I had a wonderful piece of mail waiting for me when I returned to Dublin a few weeks ago: Pol O’Conghaile’s new guidebook to Dublin called Secret Dublin. I’ve been loving it, and I think you might too – whether you’re a local or a visitor.
Last week, I had a whole bunch of my walking tours to do – and each set of people who booked my tour had a different interest. In fact, one was a 25 year old woman with her 17 year old brother. Twenty-five year old ladies – totally easy. Seventeen year old boys? Not my typical tour! So I broke out the Secret Dublin guide for a little inspiration and found a few super options to suit all sorts of interests.
One of my favorite bits in the book was an explanation of the beautiful lamp posts in Merrion Square Park. I almost always take my tours through Merrion Square Park because it’s lovely and has the most beautiful lamp posts. But I had no idea, until I was reading Secret Dublin, that the lamp posts are part of a living exhibit put together by the Dublin City Council to highlight the various lamp post styles throughout the decades. Who knew?!
Last week, I also dragged one of my tours all the way down the quays to see the old diving bell. Honestly, I never knew it even existed, but if I had walked past it there’s no way I would have known what it was. Devoid of any plaque or information, the big metal structure was used in the 1860’s to compress the bottom of the Liffey River so steam ships could travel up the quays. Men would work in the little compartment, often suffering from hearing loss from the pressure under water, and sometimes they’d manage to catch a few fish to bring home for dinner!
I was glad to see I did recognize many of the places in Secret Dublin, including Dublin City Hall. The mosaic above as well as the view from the front steps make it one of my favorite spots in the city. But of course, I learned a little extra info about the building and its artwork from Pol’s guide. The artwork in the frieze was created by students at the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art in 1913. It does look a little wiggly in places!
Secret Dublin made me finally stop into Sweny’s Chemist, the pharmacy often frequented by James Joyce and which features in Ulysses as the spot where Bloom buys a bar of lemon soap. It’s not a functioning pharmacy anymore, instead it’s a historical time capsule run by volunteers who hold free readings at 1pm every weekday and Thursdays at 7pm. I have to return next time there’s a reading, but in the meantime it was such fun to see all the lovely old glass bottles.
The guidebook is set up by neighborhood with maps that are perfect for planning your route around secret Dublin. I just decided my route, then looked to see what we would be passing anyway. And thankfully, it’s a handy little size that isn’t too heavy to lug around!
I’m not a guide book person – in fact, when we travel, I make Michael do all that sort of research – so it’s probably because I know how interesting Pol is that I even opened the book to begin with! But I’m so glad I did. I’ve already learned so much about my adopted city that most locals probably don’t know!
You can find Secret Dublin on Amazon – just in time for Christmas!
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