Days of Dublin in Black and White

There’s something about black and white, especially in a big city. The incredible city of Dublin in gorgeous on all it’s own. Some cities

have a historic district. Dublin looks like it’s all history. Monuments rise from the streets and buildings hold onto their rich architecture. Vines cover brick walls, surrounding brightly colored Georgian Doors (so colored because men would come home drunk and not know which door was there’s, ending up climbing into bed with the neighbor, illustrating the dangers of our cookie cutter homes). Businessmen still walk down cobbled streets and horse drawn carriages can be found sitting outside the Guinness Factory ready to tempt the drunken tourist. But behind its quaint store fronts and the appeal of a big city is a certain grittiness.

Behind the cheery dispositions and regular friendliness – the people in Ireland were some of the best I’ve met – is not just hardiness as

strong as their whiskey, but the willingness to stand up. When something is wrong or something is disagreeable, these are not people

Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin, Ireland

who will sit back and let be, gosh darn it, they will sit in the pub, drink a lot, and then start a

Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin, Ireland

rebellion. And you can hear it in the old historic jails full of long cold tunnels and thick wooden

doors shut tight with padlocks where they tell long stories of the multiple rebels who were kept and killed there with a proud sense of admiration. You can see it in the bullet hole covered statues that sit in the middle of O’Connell Street, the main street in Dublin from when they were hit during the Easter Rising, mounted by Irish Republicans (It may have only lasted a week and ended with their leaders being court-marshaled and executed, but that’s really not the point here. The bullet holes are timeless and it brought the separation of Ireland from Great Britain to the forefront of politics and eventually lead to the separation of the Republic of Ireland from the UK. Not your average Easter Egg Hunt there.) And yes, many leaders of the Rising were held and executed at the Kilmainham Gaol – pronounced Jail, just spelled fancy.

You can see more images below and at http://www.nowellsphotography.com

Art feature at Trinity College

Vine covered building in Dublin, Ireland

Dublin, Ireland

Dublin, Ireland

Here you can George Salmon who was reported to have said women would enter the college over his dead body, but finally withdrew his veto to allow women to attend Trinity College. Ironically enough, he died 8 days before the first 3 women were given letters of admission

Locks over the Ha’Penny Bridge in Dublin, Ireland. In January, Dublin cut the locks off the bridge and asked couples to cease and desist. Clearly it didn’t work. Padlocks are symbolically locked here, the key thrown into the water below.