Waking Up
The plan was to wake up, get everything packed, check out, have breakfast at the hotel, and check out some of the various sites throughout Dublin that have significance to the band U2. I made breakfast just in the nick of time, right at 10am.
U2
I have a lot of respect for U2 and frontman Paul Hewson (aka Bono). In general, I find celebrities who take on political or feel-good causes annoying and for the most part insincere. For example, Oprah. I think she's a genius business woman, but incredibly insincere philanthropist. But it's not just Oprah, it's celebrities in general. Fame and money gets the best of people. There's no doubt Bono has an ego, but his way of getting what he wants is something worth studying. Bono grew up in a working class area of Dublin. His house is more like an American duplex than standalone home. The neighborhood felt more like a suburb than actual Dublin city. The area is more middle class than anything present day, but it was poor way back when. Drug use, specifically heroin, was common. Instead of just saying 'don't do drugs', the band wrote a powerful, Bad, that is about the destruction heroin does to a person.
I remember hearing Bono's speech about the effort to end extreme poverty during the Vertigo tour in Chicago, it was nothing short of brilliant. What surprised me most wasn't what I did hear, rather what I didn't. To some degree I expected a speech designed to make me feel guilty for everything I had. That wasn't what was said though. Instead, he used American history to remind the audience just what America is capable of and that only America can motivate the rest of the world to move to end extreme poverty. Similar with 3rd world debt relief - there were limits to whom could be helped. I've been impressed by how much thought is put into the various causes and solutions. I've also respected how the focus hasn't shifted. Protesting or supporting abortion, the Iraq war, or other controversial matters aren't part of the message. Ending extreme poverty, and the associated evils of poverty, is pretty much the big cause.
Claddagh Records
Present day, Claddagh Records is a record shop that specializes in Celtic music inside the Temple Bar region of Dublin. 20 or so years ago it was STS Studios, the place where U2 recorded one of my favorite albums of all time, Achtung Baby. I'm undecided as to whether I like Achtung Baby more than Joshua Tree, but both albums rank amongst my favorite. Hoping for inspiration, the band hopped on the last flight to East Berlin (before the reunification) to begin the album. East Berlin was nothing like they had expected, it was entirely repressed and gloomy. The band would almost break up during the album as the members drifted apart creatively. It wasn't important for me to find the recording studio of every U2 record, but Achtung Baby was the first U2 album I both purchased and thoroughly enjoyed. It took me a while to find location. Once inside I was almost sold on some Celtic music, but since I didn't have a CD player picking up a disk was pointless. I talked to the manager a bit about the historic. He was aware that STS records was above sometime ago. He mentioned the property is now a holiday rental, or short term rental.
The plan was to wake up, get everything packed, check out, have breakfast at the hotel, and check out some of the various sites throughout Dublin that have significance to the band U2. I made breakfast just in the nick of time, right at 10am.
U2
I have a lot of respect for U2 and frontman Paul Hewson (aka Bono). In general, I find celebrities who take on political or feel-good causes annoying and for the most part insincere. For example, Oprah. I think she's a genius business woman, but incredibly insincere philanthropist. But it's not just Oprah, it's celebrities in general. Fame and money gets the best of people. There's no doubt Bono has an ego, but his way of getting what he wants is something worth studying. Bono grew up in a working class area of Dublin. His house is more like an American duplex than standalone home. The neighborhood felt more like a suburb than actual Dublin city. The area is more middle class than anything present day, but it was poor way back when. Drug use, specifically heroin, was common. Instead of just saying 'don't do drugs', the band wrote a powerful, Bad, that is about the destruction heroin does to a person.
I remember hearing Bono's speech about the effort to end extreme poverty during the Vertigo tour in Chicago, it was nothing short of brilliant. What surprised me most wasn't what I did hear, rather what I didn't. To some degree I expected a speech designed to make me feel guilty for everything I had. That wasn't what was said though. Instead, he used American history to remind the audience just what America is capable of and that only America can motivate the rest of the world to move to end extreme poverty. Similar with 3rd world debt relief - there were limits to whom could be helped. I've been impressed by how much thought is put into the various causes and solutions. I've also respected how the focus hasn't shifted. Protesting or supporting abortion, the Iraq war, or other controversial matters aren't part of the message. Ending extreme poverty, and the associated evils of poverty, is pretty much the big cause.
Claddagh Records
Present day, Claddagh Records is a record shop that specializes in Celtic music inside the Temple Bar region of Dublin. 20 or so years ago it was STS Studios, the place where U2 recorded one of my favorite albums of all time, Achtung Baby. I'm undecided as to whether I like Achtung Baby more than Joshua Tree, but both albums rank amongst my favorite. Hoping for inspiration, the band hopped on the last flight to East Berlin (before the reunification) to begin the album. East Berlin was nothing like they had expected, it was entirely repressed and gloomy. The band would almost break up during the album as the members drifted apart creatively. It wasn't important for me to find the recording studio of every U2 record, but Achtung Baby was the first U2 album I both purchased and thoroughly enjoyed. It took me a while to find location. Once inside I was almost sold on some Celtic music, but since I didn't have a CD player picking up a disk was pointless. I talked to the manager a bit about the historic. He was aware that STS records was above sometime ago. He mentioned the property is now a holiday rental, or short term rental.
Claddaugh Records - former STS Studios
Bonavax
Next up on the hit list was a hearing aid company. What on earth could a hearing aid company have to do with U2? Well, the location inspired the nickname of the lead singer, Bono. This was an easy find and took me into a different area of downtown Dublin. I passed a Leo Burdock's (different location) and grabbed some lunch on the way to my next destination.
Me in front of Bonavox
Hanover Quoy Studios
Hanover Quoy Studios is the present day recording studio of U2. U2 moved operations over to this location during recording of their album Pop (not my favorite album). The building is covered in graffiti. Around the time I arrived I saw a man waiting outside the door to get in. Since there was no one else around to grab my picture, I figured he would be a good candidate to take my picture. When I approached the man I realized he was incredibly nervous. I'm not entirely sure why. The location of the studio is not secret. Since the location has several garage doors, it would be easy for the band to avoid fans altogether. I could tell I was annoying the man a bit, but I wanted the picture and knew the Irish had a hard time saying no. Once he picked up the camera he appeared okay with taking the picture - he actually took several trying to perfect the photo. After a few minutes someone buzzed him up.
Me in front of studio
Outside Hanover Quay Studios
Entry to Hanover Quay Studios
Windmill Lanes Studio
Windmill Lanes Studio was a major studio used to record many of U2's earlier albums. Aside from U2, The Corrs Van Morrison and Sinead O'Connor (bleh) have used the
Outside Windmill Lane
Windmill Lane
Corner of Windmill Lane
Side, with U2 marker
Downtown Dublin
While running around the River Liffey area, I took in some of the architecture. I also stopped for lunch at a nearby Leo Burdocks for more fish and chips.
Ha'penny Pedestrian Bridge
Love padlocks - much like I saw in Berlin
Killiney
Killiney is town outside Dublin on the waterfront. I wanted to see what the coast was like outside Dublin, so Killiney would be a great place to check it out. While walking around some Irish kids began yelling at me. At first I thought they were trouble, but they ended up being quite nice. They were in high school and really had limited exposure to America. We chatted for about a bit about the various cultures. They had a lot of questions about what high school was like in America. The girls were very curious about what Prom was like, etc. Bono's house is right off the beach and they pointed out which one was his.
Beach
Outside Killeny Beach
Me and the Irish kids
Amazing graffiti inside the abandoned house
View from Beach
Outside Bono's house - no I didn't knock or ring the buzzer
To Limerick
The drive to Limerick was scheduled to take about 2 hours. Since I was on the highway and it was dark I didn't see very much. I got into Limerick around 10pm. The hotel appeared close and no one was answering the buzzer. Shortly before I arrived a man was also trying to gain entry. The person working the front desk buzzes everyone in, not just those who have yet to register. Eventually two people came down and let me and the other man in. I was told parking was fine on the street until 9:30 (or 9 and a half as they say in Ireland). I could move my car to the adjacent garage. The garage actually closes for the night at 9pm, locking all cars inside. The hotel was located right off the main street, so there were many shops nearby.
Exterior of The Boutique Hotel
Bedroom
Bathroom
Night Out
Since I had to be at the airport very early Friday I had originally only planned to be in Limerick one night. After thinking about it a bit more I figured I'd leave Limerick and go straight to Dublin Airport. I'd have to wake up at around 2am, but not having to switch hotels had it's benefit. If I was going to explore the nightlife in Limerick, tonight was the only night to do so. I was directed up the street to two different bars. One was a traditional pub, the other was a sports bar. I figured I'd stop at the sports bar first and than head over to the traditional pub. I didn't expect much out of the sports bar so I planned to start there and spend much of the night at the pub. A pretty good band was doing covers. Service was slow, it took about 15 minutes for me to get a Guinness. I was ready to leave when the band covered the song "Human" by the Killers (another favorite band). They did a really good job with it so I decided to hang around. Sometime thereafter the place became incredibly crowded. Not just crowded for a Wednesday, crowded for any day. From there a few people started talking to me and I made some friends. The guy of the group actually lived in Chicago the summer before. I asked where he lived and he said Northwestern. After clarifying, I discovered he lived off of North and Western - literally a couple of blocks from where I live. Small world. I'd hang out with the group for the night and have a lot of fun. They were awesome. I asked if this sort of crowd is common for a Wednesday and got a mixed answer. It was the end of finals week so many people were out celebrating graduation. They insisted this kind of crowd was common though sometimes throughout the week. Around 1 the bar closed and I was dragged with the group upstairs to the club.
Limerick nightlife
(sports bar is on the left, Irish pub on the right)
Limerick Crowd
Tomorrow
The primary reason for visiting Limerick was the town's proximity to the Cliff's of Moher, one of the natural wonders of the world. The Cliffs are around 1 hour away. Tomorrow I'd explore Limerick and make the drive to the park.
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