O'Connell Street

is the heart of Dublin and still bears the wounds of past violence. Ireland has had difficulties and the monument in the foreground bears bullet holes from the 1916 troubles. There are many wonderful examples of statuary in Dublin that are unscathed, fortunately. There is the statue of Molly Malone,
("She wheeled her wheelbarrow,
through streets broad and narrow . . ."),
which is nicknamed the "Tart With A Cart", and the statue of the Spirit of the Liffy, (The Floozy In The Jacuzzi to the natives . . . there's that Irish humor again.)

Just up the Liffy River to the left of here, (we are standing on a bridge) is the field where the dead of the Rebellion of 1758 were buried. To the right is the Customs House and behind us is the fashionable shopping district. Speaking of statuary, there is a side trip we can go on here to lovely Merrion Park to see the new statue of Oscar Wilde.

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