Ireland day 1300. Sunday 20 April 2025- Arbour Hill

Today’s summary	Took the H2 bus into Dublin (as the rail line was closed for engineering work). Went to the Collins Barracks on the Luas to join 5 others from the walking club. A short amble through Arbour Hill, Phoenix Park and Kilmainham before finishing at Heuston station. Bus back to airport and 102 from there. Rest of the roast beef for dinner, and more “Mad Men”.
Today’s weather	Overcast and damp but no real rain. Light south easterly wind. Appx 11c

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): Arbour Hill DWC

Commentary

We were in two minds about whether or not to join today’s short excursion with the Club. It was billed to start at noon from the Collins Barracks which presented a problem as there were no trains running from Malahide today (nor indeed all the Easter weekend) because of engineering works. Also, the weather still looked a bit iffy – grey and cold, with the threat of rain. Anyway, in the end we decided we would go in – we took the H2 bus – and were glad that we did.

The journey in was a bit slow but fairly straightforward, but after a quick flit from Abbey Street on the Red Line Luas, we made it to Collins Barracks a few minutes early. Just enough time to get a coffee and a “German Biscuit” (the closest thing to an Empire Biscuit that I’ve found in Ireland, and it was delicious) before we set off. Unfortunately the advertised walk leader couldn’t make it today so I was asked to step in. Which was a bit of a challenge as really I had no idea where we were supposed to be going.

In the end, as the walk had been listed as taking in Arbour Hill, we headed out of the back of the Barracks and made our way up there first. None of us had really explored this part of Dublin before, and it’s quite nice – despite being the home of Arbour Hill prison – which as far as I can tell is where some of Ireland’s worst sex-offenders are incarcerated. Ugh.

But next door to the prison is the Church of the Scared Heart, which with its attendant churchyard, is a bit of a hidden gem. The cherries, which were in full blossom when we visited, made it look particularly attractive. The cemetery is also where a number of Irish war heroes are interred and a small service, related to the 1916 Easter Rising, was going on when we were there today.

From Arbour Hill, we walked up Infirmary Road and into Phoenix Park via the back entrance. We slowly ambled to the Wellington Testimonial, where we parked ourselves on a couple of benches to have our lunches. From there, it was a short walk over Islandbridge and up to Kilmainham. Surprisingly enough, we found another coffee shop in the quadrant of the hospital, so we availed ourselves of refreshments which we enjoyed while overlooking the formal gardens at the back. A thousand dazzling shades of green!

We finished the walk shortly afterwards, at Heuston Station. Getting back to Malahide from there was a bit of a challenge. In the end we caught a no. 782 Dublin Express to the airport (we had some difficulty persuading our driver to accept my old age bus pass – but eventually he let us on), and then a 102 from there. We were back in the flat by 6pm.

For dinner we finished off the roast beef from yesterday (delicious!) and watched a couple of episodes of “Mad Men”. So despite our misgivings, it turned out to be a really good day out – it was worth making the effort, and we managed to see somewhere new. Fortune favours the brave!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Collins Barracks at the start of our walk. Just time for refreshments before we set off	In the Arbour Hill cemetery. The beautiful cherry trees brightened up what could otherwise have been a slightly gloomy scene. There were various ceremonies going on in Dublin today to commemorate the 1916 Easter Uprising. The main one was on O’Connell Street (with the President and Taoiseach in attendance), but there was also one in the cemetery as we visited

Where else!	With the rest of the walkers at the base of the Wellington Testimonial

You might think this is a lamp-post, but you would be sadly mistaken because actually it is an artwork. Yes really – it’s part of the Irish Modern Art Museum and is in the grounds of Kilmainham hospital. We weren’t impressed	Heuston Station at the end of our walk

The former Isolation Hospital on Infirmary Road. It’s scheduled to be refurbished to turn it into “flexible high quality community spaces”. That’s got to be a good thing, as it’s a bit of an eyesore at the moment. No idea about the likely timing though