The Spire is supposed to be called The Monument of Light but no one calls it that, the Spire is just the Spire. Due to the layout of the city streets if you stand on Earl Street at sunset and look towards the Spire you will see the sun setting down Henry St. It may not be exactly East-West but it is close enough to make for interesting photographs when the light is just right.

Johnson Court is a small cute little laneway running between Grafton Street and Clarendon Street. It has a small church and little shops but in recent years the shops have started to go down hill as rents increase and consumer spending falls. The lane is at it’s prettiest around Christmas when the  council string lights the length of the lane creating a roof of stars. Grafton St may attract all the praise for their holiday lights but the simple lights on Johnson Court are  the real gem.

This is a bench beside the lake in St Stephens Green. I love the Green. It’s a lovely old park in the center of Dublin city. Usually it is very busy but there can be some nice quiet moments and places inside. It’s a shame that soon it will be a building site with a new train station being constructed under the park.

This bench is beside one of the entrances yet it always has people sitting on it enjoying a moment in the sun. In this photo some guy was sitting on the bench on a quiet afternoon with Winter sun reflecting off the lake.

The chimney stacks of Poolbeg power station which have been a feature of the city skyline for over 30 years. The top of each chimney is painted red and white while the rest is a rusty color. The stacks have a strange beauty to them both from a distance and up close. I was lucky enough to take part in a photo tour of the station some years ago where we had plenty of time to learn about the station and take as many photographs as we could fit on our memory cards. Even back then the station was almost abandoned. Most of the generation is now automated leaving the large rooms and industrial areas strangely abandoned. While no official decision has been made about the future of the chimneys the station will be decommissioned next year and Dublin City planners have already rejected a proposal to put a preservation order on the chimneys.

The Customs House on the quays in Dublin. One of our more picturesque buildings. Perfectly located and well preserved despite it’s history when it was burned down during the War of Independence. Perhaps the only thing I would change about the Customs House location is to remove the train bridge that runs just to the left of the photograph and blocks the view of the building from the O’Connell street side of town. I like this photograph because I was lucky to catch it on a day when the sky was clear of clouds and the river was calm giving a lovely reflection.