Ireland day 1023. Wednesday 17 July 2024- Sarah Purser

Today’s summary	Spent the morning on paperwork then went into Dublin to take a look at the Sarah Purser exhibition at the Hugh Lane Gallery. Stopped in at the new O’Connell St Decathon on the way back then went on a short stroll in the evening. Val back tomorrow.
Today’s weather	Overcast but mostly mild and dry. Moderate southerly wind. Appx 20c

Today’s overview location (The green mark shows the location of my route)		Close-up location (The orange line shows where I walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected and spikes removed): Connolly to Hugh Lane Sarah Purser exhibition

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

This morning, try as I might I couldn’t find an excuse for not tackling some more of the paperwork that has been piling up on my desk for the last few weeks. I had made a start a couple of days ago, and on that occasion I found that time-boxing how long I would spend on it really helped, so I did the same again today.

Eventually, after a couple of hours and numerous cups of tea, I had done enough for now and started to think about what to do next.

I remembered that on Monday I’d been thwarted in my attempt to visit an art gallery in Dublin because it was closed for the day. So today I quickly checked the website and found that it was open again, so I decided to go in and check it out.

The object of my journey today was the Hugh Lane gallery – and specifically an exhibition by the renowned Irish artist Sarah Purser. This artist has a particular resonance for us as she is distantly related to one of our good friends in back in the UK.

I duly caught an early afternoon DART to Connolly and then walked across town to the gallery. Once I got there I first visited the café for lunch then had a look round the exhibition.

It was very good actually, with exhibits spread over three rooms. I think a real aficionado could probably spend all afternoon there. I had a good but slightly less thorough look then, as most of the rest of the gallery was closed for renovations, took my leave and started to make my way back to Connolly.

On the way back, I stopped in to visit the new Decathon shop which has opened in the site of the former Clerys department store in O’Connell street. It was smaller than the out-of-town store at Ballymun but still had a decent range of stuff. I enjoyed looking around.

A swift train ride back to Malahide and I was in the flat well before 6pm. The rest of the evening was spent on a short walk, sorting out some laundry and then finishing off my book on the earth’s climate history.

Val’s back tomorrow so once again I foresee some cleaning and tidying being on the agenda shortly!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


The Portal at the end of North Earl Street, offering a glimpse into Times Square, New York	At the entrance to the Sarah Purser exhibitions (a view of one of the exhibition halls is in the banner image at the top)

Garden of Remembrance, opposite Hugh Lane	The new Decathlon in O’Connell Street. In the former Clery department store

The GPO in all its glory, O’Connell Street – where the 1916 rising was centred	Dublin’s Spire – it still divides opinion I think

Rather grand entrance to the gallery. It’s a nice building and even nicer inside