Inner City North, Dublin

Going downstream from O'Connell Bridge on Eden Quay, we come, passing under the unsightly railroad bridge (1889), to the Custom House, a magnificent building designed by James Gandon (1743-1823), an English architect of Huguenot descent who was responsible for many buildings in Dublin. After the building had been completely burned out in 1921, during the Civil War, the exterior was restored on the basis of the original plans. The long facade with the Doric portico and the 125ft/38m high domed tower which surmounts it is best seen from the opposite side of the river. Most of the fine statues and sculpture are by the Dubliner Edward Smyth.The north front, although less magnificent than the main facade, is also of notable quality.

To the west of Dublin's Custom House is the new Abbey Theater (by Michael Scott, 1966); the main theater has 638 seats, the small Peacock Theater 157 seats. It occupies the site of the original Abbey Theater, the first directors of which were W. B. Yeats and Lady Gregory. Plays in Irish as well as English are presented here.

Going north from Abbey Theater along Marlborough Street in Dublin, we pass on the right Tyrone House (by Richard Cassels, 1741), with a handsome staircase and good stucco work by Francini. It is now occupied by the Department of Education.

Facing Tyrone House on Marlborough Street stands St Mary's Pro-Cathedral, Dublin's principal Roman Catholic church, built in 1816-25 on the model of the Temple of Theseus in Athens. The High Altar was the work of Peter Turnerelli. Masses are also said here in Italian and Spanish.

Parallel to Marlborough Street is O'Connell Street, Dublin's main north-south artery. Originally a good residential street, it lost many of its fine old buildings during the fighting of 1916-22 and is now a shopping and commercial street, with cinemas and restaurants. Along the middle of the street are a series of statues of Irish patriots, including Daniel O'Connell and Charles Stewart Parnell, as well as the "Apostle of Temperance," Father Matthew. Quite recently a sculpture of the river goddess Anna Livia was set up near the main post office. Irish wits have called it "the floozie in the jacuzzi."

On the west side of Dublin's O'Connell Street stands the imposing General Post Office (by Francis Johnston, 1815-17), which in 1916 became the headquarters of the rebels under the leadership of Patrick Pearse and James Connolly. The Irish patriots are commemorated in the main hall ("Death of CuChulainn").In Henry Street, round the corner, is the philatelic counter, and farther north, at 14 Upper O'Connell Street, the Tourist Information Office.

From Upper O'Connell Street, turning right into Parnell Street and then left along Gardiner Street, we come to Mountjoy Square (1792-1808), an example of a once-fashionable and elegant Dublin square which has come down in the world and is now gradually being rehabilitated. From the northwest corner of the square Gardiner's Place leads into Great Denmark Street, on the right hand side of which is Belvedere House.

On the right hand side of Dublin's Great Denmark Street is Belvedere House (by Michael Stapleton, 1785), a dignified building with a fine interior. Since 1841 it has been a Jesuit school, James Joyce being its most celebrated pupil.

Great Denmark Street in Dublin leads via Gardiner's Row into Parnell Square North, on the right hand side of which is Charlemont House (1762), by the English architect Sir William Chambers, with a porch added in 1930. It is now occupied by the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, founded in 1908, with pictures by Pierre Bonnard, Camille Corot, Edgar Degas, Juan Gris, Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Camille Pissarro, Auguste Renoir, William J. Leech and Jack B. Yeats. At the time of his death Hugh Lane had loaned the collection to the Tate Gallery in London, but in his will he left it to the City of Dublin. After a lengthy argument the collection was divided, the two halves rotating on a five-year period between Dublin and London.

The Municipal Gallery of Modern Art overlooks Parnell Square, where there are three fine 18th C. buildings - the Gate Theater (founded in 1928 in part of the old Assembly Rooms), the Rotunda (now rebuilt as the Ambassador Cinema) and Richard Cassels's Rotunda Hospital. The main building, linked with the wings by colonnades, is topped by a domed tower. A beautiful staircase leads up to the Chapel, which has a fine stucco ceiling with numerous figures in strong relief.

In 1991, the Dublin Writers' Museum was opened in two 18th C. houses. No. 18 honors the great Irish writers, including Swift, Wilde, Yeats and Joyce; the neighboring building serves as a meeting place for contemporary writers and for the exhibition and readings of their new works. The museum, which has a bookshop and a cafe, is open in summer.

In Parnell Square lies Dublin's Garden of Remembrance, laid out in 1966, with a sculpture by Oisín Kelly ("Lir's Children," 1970). The garden is dedicated to all who gave their lives for Ireland's freedom.

Dublin's National Wax Museum features wax figures of Irish politicians (Charles Stewart Parnell, Douglas Hyde, Eamon de Valera), actors and writers (James Joyce), and prominent international personalities.

Going south from the end of Granby Row down Upper Dorset Street (the main road north to Dublin airport, the N1) and Bolton Street, we come to Henrietta Street, a cul-de-sac on the right, at the far end of which, on a high base, are the King's Inns (designed by James Gandon in 1795; the two wings on the west front are later additions), the headquarters of the ruling body of the Irish legal profession, with a fine Dining Hall (sculpture by Edward Smyth) and a large library.

Walking down Bolton Street and Capel Street, we reach Mary Street (on the left), in which is St Mary's Church (1702), Dublin's oldest unaltered Protestant church, with rich carving on the organ loft and galleries. The churchyard was presented to the city by the Church authorities in 1966 as a Wolfe Tone memorial garden. Nearby is Wolfe Tone Street, named after the leader of the United Irishmen.

Capel Street descends to the Liffey at Gratton Bridge. 0.25mi/400m upstream, on Inns Quay, is a masterpiece by James Gandon, the Four Courts, seat of the Irish High Court and Supreme Court. Built between 1786 and 1802, it incorporated plans by Thomas Cooley, who died before building began. After being badly damaged by gunfire during the Civil War in 1922 it was restored in 1931 with minor alterations. The 456ft/139m long river-front with its Corinthian portico is dominated by a great domed rotunda which is a prominent Dublin landmark. The central hall beneath the dome gave access to the four courts from which the building takes its name - the Exchequer, Common Pleas, King's Bench and Chancery Courts.

West of Dublin's Four Courts in Church Street is St Michan's Church (1095; much restored), in the crypt of which can be seen a number of mummified bodies.

0.5mi/800m west of Whiskey Corner, in Blackhall Place, we come to King's Hospital, also known as the Bluecoat School. The School was founded in 1669, but the present handsome building (by Thomas Ivory) dates only from the last quarter of the 18th C.; the dome was added in 1894. The interior has fine stucco work and carving. This is the headquarters of the Incorporated Law Society.

Immediately west of Dublin's Bluecoat School (or King's Hospital, as it is also called), in Blackhall Place, are the large Collins Barracks (18th C).Collins Barracks is the site of Ireland's new museum of the decorative arts and of the economic, social, political and military history of the country. Collections include ceramics, silver, glassware, period furniture and weaponry.

The Abbey was founded in 1139 as a daughter house of the Benedictine Order of Savigny. It is one of the largest and most important historical monasteries in Ireland. The Office of Public Works, along with the Dublin Archaeological Society and the History of Art Department of Trinity College, have put together an interesting exhibition.

Ceol is an interactive museum that presents the many aspects of Irish music from the instruments to the songs, dances, and practitioners. Eleven different galleries show how music has been interwoven with all of Irish history.

The Rotunda Hospital Chapel features exquisite Rococo stuccowork by Bartholomew Cramillion and mahogany woodwork by John Kelly. 18th C. lanterns provide lighting, as well as a Venetian window of modern stained glass.