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Published: February 4th 2021
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http://www.heygo.com 4th February - In Dublin’s Fair City
The Vikings settled in Dublin from 841 AD onwards. During their reign Dublin became the most important town in Ireland as well as a hub for the western Viking expansion and trade.
Today’s tour started in the Georgian Quarter by the famous Molly Malone statue, the heroine of the famous song of the same name.
Molly was Immortalised in bronze during the 1988 Dublin Millennium celebrations.
It is not known for certain where the song originated, or if Molly Malone ever actually existed.
According to the lyrics Molly was a young and beautiful fishmonger who sold her catch from a cart on the streets of Dublin. The song’s final verse states that after dying of a fever she went on to haunt the city.
Dublin - Part 2
We start our next tour at another statue!
Chariot of Life - Designed by Oisín Kelly in bronze group with horses in mid-gallop animated by the moving water. Commissioned for placement in front of the Irish Life Centre and was inaugurated in 1982,
one year after the sculptor's death.
With the Customs house in the background another monument in memory to James Connolly, the early 20th century Irish nationalist politician and socialist leader. Sadly he was executed for his role in the the Easter Uprising. Behind the statue, a curved wall holds communist motifs of a bronze plough and stars.
The traffic light control boxes were bright and colourful.
Dublin Canvas is a community art project intended to bring flashes of colour and creativity to everyday object in the greater County Dublin area.
We were heading to Customs Quay area where more statues appeared but as we got closer it was a very emotional sight. The Famine statues commemorate the Great Famine of the mid 19th century. During the famine approximately 1 million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland.
These atmospheric statues depict the ill-fated journey of 1,490 famine emigrants who walked from Strokestown Park to ships in Dublin in 1847,
The statues were designed and crafted by Dublin sculptor Rowan Gillespie.
We had good views from the Ha’penny Bridge of a replica of The
Jeanie Johnston, a tall ship that between 1847 and 1855 made 16 emigrant journeys to North America carrying over 2,500 people with no loss of life.
We crossed the Ha’penny Bridge, the first pedestrian bridge to cross the Liffey.
So familiar is the nickname of this bridge that some locals don’t even know its official title – the Liffey Bridge.
Built in 1816, the bridge has a 43 metre span, is 3 metres in width and rises 3 metres above the river, Today it is in the original off white colour, Dublin City Council undertook extensive refurbishment of the bridge in 2001.
When the Ha’penny Bridge first opened, just 450 pairs of feet daily walked across & today an average of 30,000 people cross each day.
A different view of Dublin than earlier and I look forward to more with our virtual guide Hazel #virtualtrips.
The song was originally published in the USA in 1883 and is attributed to the Scottish composer James Yorkston. It is said that possible this version could be based on an old Irish folk ballad, but academics have argued
that the melody and tragicomic lyrics are more akin to the music hall style that was popular during the Victorian era.
In 2010 an early mention of Molly Malone was found in an 18th-century book of songs & here the more risqué version describes Molly as living in a fishing village. It recounts the singer’s yearning to share her bed, contributing to speculation that the song’s leading lady worked as both a street vendor and a prostitute.
Well will never know so draw on your own conclusions!
The statue is one of 10 Talking statues in Dublin, you simply swipe your smartphone across the nearby blue plaque. Then just wait for the call back and listen to snappy monologues – written and performed by much-loved Irish writers and actors.
The next statue we saw was of Henry Grattan, a member of the Irish House of Commons and a campaigner for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century.
He demanded that Ireland should be granted its rightful status, of an independent nation, though he insisted that Ireland would remain linked to Great Britain by a common crown and
by sharing a common political tradition.
He was the leader of the Independent Irish Parliament of 1783-1800 and opposed the Act of Union 1800 that merged the Ireland and Great Britain
There are so many interesting monuments on our tour today.Designed by Edward Delaney and known locally as the ‘peeing angels’.
Monument of Daniel O’Connell, a lawyer who became the first great 19th-century Irish nationalist leader.
The four winged victories sit at the base of the statue representing characteristics O’Connell possessed: fidelity, eloquence, courage and patriotism. Above this is a circle of figures representing labor and triumph.
We visited the Temple Bar area.
Temple Bar was not always the Dublin destination that it is today. Located on the south bank of the River Liffey, the area was once marshland and has been transformed over the centuries into a wealthy neighborhood, a red-light district and now an artistic enclave filled with tourist-friendly pubs.
We walked through a small arch onto the banks of the river and strolled along Bachelor’s Walk.
I visited Dublin in 2014 and remembered a mention of Nelsons column and
today I learnt a little more, During the Easter Rising an attempt was made to blow up the pillar but the explosives failed to ignite due to dampness. It remained in the city as most of Ireland became the Irish Free State in 1922, and the Republic of Ireland in 1949.
Now in its place is a huge modern structure The Spire of Dublin, or Monument of Light a large, stainless steel, pin-like monument 120 metres
The last monument we saw opposite the old GPO building was of Jim Larkin remembered for his dedication to worker’s rights. One of the inscriptions on the statue has one of his most famous quotes: “The great appear great because we are on our knees. Let us rise!”
So many statues, so many stories. A break for lunch and them I’m back to Dublin for more interesting stories with #virtualtrips.
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