Dublin, Ireland – Portrait of a Place

I grew up as Irish as you can get. My parents’ family names, Mahoney and Collopy, originate from the cities of Cork and Limerick. Every St. Patrick’s Day we eat corned beef and cabbage with dry Irish soda bread and yellow Irish butter. My pale cheeks wear light freckles and I can’t last five minutes in the sun without turning some shade of red. I grew up Catholic in Boston, attending mass with my family and following along with Irish traditions every since I was a little girl. Traveling to Ireland has always been a far away dream.

The plane made its descent into Ireland on a clear but cloudy day and the first thing I saw was a lone sailboat in the ocean, then the stark coast. Brilliant green meeting the dark blue sea with the sun beating down was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. More familiar than the coasts of Italy even though I’d see them through oval plane windows time after time. Youthful giggles bubbled up inside of me, and I let tears slip silently to my chin. Ireland felt like the home I had been longing and looking for.

Around every corner on the streets of Dublin, pubs sit patiently with Guinness on tap and whiskey bottles lined along the walls. All day long, you can count on at least one content Irish man in every pub, enjoying a drink. Pubs advertise Irish food and Guinness served all day, and live music every day. Tourists intertwine with the untouched culture of the city. The Irish make everyone feel at home. “Sorry, love” becomes the new excuse me when some blue-eyed man bumps into you on Grafton Street. Like many European and U.K. cities, chips mean fries and “thanks a million” and “cheers” are ways of saying thank you, not a way to clink your glasses together. In Irish accents, they often leave the h silent after t’s, and thank you’s sound like tank you’s.

A stroll filled with endless chills and melodies, Grafton Street is known for shopping but street performers dally with their humble tunes. A young girl not more than 12 years old stands tall in a pink hat with a guitar in her hands. Her family hovers a couple paces away. The familiar tune of “Castle on the Hill” by Ed Sheeran flows around the growing crowd. Tears form in the eyes of girls my age, the lyrics already have grown close to our hearts after its recent release. Her voice reaches the high scratchy notes, as an old man walks towards her open guitar case. Euro after euro drops onto the felt lining until his brown leather wallet is empty. Not one person’s smiles could fade in the moments that lingered after her guitar strings stopped echoing. When walking along Grafton Street, one performer’s voice fades and another begins. Their harmonies come together in unison, creating the distinct sound of Dublin.

Flower stands fit snugly into the side streets, adding color to the gray veils of Dublin. The orange, white, and green flags of Ireland drape down above cream storefronts. Celtic craft shops selling Claddagh rings – a traditional Irish ring representing friendship, love, and loyalty. A heart – love, two hands – friendship, and a crown – loyalty, comes together to form a famous symbol of Ireland that was born in the city of Claddagh just outside of Galway. People with Irish heritage can pop into family crest shops to see where their name comes from, creating a personal connection with the true Irish milling about along the streets. Coasters, key chains, and pens hang with colorful crests wait to be handed down through generations.

At the end of Grafton Street, St. Stephen’s green awaits with the quintessential lush green grass of Ireland and hundreds of pigeons preying on crumbs. It was opened to the public in July of 1880 and has been a shelter from the streets of Dublin ever since. Bridges connect over petite rivers that look straight out of a children’s storybook. A little girl clutches white bread handed over by her father and waits patiently for the pigeons to settle down before she tears and throws bits and pieces. A grand fountain marks the middle, from there paths in all directions, lead you back to the streets. The park is a haven from the brick and cobblestoned surfaces of the city once you pass under Fusiliers’ Arch, commemorating the men of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who fought and died in the Second Boer War from 1899 to 1902. Another green place to hang around is Phoenix Park, just a block or two away from the Jameson Distillery and the Dublin Zoo. Its known for the wild deer that dwell there that you can feed while enjoying a picnic.

Follow your ears for live music, at night and throughout the afternoon. The famous violins and whistles of Celtic music are not hard to find along the beer cap covered streets. Local bands play at the crossroads in the Temple Bar area. The Auld Dubliner has music at almost every hour in their upstairs and downstairs bar area. Men with acoustic guitars steal girls’ hearts daily with widely known lyrics even for Americans. Posters hang through windows with sayings like, “Lovely day for a Guinness”, “Guinness for Strength”, and “I swear to drunk I’m not God”. The minds of the city swirl around the dark dry stout beer originated in Arthur Guinness’s brewery. The Guinness Storehouse, located a couple blocks away form the city’s oldest Irish pub “The Brazen Head”, is one of the most popular tourist attractions. After becoming experts on how the beer is brewed, visitors raise pints of Guinness over the buildings that meet the edge of the sea visible through the floor to ceiling glass windows. Seagulls and pigeons dip below the gray clouds as everyone takes frothy sips of Guinness.

Located on College Green, Ireland’s oldest university, Trinity College of Dublin was established in 1592. It’s one of seven ancient universities in Ireland and Britain, and its stone buildings show its age. With 16,729 students, the campus is alive with mostly young Irish people and other study abroad students of all nationalities. A short walk around the campus feels like taking a step back in time. Young men dressed in white play cricket on a field, cheers erupt from spectators on benches. Rice sized white flowers drift down from blooming trees, getting caught in the hair of passerbys. The Old Library houses the Book of Kells, an old illuminated manuscript written in Latin containing the four Gospels of the New Testament from around 800 AD. The line wraps around the library to get in to see it, but students get in free of charge. St. Patrick’s Cathedral, between the Guinness Storehouse and St. Stephen’s green is the largest cathedral in Dublin. It’s also the national cathedral of Dublin and a beloved cathedral around the world. With its gothic architecture, deep colored stained glass windows, and billowing ceilings, the religious traditions of Ireland feel alive and well. Another infamous building, the Dublin Castle, is in the historic heart of Dublin right next to the Chester Beatty Library. It’s become a combination of modern and ancient architecture. There’s an entrance fee but along the parallel streets you can see the tip of the historic tower, and feel the walls of the fairytale-like castle.

Dublin is one of the most charming cities in Europe, and the people match its lively atmosphere with crinkly smiles and cheerful hellos. I’ll never forget what it felt like to feel at home in a city so far from home. When asked where I was from, the Irish were pleased to hear “Boston”, and often shared memories of their visit there or stories from friends who have been. From across the Atlantic and the Irish sea, the two cities mimic the small town feel in a large city. As I waved goodbye to the city that stole my heart on a 6:30 flight back to Florence, it was the first time I didn’t feel relief to be going back to my apartment and routine of my Italian life. An Irish girl at heart, I found myself questioning the prices of apartments and cost of graduate schools in the Guinness-loving Dublin in the stunning country of Ireland.