on the road less travelled in Ireland and france

For visitors to Dublin the Temple Bar is a must-see destination – there is a promise of plenty of “craic”. Born-in-Dublin Conal suggest giving the tourist trap a big swerve.

Tuesday, October 10, 2023 (After lunch): The good thing about Dublin is that a lot of the Must See places are so close together: St Stephens Green, Grafton St, Trinity College are within 20 minutes’ walk of each other.

Fran and my next destination was Christchurch Cathedral, we could have walked past Dublin Castle but instead we took a detour through Temple Bar (and walked over the Ha’penny Bridge).

Back in the 1970s and 1980s Temple Bar was just another Dublin street with a whole lot of pubs. I know because I used to frequent many of the hosteleries in that part of Dublin.

(I am still trying to piece together a particular night spent in The Auld Dubliner which involved many shots of tequila – I was fine as long as I sitting down, when I stepped outside in the cold winter’s night the alcohol kicked in … and the rest of the evening is still a bit of a blur. My haunt in those days was the back lounge of the The Palace Bar (it’s on Fleet St).

One guide books says: “The Palace Bar is one of Dublin’s best loved original Victorian pubs. Like all Victorian Pubs The Palace pulsates natural ambience and character.

“But if you wish to see it at its best, go along in early morning, preferably on a sunshiny day when shafts of light come filtering through the stained glass windows illuminating the old mahogany back bar and high vaulted ceiling.

“Ponder over the Victorian magic of this design; austere and simple but yet vibrant, quaint and enchanting. Note the high alter style Victorian back bar – typical of the era – with Romanesque arches and very clever use of mirrors.

“There is a hidden snug at the front of the bar, with an old telephone box feel, that can hold five people. Michael Collins was said to have held meetings there during the War of Independence.”

Established in 1823, The Palace Bar is one of Dublin’s oldest pubs. Writers Poet Patrick Kavanagh, Writer Flann O’Brien and painter Harry Kernoff were regulars, and thus the pub became internationally famous and one of Dublin’s great literary pubs. It was rumoured that when The Great and Talented gathered in The Palace the regulars would go silent … hoping to hear pearls of wisdom.

A SPOT OF HISTORY

It is hard to believe, but the now picturesque charms of Temple Bar district could well have been buried under the ugly concrete of a huge bus depot.

Going back: Dublin is an old city, in 1988 it celebrated it millenium, after being founded in year 888AD. The Vikings settled here in 795. Remains of their settlement’s fortifications can still be seen at Dublin Castle.

In the 1960-70s, the then Dublin Corporation decided it needed new office space and ordered the clearing of the site know as Wood Quay (at the very far end of the Temple Bar precinct).

While excavating the site for the foundations for the office blocks, the remains of a Viking settlement was discovered. Remains of Norse and Norman villages were found along with artefacts like coins, pottery, leatherwork and swords, many of which are on display in the National Museum of Ireland and Dublinia (another attraction in the area).

There was a public outcry, protests, demands to save/protect the site. (A prominent Irish politician described the protestor as “part of the lunatic fringe.) The excavations were concluded in March 1981 and the bulldozers rolled in. Dublin City Council’s Civic Offices opened in 1986.

But back to Temple Bar…

Some 800 years later, the English diplomat and provost of Trinity College, Sir William Temple, had his residence and gardens here in the early 17th century. By the end of the 17th century the area had acquired the name it still goes by today, Temple Bar.

The arrival of a new customs house in 1707 – on the site where U2’s Clarence Hotel stands today – brought money and a flurry of activity into the once pastoral area. Warehouses shot up at every corner and taverns, theatres and brothels followed suit.

The boom lasted barely a century. When customs officials moved into new, larger premises on the Northside of the Liffey in 1791, the bubble burst and Temple Bar fell into disrepair.

A run-down inner city slum by the mid-20th century, Temple Bar was long written off when state transport company CIE started buying up property here in the 1980’s with the view to building a huge bus depot.

While waiting for planning permission by the city, CIE decided to let out the empty premises at cheap rates. Attracted by the bargain rents, artists, fringe boutiques and alternative eateries started to shoot up all over Temple Bar.

The lively, buzzing quarter was received well by Dubliners and resistance against CIE plans to raze Temple Bar grew. Finally, the Irish state got involved in 1991 and set up a non-profit company to oversee the future development of Temple Bar. Today, you can enjoy the unique bohemian atmosphere in Temple Bar’s cobbled lanes.

Now it’s the favoured watering hole for thousands of tourists who feel the need to buy expensive alcohol (and or food) and be entertained by passing hens/bucks parties determined to start drinking at 10am. It’s a tourist trap.

But that is just my humble opinion.

Fran and I did a walk-through on the way to Christchurch Cathedral.