Somewhere in Temple Bar, Dublin Ireland

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been gradually putting together a bunch of photographs of buildings that are in the Temple Bar District of Dublin. Each one has caught my eye for different reasons and at different times of the day. The end result is that I have my own little collection going, which I’m posting here to share with you and which I’m sure I’ll be adding to as the months go by.

The Quays (pronounced “keys”) Bar

Ok I can tell you why this one caught my eye – it’s because of the brightly colored subway tiles on the outside. There’s brown, green, yellow, and sort of a tourquoise tiles on the front – and the arches really make this stand out on the street. It’s rather typical of some of the shops in the district – but this one, for some reason, is high up on my favorites list. I think it’s because it’s across from a larger open space, where they run the book market on the weekends.

This one – well, I love the brightly colored masks. It was perfect for selective color, and well, most people are going to miss what the shop really is. 😛

Industry – recycled and repurposed goods shop

This has to be the coolest shop near Cow’s Lane. It’s filled with recycled and repurposed goods – the last time I was in there there was an old library filing cabinet system that you could buy for your own home – and use as sock/craft drawers. Tempting.. tempting.

Elephant & Castle

I think I liked this place because of the name. It’s a cafe, and I can’t figure out what Elephants and/or castles have to do with each other. I also rather liked the way the sunlight highlighted the front windows – as it shoots right in between two other buildings. Most of this district is so built up and close together that you’re nearly always in shadow. It is sort of depressing, but typical of the era in which it was built. I think this is why this particular building made me smile – it maximized the sunshine.

The Chameleon Indinesian Restaurant

This is out of focus, unfortunately, but I liked how they displayed all their award mediallions at the bottom of the windows. I also liked how there’s two entrance doors.