I always return from international travel feeling I am bursting with observations to report and yet know next to nothing. There is this intense immersion into a complex country with its nuanced culture(s), and yet you return aware that you have peeled back and peered beneath only the topmost layer of the national onion.
A series of photo essays shall follow on my experiences as a rank outsider visiting this this remarkable country.
Dublin at dusk on the River Liffey that divides North and South Dublin. An old joke goes: “What do you call a person from North Dublin?: The Accused. And what do you call a person from South Dublin?: Your Honor”
“We Irish are cold but never frozen” quoted the energetic grey-haired guide of my Dublin historical walking tour. While he was referring to the temperate climate of this island nation, the quote seemed to contain some double meaning regarding the passionate beliefs that enliven Ireland’s national character.
As for weather, during the mid-August week of my visit, while much of Europe was sweltering under record heat waves, temperatures in Ireland ran from the lower 70’s to the upper 50’s. Comfortable, provided you were prepared for daily rainfall. Perhaps as a result, half of Europe and a quarter of the US seemed to be swarming through the streets of Dublin. For a reasonable cost, I stayed in the dorms at Trinity College located in the heart of City Centre and within walking distance of everything from historical sites to parks to pubs. And the town was thrumming with New York City-style crowds and noise. The Pope was paying his first visit to Ireland the following week, stages were being constructed, and tickets were selling out fast in this deeply and ambivalently Catholic country. As a result of the twin tourist and religious invasions, homelessness in Dublin was expected to spike. “There are two things the private sector does not do well: healthcare and housing” stated Tommy, matter of factly. Tommy, our tour guide, introduced himself as a history graduate of Trinity College, the editor of a magazine called History Ireland, and owner of the company that runs historical tours out of Trinity College, usually led by history grad students. Today, he told us, we had “drawn the A team”. It was meant to be a joke, but already we could tell it was true. And indeed a treat awaited as a small band of us trailed behind him on the busy streets of Dublin.
Moana Marie Crab 