Dublin Diary: Day 4
Our plane didn’t leave till late afternoon, so we had a few hours to wander along Dublin’s Grand Canal before we left. Near the Liffey, it’s quite commercial but further up it becomes more residential and peaceful so, apart from occasional rain showers, we had a pleasant walk. Dublin does like its street statues, and we discovered two on our route. The little girl playing is near St Stephen’s Church (also known as the Pepper Canister on account of its shape) and Patrick Kavanagh, the poet, sits on a bench gazing into the water. Rumour has it that he met Brendan Behan nearby and they thought they’d go for a drink together – but couldn’t think of a pub where neither of them had been barred. You can’t get barred from the canal bank so Kavanagh loved this spot. Someone has added some rather fetching yarn-bombing to the nearby tree, but he doesn’t seem impressed.
A detour down Baggot Street took us to Searson’s pub for lunch and a pint (my first Guinness of the weekend – it would have been sacrilege to leave Dublin without it), then we wandered back into town through the very pretty Iveagh Gardens – the end of a perfect weekend.
The Glasgow Gallivanter 