Ireland day 1377. Sunday 06 July 2025- Inner City Dublin

Today’s summary	Val was doing a day working at the Museum and I went into Dublin to join a DWC walk around the inner city. Visited lots of places I’d never seen before, including the lower Dodder and parts of Ballsbridge. Finished off at the Herbert Park farmers market. Got to the Dart just before the rain poured down.
Today’s weather	Overcast but mostly dry until later afternoon. Some sun then heavy showers in the evening. Moderate to strong north westerly wind. Appx 18c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Inner City Dublin DWC

Commentary

Unable to resist the temptations of work, Val was putting in a shift at the museum today, leaving me to my own devices. Conveniently, there was a Walking Club trip around inner Dublin programmed for this afternoon, so I had a useful ready-made activity lined up for most of the time that Val was away.

So once the packed lunches were sorted out and tea drunk, Val headed off to work and I got my things ready to go off into town. The group wasn’t scheduled to meet until noon at Connolly, so there was no rush and I left the flat at about 11 to catch the train.

I had thought that I’d seen most of the sights of Dublin, but actually it turned out that I hadn’t. We spent most of the walk exploring the south east quarter of Dublin, after crossing the Liffey via the Sean O’Casey bridge, near to the Epic centre. Much of this was new to me.

From the bridge, we walked east along the south bank and ended up at the Grand Canal basin, near the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, where we stopped for lunch. It had felt quite cool and windy up until that point, but as we were having lunch, the sun came out and it actually felt quite pleasant for a while.

We walked east alongside the Basin then crossed the exit canal via the complicated system of locks which isolate the Basin – and the canal itself – from the tidal vagaries of the Liffey. A very interesting spot, surrounded by elaborately decorated graffiti walls, and one which I had definitely never visited before.

Shortly further on from here, the path meets the western bank of the Dodder, just before it flows into the Liffey. Another fascinating spot, especially with the tide out, as it was today.

We crossed over the river near Ringsend and then finished the walk up to Ballsbridge along the eastern bank. We actually ended the walk in Herbert Park, which was convenient as the farmers market was in full swing when we got there. I was able to buy some more Linden (aka lime blossom) tea to replace the packet I’d bought there last September, and which had run out a couple of days ago.

At that point, we all said our goodbyes and I walked back to Lansdown Road where I didn’t have too long to wait before a DART came along to whisk me back to Malahide. The timing was good because shortly after aid got on the train, the heavens opened and a heavy downpour soaked everything in what looked like icy rain.

Once back in the flat, I made a cup of tea, and Val arrived shortly after me. Tempura prawns and Wimbledon in the evening.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


New and old – vessels on the Liffey, from the Sean O’Casey bridge	Windmill Quarter – recording studios here on the south bank of the Liffey hosted notable rock greats including the Rolling Stones and Sinéad O’Connor

Elaborate lock system isolating the Grand Canal Basin from the Liffey (in the background)	Gated community on the banks of the Dodder, midway between Ringsend and Ballsbridge

Herbert Park farmers’ market	The €297,000 price tag on this Mercedes tells you quite a lot about what kind of area Ballsbridge is

On the banks of the Dodder, with St Patrick’s Church in Ringsend on the opposite bank