Columns of Dublin

Trinity College Dublin with rain spots

Gold Leaf columns in Dublin Castle Ballroom

Gothic columns in Chapel Royal, Dublin Castle

Cafe with a romantic aura

Arches of the Irish Museum of Modern Art,

formerly Royal Kilmainham Hospital

Guinness Storehouse, a converted brewing factory, now a museum.

Sturdy steel girders

Open air art gallery between the columns

Where it all began - Dublin GPO

Alluring Dublin

Dublin's south-side (of River Liffey) shopping area is centered along Grafton Street while the north-side Henry's Street and O'Connell Street boast of Arnotts and Clery's department stores.

Oozing with pride and nationalism, this alluring city of trees, bronze statues and stately Georgian buildings has a story to tell on every street.

From angels . . .

. . . to demons the story is told from past to present.

Formerly the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, it now houses the Irish Museum of Modern Art. A daily tour of one of the exhibitions provides insight to museum pieces and the artists. Museum Negara hosts the Museum Volunteers, http://museumvolunteersmalaysia.org/about-mvm/ a non-profit group whose goals are to promote public interest in museums, history and culture. Initiated by a dedicated group of expatriate wives, they tirelessly conduct daily tours in English, French, German and Japanese.

Mention Ireland and by word association, Guinness instantly comes to mind. A state-of-the-art museum presents the science of brewing barley and hops in a unique style.

Dublin Castle is regularly used for state functions and recently hosted HRH Queen Elizabeth. In summer the courtyard is the site for the annual sand sculpture exhibition.

As part of the upgrading and redesigning works of O'Connell Street at the beginning of the millennium, the stainless steel Spire was designed to replace Nelson's Pillar which was destroyed in an IRA bombing. Poking fun (craic), usually at themselves, is a particularly Irish thing to do. Hence, Erection at the Intersection, the Stiffy at the Liffey, the Stiletto in the Ghetto - get it?

A doorway view of the Ha'penny Bridge. Built in 1816 to replace ferries plying the banks of the Liffey, pedestrians were charged a toll of half a penny.

Sweet Molly Malone in bronze outside Trinity. . . the tart with the cart, the trollop with the scollop's, the dish with the fish etc LOL

A summer in Ireland

The idea developed over dinner among like-minded friends with a penchant for travel. One of the group hails from Ireland so we were in good hands. The planning began well ahead of time enabling great flight deals and even better hotel rates. We decided to meet in Dublin and drive south to Killarney, Cork and Kilkenny.

Recommended reading, apart from the usual travel books, A Star called Henry by Roddy Doyle, is not a book one can breeze through by the beach. It delves into the 1916 Easter Rising against the British, where 14-year old Henry Smart, a soldier in the Irish Republican Army and later became an acquaintance of Micheal Collins is the protagonist. One review has this to say "Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood".

Of particular interest, the Dublin General Post Office featured as an important landmark as it served as the headquarters for the leaders of the uprising. The building was extensively damaged in the assault by the British army and the columns still bare bullet hole marks. The GPO remains to this day a symbol of Irish nationalism.

The River Liffey runs through Dublin. Like the origins of the name Kuala Lumpur, Dublin was derived from the Irish Duiblinn or Black Pool referring to the dark tidal pool where the River Poddle merged with Liffey.

In the land that produced great writers and poets like Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Swift, Bram Stoker, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and many more, their legacy continues in everyday life.

The relaxed atmosphere of summer shines through in the brief sunny spells, luscious flowers, shorts, flip flops and sun shades.

Serious effects of the global economic downturn are perceived by falling real estate prices and numerous businesses closing down. However a saving grace is that tourism remains robust with drones of Spanish-speaking tourists, troops of North Americans, groups of Chinese and a few Malaysians.