A Stroll in Dublin

     

The Ha'Penny Bridge crosses the River Liffey.  It gets it name from that in 1816 it was built under the condition that William Walsh could charge half a penny for pedestrians to cross it. For a time the toll was raised to a "penny ha'penny" which equals a penny and a half.  Currently there is no toll for crossing with about 27,00 people crossing it everyday.

Under the Ha'Penny Bridge

Graffiti put on the side of the quays (pronounced keys) that says Let Them Eat Cheese.  This was put up the night before the protest march on the 27th of November against the government economic policies.  The statement gets at a policy the government enacted two weeks earlier that was going to give free cheese to those in need.  

Corner of O'Connell Street Bridge

James Connolly was a famous Socialist leader.  He was later executed by a British firing squad for his leadership role in the 1916 Easter Rising 

These are pictures are of a memorial of the potato famine of 1845-1852.  During these times it was said that Ireland's population fell between twenty and twenty-five percent.  About one million died and about another million emigrating to other countries.  The potato famine is directly related to the diaspora of the Irish people around the world today along with the residual Nationalist movement against the British.  The potato famine also has direct ties to the loss of the Irish language in Ireland where partly due to the emigration of the Irish people with the other half being due to government language policies enacted by the British.

This is a picture of the Luas (pronounced Louis) in Dublin.    The word means speed in Gaelige (Irish) language.