone from rock stars to film stars, and was even taken over by the heroic and rebellious Countess Markiewicz, who held out under gunfire during the 1916 Rising.
But we didn’t stop in the beautiful Horseshoe Bar at the back of the hotel, or have time for afternoon tea in the lounge, because Johnny and I had Dublin to re-discover. We turned down into Kildare Street, past the magnificent mansion which is now the Irish parliament, and towards Trinity College, Ireland’s oldest university, where you can stop and see The Book of Kells in the library. We walked along the Liffey, over curlicued curve of the Ha’penny Bridge. Stop, of course, at any pub which takes your fancy. I like Doheny and Nesbits for the craic, the atmosphere, and the perfectly creamy pints of the Black Stuff. You really can’t beat a day pottering around this beautiful city.
