Dublin – Journeys of Heart and Mind

Image of the day – 50

Jonathan Swift…famously wrote, ‘In Ireland we have enough religion to make us hate but not enough to make us love’.

What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

While we were in Dublin we visited St Patrick’s Cathedral. There are two cathedrals in the city, Christ Church and St Patrick’s. St Patrick’s has an association with the famous author, Jonathan Swift who was Dean and Ordinary here. He famously wrote, ‘In Ireland we have enough religion to make us hate but not enough to make us love’.

The cathedral is beautiful, with much interesting stained glass. It has a long and varied history; astonishingly, Oliver Cromwell used the building to stable his horses. The building has had many ups and downs over the centuries, falling into disrepair and being restored.

The phrase ‘chance your arm’ originated here. In 1492, two feuding families had been in battle and the losing side fled to the cathedral for safety. The winners offered a truce but the losers thought it was trap. A hole was cut in the heavy, wooden door to the building and the leader of the winning side put his arm through to shake hands ‘chancing his arm’ in the process. Everything ended well and the truce was accepted.

Sometimes we might need to do this too – chance our arm. We need to take risks in life in the hope of achieving something useful. ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained’ is another way of making the same point. Risk it for a biscuit!

Images from our Irish holiday 2024

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Irish holiday images:

28th Jul – Welsh Botanic Garden, Robin, Fishguard
29th Jul – Wicklow Mts, Glendalough, Powerscourt, Rose, Greystones
30th Jul – Liffey, Temple Bar, St Patrick’s Cathedral
31st Jul – Newgrange, Battle of the Boyne
1st Aug – Monasterboice, Mourne, Thrift, Window
2nd Aug – Spelga Dam, Hydrangea, Pipework, Lough Neagh
3rd Aug – Coagh, Springhill, Portrush
4th Aug – Beach at Portrush
5th Aug – Giant’s Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede, Portrush

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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Image of the day – 49

Let’s focus on whatever is sunny and joyful in our current experience – so far as that is possible.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

Back to Ireland today, this photo is the entrance to a Dublin bar in the centre of the city.

The hanging baskets full of flowers make a lovely contrast against the old stone and brick of the archway. This photo is from the Temple Bar part of Dublin where there are narrow, old streets and passageways. It’s a lively area as well, with gaudily painted walls and doors. It happened to be a bright, sunny day, and this added to the happy, carefree and optimistic atmosphere.

We had walked across one of the bridges over the Liffy from the Customs House to make our way through Temple Bar en route to Dublin Castle and St Patrick’s Cathedral and our mood shifted as we walked.

On a day like this, in a place like this, it seemed impossible to be sad or gloomy. I think optimism and energy are infectious, perhaps sadness and despair are too. So let’s focus on whatever is sunny and joyful in our current experience – so far as that is possible. For an exceptional example of this in the midst of pain, distress and hardship, take a look at Yara’s posts from Kyiv in the heart of battered Ukraine. Even when she writes on a tough topic, there are glimpses of the sunshine in her heart.