Forget Ulysses. To learn more about Dublin…
I’ve been living in Dublin for over 10 years. I love the place. I hate the place. I always want to know more about it. I’m fascinated by what was here before the city. I like to know about the physical landscape of the city, the undulations and rivers that lie beneath the concrete and tarmadadam, below the yuppie bars and council flats. One book in particular opened my eyes, Christopher Moriarty’s Exploring Dublin.
Exploring Dublin examines the physical landscape, the flora and the fauna within the two canals that encircle Dublin’s city centre. He talks about underground rivers like the Poddle, tells weird tales of boozey entomology, and illustrates the rich wildlife (non-human) that lives within the city. The reader is drawn into not only the rich relationship between pre-civilization Dublin, and how it formed the shape of the modern city, but also into the deep symbiotic relationship between humans, animals and plants. Modern city dwellers have a tendency to ignore nature as ‘something that lives in the countryside’.
Dublin is a lot wilder than Temple Bar on a Friday night.
Essential reading for residents and Dublinophiles alike.
