These pictures are from our evening downstairs at the Palace Bar:
Palace Bar downstairs.
My favorite pub in Temple Bar is the Palace on Fleet Street. Downstairs is great for conversation; the back space is lovely. Upstairs, Palace Bar features Irish musicians. Hearing Irish music is always great fun.
Kitty, Patty, and I went to the Palace twice during their visit.
It’s a great place to hang out when you need some time off your feet, or are waiting for an evening event to happen.
We had a ball with my work colleagues Friday night; it is a real treat to be welcomed into someone’s home here and to meet the family! Pam Eddy and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves with Mike and Mai Murphy, their boys Sean and Patrick, and the soon-to-wed Brian and Theresa (Hedderman???? or perhaps Bowe???? Only time and a golf tournament will tell for certain). Regardless of uncertainty on the name front, the meal and the conversation were outstanding! I so enjoy spending time with the folks at this table.
By the way, Mike and Brian are my Fulbright hosts. Pam and I are Fulbright scholars; she worked as a Fulbright at DIT in 2009 and I have been since August 2012. Lots of brilliant people around the table below… my colleagues’ families are amazingly skilled, talented, and educated, and they are loads of fun to boot.
Dinner at the Murphy home.
Patty, Kitty, and I tried to fit so much in during their visit… and we ultimately missed out on some sites that we wanted to see. We’d hoped to make it to the Parliament hall, for instance, but found Bewley’s instead. Guess there’s a sliver lining in every cloud.
Pam and I are managing to have some fun and also get some things accomplished. She’s going to try to write a book chapter or two while she’s here… after she finish grading papers and reviewing dissertation chapters. Whew!
I’m loving my break from grading. I don’t have to grade papers until May! This Fulbright scholarship is such an incredible blessing.
My former dissertation advisor, Dr. Pamela Eddy, is here visiting me in Dublin this week. She was a Fulbright to Ireland in 2009 and she helped me make valuable connections when I started applying for my own Fulbright experience here.
So far, we’ve spent a lot of time at our computers! Although it’s her Spring Break, she’s answering emails, reviewing dissertations, and grading papers. Oh, and advising me!
She helped me prepare for the meeting I had today with DIT’s president, Prof. Brian Norton. I’ve attached a photo of us working from my home yesterday. She was still sitting the same seat when I Skyped her from my office on Kevin Street just now to “debrief” on the meeting.
We do stop for exercise, food, and meeting… but little else!
We weren’t blessed with the best weather during Patty and Kitty’s visit to Ireland but we did manage to see quite a few sites. We even made it to the Saturday market in downtown Dublin….
I always enjoying stopping into see the deskmen at the Kildare Street Hotel, where Dave and I stayed for our first week here on the Fulbright. They were amazingly helpful and they always offered great advice. They still do whenever I pop in to say, “hi!”
I took some photos the day I stopped in to leave them a Christmas gift (a calendar by Dave Chance Photography)….
Kildare Street Hotel deskmen Alec and Peter. Ever helpful and full of advice!
Kildare Street Hotel
Ireland’s Four Courts building is so photogenic. The River Liffey sparkles with its reflections at night. How I love this place!
News is a very big deal here in Ireland. The tiny population of this nation (roughly 4.5 million people) supports a startling number of newspapers (17 daily papers, I’ve heard).
The television news vans often line the streets in front of the Four Courts (the nation’s highest tribunal) and the government buildings shown in the panorama below. In it, the vans are just starting to pile up… a sure sign something important is happening inside this beautiful building.
Looks like a big news day!
Ireland by Chance 