Letter by Letter – A

P is for Padraic Pearse

And his brother Willie

At home I see you in my tea leaves

Walking in the rose garden

Chatting until sunrise

There in the park of St. Enda’s.

-Kathryn O’Boyle

P’s for Percy Place, where Huband Bridge is ornamental,

And Beckett’s Dad built houses three so Sam could live on rental.

– Catherine Ann Cullen

P for Phil Lynott from band Thin Lizzy.

He may look thin and

His statue is grim

But they call him Lizzy

And I am a dizzy

Because he’s called Phil Lynott.

– Kathryn O’Boyle 

P is for the Phoenix Park, from Papal Cross to portaloo,

An alphabet onto itself, with A for Áras, Z for Zoo.

– Catherine Ann Cullen

When Dublin’s pigeons fly over the city

Are they looking for a way

To startle the next unsuspecting tourist,

Here on a flight for the day?

– Eoin O’Mahony

P is for a perfect reading in Poetry Ireland on Parnell Square A lovely evening a few years ago now.

– Anne T Sheridan

Poetry Ireland’s patronage for poets is proffered from their place at 11 Parnell Square,

Where plans are in place

for performance space

and to house the Seamus Heaney Working Library there.

– Mary B Shannon

Wow Poolbeg:

stretching the neck above the passengers heads

standing on the toes just for them

through out the DART window the two yellow chimneys

cut the brackish air of the Poolbeg bay

– Arjuna Cecchetti

Portobello: first house, first love, many firsts

reborn in memory’s explosive starbursts.

– Karen J McDonnell

The President’s residence, Phoenix Park, is surrounded by an alphabet of trees,

Beneath a canopy of ailm, beith, coll agus dair enjoy the silent falling leaves.

– Mary B Shannon

D’Olier Street

D’Olier Street is always a tongue twister –

is it ‘Doll-e-eay’ or ‘Dollier’? A French fluster?

No. Think quick thick Dublin accent –

just ‘D’leer’, rhyming with cheer.

– Siobhán Mc Laughlin

Cross the Liffey via O’Connell Street bridge to explore Dublin’s longest thoroughfare,

See Ard-Ofig an Phoist – the GPO and take an historical tour when you’re there.

– Mary B Shannon

O for O’Connell, the old liberator,

Whose bridge is Outstanding, whose street could be greater.

– Catherine Ann Cullen

Daniel O’Connell, his name carried on the capital’s main thoroughfare,

He believed conflict should never shed blood; a street that witnessed much sacrifice.

– Marie Studer

Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde poet and author of The Picture of Dorian Grey,

Born in 1854 at 21 Westland Row, round the corner from 1 Merrion Square.

– Mary B Shannon

O is for Oxmantown where Olaf once traded, 

Where Vikings were sent when the Normans invaded.

– Catherine Ann Cullen

N’s for narrow Nassau Street, once named for Patrick’s Well,

Where Joyce met Nora Barnacle as she came from Finn’s Hotel.

– Catherine Ann Cullen

Head to the National Gallery there you’ll find Jack B Yeat’s easel and smock,

Enjoy the thrill of ‘The Liffey Swim’ as his swimmers surge for the Custom House docks.

– Mary B Shannon

N for old Neighbours in my Dublin 8 hood.

Still there, or now dead: all trees in my wood.

– Karen J McDonnell

N’s for Nora Barnacle muse and wife of James Augustine Aloysius Joyce,

Whose paths crossed on Nassau Street in 1904 and for that we should all rejoice.

– Mary B Shannon – with drawing below

N is for the old North Strand.

The name reveals it’s reclaimed land.

Where once ships sailed upon the main,

Now you can voyage in a train.

– Catherine Ann Cullen

The Mansion house in all its splendour,

Day trip with mum to an antiques fair,

Escape from our tin roof holiday rental,

Just me and her, a love of old shared.

– Therese Kieran

(pic Theresa Donnelly)

Head to Merrion Square and you will find museums and art galleries there,

On summer weekends local artists display their work in the open air.

– Mary B Shannon

@SaveMooreStreet Save it all!

Save the Terrace and Save the Stall!

Save #MooreStreet from demolition

is the position

– Mel Mac Giobúin

M is for The Museum of Childhood Ireland Project this fall

Bringing you

The social history of childhood of all

Growing up on the island

Of Ireland

And amongst the Irish diaspora too

– Ekaterina Tikhoniouk

M’s for the Museum of Literature Ireland Newman House, 86 St. Stephen’s Green,

Where the old ash tree that Joyce stood next to, on graduating from UCD can be seen.

– Mary B Shannon

Lake water lapping at UCD,

hideaway amongst leafy trees.

– Siobhán Mc Laughlin

A full moon hangs over Leeson Street,

Georgian redbricks reciprocate.

– Siobhán Mc Laughlin

Liberty Hall should be my gravity zone

a solid box

a river float

let me have a look at this green top roof

one minute before the plane takes off.

– Arjuna Cecchetti (including photo below)

Libraries are where it’s at, sweetie!

RIA, Trinners, Marsh’s, Chester Beatty …

– Karen J McDonnell

The Liffey is a spaceship

Which shines in the nights

As thousands of moths under the electric lights

– Arjuna Cecchetti

Luas bell trills and seagulls cry,

city’s soft ping, nature’s shrill reply.

– Siobhán Mc Laughlin

On Harry Street, thanks to Roisín Dubh Trust, you will find Phil Lynott’s statue standing tall,

Thin Lizzy frontman, composer, bass-guitarist, the embodiment of rock ‘n’ roll.

– Mary B Shannon

K is for Kavanagh’s kingdom, a Grand Canal bank seat,

A kindly spot to sit and dream, where kindred spirits meet.

– Catherine Ann Cullen

St. Kevin’s graveyard – forgotten, forlorn –

holding dreams often buried before they were born.

– Karen J McDonnell

K is for Kilmainham Gaol. In its chilly granite quad,

Many an Irish patriot was killed by firing squad.

– Catherine Ann Cullen

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Thomas Kinsella praised his childhood school teachers for all their patience and kindness and care,

A former pupil of The Model, Inchicore, he held his last public engagement there.

– Mary B Shannon

June 16’s the ‘jour’ of the jotter, James Joyce,

His journey through Dublin gave Jackeens their voice,

Though he jarred with the Jesuits, he’s judged to be great

From Little Jerusalem to old Jameses Gate.

– Catherine Ann Cullen

J’s for James Joyce’s Dubliners and for a tour of his Joycean bars.

Climb the mountain to Johnny Fox’s for a John Jameson in the jar.

– Mary B Shannon

H is for John Nolan’s Ha’penny Bridge captured in crepuscular light,

His painting pays homage to Vincent Van Gogh of a starry Dublin night.

– Mary B Shannon

Ha’Penny Bridge is a fridge

Frozen hands in the pockets

And our lifes in the sockets…

– Arjuna Cecchetti

H for the Happy Ring House, before you hear the bells,

Have hens and stags and getting hitched and honeymoon hotels

– Catherine Ann Cullen

Hill 16, awash with sky blue, a majestic sight

Voices in full cry, tribe in unison, collective might.

Bullet proof banter, camaraderie, On The Hill

A mighty surge, Up The Dubs, what a thrill.

– Stephen J Bolger

Holles Street Hospital, where humans are hatched,

Held tightly and hugged till they’re hugely attached.

– Catherine Ann Cullen

H Is for Holles Street National Maternity Hospital

Historic first stop for baby girls and boys

And Ireland’s first woman Master.

– Marie Studer

H for Howth Harbour and a hike up the Hill,

It’s hearty and healthy and heavenly still.

– Catherine Ann Cullen

George’s Street Arcade like a dock in the rain

Where earrings wait sailor’s daughter

or the shiny rainbow couple under the gaslight

– Arjuna Cecchetti

My mind turns to George’s Street Arcade

where old dreams and friendships were made.

– Karen J McDonnell

G is for Glasnevin, its graves of granite glory,

A gargle in the Gravediggers will give you grub and story.

– Catherine Ann Cullen

G is for Graduates Memorial Building

Home of the Hist the Phil and the Theo

And ideas that seeped through Front Gate.

– Marie Studer

On Grafton Street where Glen Hansard busked and where Kavanagh’s old ghosts still meet,

also, for the glorious Gaiety Theatre, grand dame of South King Street.

– Mary B Shannon

G is for Grangegorman, a campus for the city,

Where once stood an asylum that was gloomy, grey and gritty.

– Catherine Ann Cullen

G is good for Guinness, at old St James’s Gate,

A glass was once medicinal; the Storehouse view is great.

– Catherine Ann Cullen

Guinness Storehouse

We walk through the story of Guinness –

layers of froth and richest darkness.

– Karen S Davies

G’s for Guinness Storehouse and for its rooftop Gravity Bar, for Brendan Gleeson’s ‘Pint of Plain’ – O’Brien’s favourite jar.

– Mary B Shannon