Circling the square

Dublin is famous for its Georgian squares—parks surrounded by townhouses dating from the four English kings named George, 1714 to 1830. The elegant architectural style appeals to me, so on Sunday I walked over to one of the first such to be built south of the River Liffey, Merrion Square, to admire the doors. And the knockers.

(Why does spellcheck red-line Liffey? Is no one at Microsoft Irish? Or even familiar with geography?)

Viz:

Most of the buildings are commercial establishments, and the 21^st Century has intruded:

It’s the detail that makes these doors so spectacular, though.

This door was interesting:

Primarily because it’s so hopeful about junk mail:

This guy’s door was quite the break in pattern:

Maybe because he’s something to do with real estate:

That he dressed it up:

It wasn’t just the knockers that were spectacular; several door knobs were also quite ornate:

Not all the brass was polished; some establishments were clearly slacking off. (They probably have clapped-out washing machines in their front gardens at home.) The Slovakian consular office didn’t shine their door hardware at all:

Although they did marginally better with the plate on the wall:

I thought some of the stairs down to the basement were interesting:

And there was some kind of photo shoot, with a really stroppy crew:

The park part of the square, which at one time would have been open only to residents, has a splendid playground, and statues honoring some of the famous inhabitants:

This runner was putting one of them to good use:

And some magpies were enjoying themselves.

Next trip I’ll have to take a look around Mountjoy, Fitzwilliam and Parnell Squares; I love this stuff.