St George

More on Dublin, Irish Cities

It’s been touted as the ‘fair city’ since Molly Malone first appeared on the scene with her cockles and mussels. And for once the blarney rings true. Dublin is an appealing combination of Georgian elegance and 21st-century chic, with stylish restaurants and shopping malls squeezed between olde-worlde pubs. But that’s just the half of it. The people are what make Dublin – and Dubliners – stand out from the crowd. Beguiling and irreverent, welcoming and full of charm. Proud of their impressive literary credentials – the city’s the birthplace of no less than three 20th century Nobel Prizewinners for Literature – but cheeky with it. The warmth and wit of the locals, and their wicked sense of humour, are unique. It’s visitors who wax lyrical about ‘sweet Molly Malone who wheeled her wheelbarrow’ – to the locals she’s just ‘the tart with the cart’! Then there are the sights. Trinity College and Dublin Castle are the most obvious must-sees, but spare some time for a pint of the black stuff at the Guinness Storehouse. Dublin’s had its share of troubles in the past, though, and you can still see a few scars as a reminder of its turbulent political history. Look carefully on the columns outside the imposing General Post Office and you’ll spot bullet holes dating from the 1916 Easter Rising against British rule. But that’s all firmly in the past. Any hordes now are mostly found heading for the temptations of Temple Bar. This cobbled enclave is still the first stop for most visitors, and once they’ve got comfy in one of the honest-to-God Irish bars it’s usually their last. One thing’s for sure, Molly Malone may be gone but her Gaelic spirit is alive, alive oh.