Dublin, Ireland – April 1999

First of all, Dublin is an extremely “walkable” city. Nowhere is really far from anywhere else, and the impressive architecture and the River Liffey make for a pleasant walk as well.

There are two things that strive to spoil this experience. Firstly, the traffic is awful. Not nearly as bad as some places I’ve had the misfortune to be a pedestrian in, but it seems like everyone in Dublin owns a car and like to drive them all at the same time. The fumes and the dust make you look forward to a shower at the end of the day.

Secondly, and no offence is intended, but Dubliners have to be the worst pedestrians in the world. They seem to have a blatant disregard for their own safety as they inch further into the street, trying to take advantage of a non-existent gap in traffic. And the looks you get if you stay on the curb and inadvertently delay one of these lemmings in their quest for oblivion.

There are several places to while away the hours in Dublin without spending much, if anything. The most obvious is a stroll around the city. Starting at O’Connell St, there is the very impressive GPO building surrounded by a plethora of department stores to tempt you to part with your dosh.

Turning west along the river you can take in the Four Courts, although they are probably best viewed from the south side of the Liffey. You can cross over on the coolest bridge in Dublin, the Ha’penny Bridge, on the way down. From there, Temple Bar is 2 minutes away and although the idea is not to spend money, the budget usually allows for a slaking of the thirst that walking creates. My personal favourite is The Porterhouse. They brew their own beer that’s extremely tasty.

If you’ve managed to get out of the pub before nightfall, you can either head further west and take a look at Christchurch, or go east and pass the Bank of Ireland Building on the way to Trinity College.

After remembering what it was like to be a student, you can do some more window shopping down Grafton Street. There will almost certainly be some street entertainment to divert your attention. Grafton Street leads down onto St Stephen’s Green, a cool park where you can sit and eat lunch, feed the ducks or be hassled by schoolkids for cigarettes.

If museums and galleries are more your thing, most of Dublin’s exhibits are free, although it’s good form to make a donation in the box provided. The National Gallery, on Merrion & Leinster Sts, can keep you occupied for a few hours if you’re really keen and the Jack Yeats exhibit is excellent.

The National Museum, on Kildare St, does a very good job detailing the history of the Irish, from ancient times to the more confusing recent years. There is a Viking exhibition on loan from Norway right now which isn’t bad and, since it seems to be compulsory in museums these days, there is also an Egyptian exhibit. This one is mentionable not for it’s size (it’s tiny), but more for the fact that it deals a little more with what happened after the pharaohs were dust and Alexander the Great, Cleopatra and various religions had their day in the Egyptian sun.

If you would prefer to be outdoors, then Phoenix Park in Dublin’s northwest is a massive expanse of green, perfect for cycling, rollerblading, jogging or just plain walking. There are also heaps of playing fields and some large houses, one of which houses the US Ambassador to Ireland.

For me, no trip to Dublin would be complete without a trip to the Guinness Hopstore at the St James Gate Brewery. Having seen the tour, I am more interested in the pint at the end. Although �4 for a pint is verging on madness, the quality of the liquid and the ample opportunity to politely ask tourists for any unwanted vouchers deem this a valuable exercise. As you stagger out, you can squint at the buildings on both sides of the road, as far as the eye can see, that the Guinness company owns.

Well, there you have it. The miser’s guide to a week in Dublin. It would probably encourage you to go there with money to burn, but rarely do we have that pleasure.

General Info on Dublin

This article is more of a roving report, since I was only in Dublin for a week, waiting to apply for a working holiday permit.

This permit is definitely available for Aussies, but may also be available for other Commonwealth countries. Visit the Irish Dept of Foreign Affairs website for more info, or check out this alternative site.

It does take 4-5 weeks to process (and �9), so make sure you have something else to do in the meantime. Of course, the best thing to do is apply before you leave home.

This article, therefore, is more what there is to do, spending next to no money, in Dublin than a comprehensive guide to what’s on.

Orientation about Dublin City center is pretty straight forward. Split by the River Liffey, the north is dominated by O’Connell St, home to heaps of stores and imposing buildings, especially the massive GPO. A little further to the east is Gardiner St. There are heaps of B&B’s and hostels along this street.

To the south, the main area of interest (to me at least) is the Temple Bar area. More pubs than you can poke an empty pint glass at. This is also the side of the river where you’ll find most of the tourists, since Trinity College, Christchurch, Dublin Castle, the Bank of Ireland Building, Grafton Street shopping and the tourism center are all within a ten minute walk of each other.

Of course to really enjoy Dublin, you’ll need to get away from these places and I won’t presume to tell you how to do that. It would take away all the fun for a start! However, you can find a fairly detailed map at this site.

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