People & Community

Katie Kavanagh, a Dublin 8 based photographer, had an idea. As we’re generally stuck indoors due to COVID-19 restrictions, she’d take portrait shots of her neighbours at their doors. The idea grew legs and she’s linked up with Purple House Cancer Support Centre for the project, Doors Closed, Hearts Open. Their aim is to create a gallery of 200,000 ‘Doortraits’ to support the 200,000 people living with Cancer i

We promote Dublin to the world, via our website (Dublin.ie) and social media. Over the past couple of months we’ve been collecting photos of essential workers, as the county responds to the COVID-19 crisis. We collected them via social media and email, the call open to all who would send a photo. We present their photos here, along with their professions, in thanks for the work they’ve done, and continue to do.

What’s your favourite Christmas tradition? We took to the streets of Dublin to find out exactly what people look forward to most during the festive season in the city. From the annual traditions like sipping pints of Guinness in festive Dublin pubs decked out in Christmas decor, to new traditions like checking out some of our 14 locations for this year’s Winter Lights festival, the city comes alive this time of year. With a buzzing atmosphere, twinkling lights, incredible restaurants and cafés and all of your shopping needs catered for, walking around the city is sure to put

Meet a Dubliner: Shauna Caffrey, Musicologist and Werewolf. My name is Shauna Caffrey and, in performance circles, I’m also known as Alice Apparently. I’m a PhD researcher on witchcraft, music and magic in the 17th century. I’ve been known to take to the stage in various forms, either as a werewolf or in very glittery burlesque performances as Alice Apparently. I am a Dub at heart. I always wanted to be the Indiana Jones of musicology. I feel like I’m leaning a little bit more now towards being the Vincent Price of musicology, which I’m probably even better with. It’s fun to dress up as a werewolf and g

The Liberties in Dublin is one of Ireland’s oldest and most vibrant neighbourhoods and, for Amy Sergison, it’s part of her family history. She revisited the area to explore its evolution. A local’s guide to The Liberties The Liberties is one of Dublin’s oldest neighbourhoods having been around in one way or another since the 12th century. In my memory, this is where my Nana lived and my Dad grew up. A neighbourhood full of nostalgia I have very fond memories of visiting my Nana on Basin Street. We would know we were close in the car, even if our eyes were closed, because we could

Hiking for women who want to connect with nature We caught up with Melissa McDermott – Galz Gone Wild founder – and Ruth Farrell to find out about the group of women who escape the city to find some scenic hush in the Wicklow mountains. Creating a supportive community of women Mel founded Galz Gone Wild in 2017 after moving home from London. She found herself lacking direction, and she was unsure of her next step. She started to hike to clear her head, but the hiking communities she found were mostly male and older. They were hiking for different reasons. “There is a community there, but it’s very much about getting from point A to point B, as quick

Pat Liddy is many things. An artist, historian, writer, illustrator, broadcaster, mapmaker, and environmental lobbyist who has helped make Dublin a global tourist attraction. The author and illustrator of over seven books on the city, as well as others on Irish cultural sites, he is the operator of Pat Liddy’s Walking Tours of Dublin. I was born and reared in what we might call the inner city, which in this case was Phibsborough. So, in the first place, that qualifies me as a true Dubliner, because the definition is “Born between the canals,” isn’t it? If I wanted to come into t

Galia (pronounced Ga-lee-ah) Arad is just back from playing support on Marc Almond’s UK tour. Last year, she toured Ireland with Jack L. She regularly tours Europe with Jools Holland, most recently playing support for him at the 3Arena in Dublin. And she owes it all to Shane McGowan and his manager Joey Cashman, who in a strange, unexpected way set Galia’s music career in train and took her from small-time gigging in New York to centre stage at the Royal Albert Hall. Coming from a classically trained background, Galia moved to New York from her Indiana home in her early twenties to pursue a singer-songwriter career with a musical style that she calls “Bob Dylan meets

It’s a fine brisk November morning when Dublin.ie meets up with Ed Boden at his office in Blessington Basin, the north side’s secret park. But we are not here to talk about Ed’s job as chief of parks today. No, we are talking about another curious string to Ed’s professional bow. Curious, quirky and colourful. Because Ed is the Dublin City Council vexillologist. “He’s the what?” I hear you say. Well join the club, I said it myself. But if you are stuck for the answer, we’ll give you a clue. A clue that comes from a recent Nobel Laureate who told us “The answer my friend is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind.” Flags. It’s unlikely Dy

A closer look at Skerries North of Dublin city, you’ll find the seaside town of Skerries. Bustling in summer months, the beaches are full to the brim with tourists and city dwellers looking to dip a toe in the sea. However, Irish seaside towns take on a different vibe during the autumnal months and Skerries is still worth the excursion beyond September. A seaside town that’s worth its salt all year round Towards the end of the year, you’ll still find plenty of people braving the wind for a stroll along the seafront. The sea air, a tried and tested cure for what ails ya, feels just as good in your lungs in November as it does in July. The name S

Just to be clear, the position of Historian in residence doesn’t come with an actual residence. ‘More’s the pity’, says Cathy Scuffil, who is the Historian in Residence for that LA-sounding bit of Dublin known as ‘South Central’. This is one of the six sectors of Dublin – each based on electoral districts – that now have their own historian. Tara Doyle of Dublin City Council runs the programme, which builds on the success of the 1916 commemorations and a surge in interest in history in general. She sums it up very simply: ‘it’s all about letting historians talk to people about history’. This doesn’t mean that it’s simple to do, however.