Dublin 2018

You can still see where the bullets hit the facade of the GPO in O'Connell Street. During the Easter Rising in 1916, the republican volunteers used the GPO as their headquarters. Outside, the police and the army were shooting and lobbing bombs into the building. The interior burned, but the facade remains, bullet holes and all. Inside, it's been rebuilt with beautiful wood, brass and marble -- a grand place to post a letter. There's a little museum about the Easter Rising inside, but we skipped it.

Bullet damage on the columns of the GPO, O'Connell Street, Dublin

Cathal Brugha Street, near the junction with O'Connell Street, at the head of the taxi rank. Crikey! Call the grammar police! The plaque reads: "May God bless the taxi driver's, keep them safe and watch over there journey's In Memory of Eugene Lawlor, Rank Organizer R.I.P"

Dedicated to those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish freedom. Parnell Square, Dublin.

Dedicated to those who gave their lives in the cause of Irish freedom. Parnell Square, Dublin.

Posh looking building in Parnell Square, Dublin

Hendrick Lane at the corner of Hendrick Street, Dublin

Stanhope Street, Dublin

Originally the House of Refuge for orphans, run by the Sisters of Charity, it has also been a workhouse and a laundry. During the Great Hunger in the nineteenth century, destitute women came here for shelter.

The first women's prison in Ireland. During the Great Hunger, women who had been sentenced to transportation (i.e. to be deported to Australia) were held here before boarding the boat. The smallest of crimes could result in a sentence.

Street sign on the wall around Grangegorman Gaol. The large site is now being redeveloped for educational and technological uses.

The institution that held poor people with mental health issues. During the famine it was extremely overcrowded and conditions were deplorable. There is still a psychiatric hospital on the grounds.

Combination barber shop and bar, on the corner of Grangegorman Lower and Fitzwilliam Place.

Seen in Island Street in the Liberties, Dublin. Sign reads: Moira House stood here for over 60 years before the top floor was knocked and it became the two storey Mendicity Institution that 28 Irish Volunteers occupied in Easter Week 1916 led by Sean Heuston, executed for his part in The Rising. The old Mendo was destroyed in the early 1950s. The Mendicity Institution was a charity that worked to ease poverty and begging. Info on the history here: www.mendicity.org/history

Robert Emmet was a republican freedom fighter who lead a failed insurrection against the British in 1803. Though a Protestant, he fought for Catholic emancipation and freedom from British rule. He was executed for treason on this spot in Thomas Street. More info about him here: www.ireland-information.com/articles/robertemmet.htm

Lines from The Pleasure of Eliza Lynch by Anne Enright: Her eyes then were an evening blue. They were the colour of the light when it goes.

Guinness Warehouses take up a massive amount of the Liberties section of Dublin. There are many entrances like this. We never saw the main entrance where the punters queue up for the tour and tasting.

Indoor market in Meath Street, selling every bit of tat you can imagine. There's a stall where a vendor makes bespoke throw pillows from shirts previously worn by dearly departed family members.