Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine October 2013 | Page 146

144

Travel | Dublin

Travel | Dublin

Courtesy of Tourism Ireland

In all truth, there isn’t much that is ghoulish
about Dublin. Most of its best architecture is light
and elegant, providing one of the world’s great
showcases of Georgian architecture, named

You might make a final stop at the Dublin Writers
Museum. For a start, it’s another glorious Georgian
building with some eye-popping plasterwork, and
also houses one of Dublin’s best restaurants. More
importantly, it will give you an insight into the lives
of some of Ireland’s most famous writers, such as
Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw
and James Joyce.
Then again, you could instead commune with
the ghost of James Joyce, said to be occasionally
spotted in the mirror of the Davy Byrne’s main
lounge. The author was a regular at this South Anne
Street pub, which also features frequently in the
pages of his most famous novel, Ulysses. Of course,
his ghostly appearances might be just the Guinness
talking, but never mind. One of the great pleasures
of visiting Ireland is that tall tales are readily told.
Crowds of people on Grafton
Street, one of the city’s main
shopping thoroughfares.

The bronze statue of Molly
Malone, immortalised in a
popular Irish song.

The Temple Bar in the
central city district.

Partygoers in fancy dress
head off to a Halloween party.

The impressive façade of
much-haunted Malahide Castle.

Courtesy of Chapter one

Lovers of architecture – or simply the inquisitive –
are in for a particular treat in October, when the
annual Open House Dublin allows the public free
access to over 100 of the city’s buildings on
informative guided tours. They include not only
Georgian charmers, but places such as the Greek
Orthodox Church, the Islamic Cultural Centre,
the General Post Office and the very latest
additions to the Dublin skyline such as Google
Docks, the madly multi-coloured, crazily cool
European headquarters for the Internet giant.

Another entertaining Dublin ghost is a 16thcentury court jester called Puck, who is said to
haunt Malahide Castle with his jingling bells
and lurk in the background of visitors’ photos.
The castle, 10km north of the city centre, is a
good place to start chronological sightseeing
in Dublin. Parts date back to the 12th century,
and it boasts a superb medieval great hall.

Dublin gets a bit silly at Halloween. You can pluck
up the nerve to navigate the darkened corridors
of the Haunted Spooktacular Horror Farm, or hop
on the Gothic-themed Ghostbus for stories of the
city’s felons and phantoms. Guides on commercial
walking tours regale you with stories of the plague
and Irish legends of supernatural characters and
witches. But for something a little more cerebral,
the annual Bram Stoker Festival (October 26–28
this year) celebrates the writings of the Irish
novelist, most famous for his novel Dracula. It
takes a look at literary vampires and the ongoing
fascination for the genre in Hollywood movies,
and also offers tours through the city’s hidden
Victorian-era laneways.

© Semmick Photo / Shutterstock

Northside has some of the city’s best early
Georgian architecture, built before the posh people
upped and went south of the river. The area was
eventually pockmarked with high-rises and became
rather down-at-heel, but has recently seen a lively
revival. Its façades have been spruced up, and
trendy eateries and interesting shopping have
emerged. The district now also has a multi-ethnic
buzz, a miniature Chinatown and some of the city’s
best theatres. And forget Halloween spirits: you
can indulge in spirits of another sort with whiskey
tastings at the Old Jameson Distillery, now
a museum devoted to one of Ireland’s
best-known drops.

It's no surprise that Irish ghosts are rather
charming. Dubliners sing about Molly Malone,
affectionately commemorated in a bronze statue
on Grafton Street. The beautiful 18th-century
fishmonger died of a fever but, as the song goes,
you can still hear her cries of “cockles and mussels!”
as she wheels her barrow of seafood around town.
Inebriated patrons heading home from the thriving
Temple Bar nightlife district nearby ap