It was a late spring evening and I found myself walking once again in my beloved Dublin. This time I was walking through the old-world quarter called the Liberties,- where once the nobility of Ireland had fine houses and where hundreds of weavers plied their trade.

If this old area could talk what tales it could tell, some stranger than fiction. As I walked down Dublin’s most ancient streets I decided to make acquaintance with my historic friends whose presence in this old part of Dublin will never die.

Down Thomas Street where, at house number 151, I sympathised with Lord Edward Fitzgerald who was arrested there. On to High Street where at number 65 Sarsfield was born and where the great Wolfe Tone was waked, then past old St. Audeon’s Church built by the Normans in 1171 and named after St Owen of Rouen. I nodded to Oliver Bond and Napper Tandy on duty as church wardens.

On Fishamble Street, where Henry Grattan was born, I imagined I could hear the beautiful music of The Messiah as Handel performed it on the 15th April 1741. I admonished the father of the great poet James Clarence Mangan, who lived in number 3, on the severity with which he treated his son.

I looked down Castle Street and I recognised Daniel Bellingham, the first Lord Mayor of Dublin. On my left the Church of The Holy Trinity, Christchurch, whose vaults date back to the Danes and beyond. In one of these vaults St Patrick celebrated the first mass ever to be said in Ireland.

In passing this historic building, I said hello to Strongbow and I remembered St. Laurence O’Toole, former Archbishop of Dublin, who although buried in France left his heart in his beloved Christchurch.

On my right St. Werburgh’s Church was built by the men of Bristol on the site of an ancient church of St Martin. Lord Edward Fitzgerald is buried in its vaults.

I continued on my way and approached St Patrick’s Cathedral. It was once a parochial church and did not become a cathedral until the thirteenth century. Here I remembered Oliver Cromwell. He degraded this lovely church, using it to stable his horses. However I did congratulate him on introducing cabbage to Ireland! I said hello to one of Ireland’s most gifted sons, the great Dean Jonathan Swift and applauded his choice of ladies, particularly Stella and the lovely Vanessa. I greeted Primate Narcissus Marsh, still browsing in his famous library designed for him by Sir William Robinson, the architect of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham.

I also greeted Sir Edward Cecil Guinness, who set up the Iveagh Trust in 1890, a trust which greatly improved the lives of many families in this area and I realised how unique we are in possessing two ancient cathedrals which exist side by side and yet present a remarkable diversity of style.

As the evening bells of Christchurch chimed over the city I left this ancient area so steeped in history. And as I made my way home I remembered all the great names, the men and women of history, so many brilliant stars that shine though the centuries. And although gone from our days they still shine from the distant past with a great splendour and enrich us today.

Above: St. Audeon’s Church