Trip to Ireland #13

**McClef** · 4th September 07, 02:02 AM

Here is a selection of pictures taken by me on my choir trip to Ireland.

The Dublin Spire in O'Connell St. This is the latest monument to occupy this spot. Originally the Nelson Monument was here until it was blown up by the IRA in 1966. Later the Anna Livia Fountain, based on a James Joyce character and which was considered to represent the spirit of the Liffey occupied this spot but this was removed and is still awaiting another site.

Dubliners humorously give many of their monuments rhyming or punning names. The Anna Livia was known as the "Floozie in the Jacuzzi", the "Hoor in the Sewer" ('hoor' is a dialectal Irish version of 'whore'), "Bidet Mulligan" (play on the song Biddy Mulligan) and "Viagra Falls."

The Spire has received its own names - but alas some must be

here due to their Freudian nature! The cleaner ones are the "Stiletto in the Ghetto," and "the Binge Syringe." You can see the other names at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spire_of_Dublin . It should have been finished for the Millennium but wasn't finished until January 2003. It cost €4,000,000 and is 120 Metres (393 ft) high. It's official title is Monument of Light, but nobody uses it.

Statue of James Joyce (1882-1941) in North Earl St. This is called The Prick with the Stick (used as an insult rather than anything else). Some people think Joyce is an overrated author and he lived abroad from 1904 onwards.

Street artists in North Earl St. They remain completely frozen until you put money in the guitar then they blow whistles, move, and give you a small sachet of sherbet!

Looking down North Earl St. It is a busy shopping side street that runs off O'Connell St from the Spire.

Statue of Fr Theobald Matthew "The Apostle of Temperance", in O'Connell St.
I haven't seen a rhyming name for him so I will suggest The Monk against the Drunk in the same vein!

At the end of O'Connell St is Parnell Square and this monument to Charles Stewart Parnell, the 19th Century Irish Nationalist leader who fought in the UK Parliament for Irish independance. He was a Protestant and related to the Anglo-Irish aristocracy. His political career was ruined by scandal due to his liaison with a married woman, Kitty O'Shea who was divorced by her husband and married him. However this did not go down well with Parnell's Catholic supporters and led to a split within his party.

More to come!