Done Laoghaire

For over a month now, I’ve had a sunny day contingency plan to go to Dun Laoghaire. When I woke up last Saturday, the sun was shining brightly through the windows of my apartment, warming the idea of heading south and invoking my sunny day contingency plan.

I got to Dun Laoghaire via the bus and train – costing me around 4 Euro total to get there. As soon as I stepped off the train, the clouds came. To the right is a picture of Dun Laoghaire from the ferry station.

Between the ferry station and the pier, there was an interesting looking memorial that stood tall and proud, looking over the harbor. What I found was that it really wasn’t very impressive - it commemorated the first stone being laid for the pier.

Right next to it (and much smaller) was a much more interesting memorial. See the plaque below.

Before getting out to the pier, I saw a sculpture and decided to get a closer look. What I saw is below: the Christ the King statue by Irish American sculptor Andrew O’Connor. The 3 sided sculpture is 18 feet high and shows three phases of Christ’s life: Desolation, Consolation and Triumph. The side you see here would be Triumph.

On to the East Pier! (I decided that one pier would be plenty and I didn’t need to see the West Pier) The pier is a nice long walk out to the tip of the harbor. Even though the clouds had rolled in and a little drizzle began to fall, it was still a pleasant walk. I wasn’t the only person there, the pier was pretty busy. The first picture (left) is a four-legged friend out enjoying a walk. The second picture (bottom left) is at the end of the pier, looking out toward Howth Head. The third picture (bottom right) is some photogenic driftwood.

Next I walked down to a place called the 40 foot

hole at Sandycove. This is a place just off the coast where the sea drops down 40 feet. But due to the rock formations, it’s more of an underwater cliff. Apparently it’s a famous swimming hole. Believe it or not, even in late February, people were swimming. The Martello Tower to the top left was constructed years ago to help ward off Napoleon should he come to Dublin. There are quite a few up and down the east coast. This one has been converted into the James Joyce Museum. Forty foot hole is to the right and the smoke stacks in the background mark Dublin City.

Next stop was Dalkey, which was a neat little city with some old architecture. To the left is Bulloch Castle, which is now a nursing home (no kidding) and to the right is part of Dalkey Castle in downtown Dalkey. By this time the sun had come out and it warmed up.

With some time to still burn before I was due back in Dublin, I decided to walk down the coast to Kiliney Beach. I was a beautiful walk past some garish homes. Notice the second occurrence of a Martello Tower in the distance in the first picture. That is a different one.

Finally at Kiliney Beach. The views were absolutely stunning. You can easily get to Kiliney Beach from Dublin via the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) train. For just over two Euros, the train drops you off right at the beach.

It was a grand day out. Only thing left to do was to polish it off with a Guinness in Dublin while watching Ireland beat England 20-16 in rugby and go see a foreign film at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival.