''Casino Marino''

Located in the grounds where the Fire Brigade Training Institute is, in North East Dublin, this building is an architectural and cultural gem. For anyone who loves style, grandeur, quaint charms, this place is right up your street! Built for a man, Lord Charlemont, who had just done a grand tour of Europe in the mid 1700’s and who wanted a grand view of Dublin Bay (the name Marino coming from the Italian, little sea), it is a real jewel. It has an amazing, narrow, winding stairway, some fabulous rooms, all of which you can see, an amazingly laid out and designed dining room with a lovely decor. The architect knew his job! But what makes it appealing and attractive to the general public is, it’s like something that you would dream up in your greatest fantasy - like a dream home!! The tour guides are very informative, personable and give a good tour of the place. This is well worth a visit - the Casino of Marino is a hidden jewel!

''Musings for tourists again''

You may not be a church lover or think visiting a church is something for the morbid or nerdy type; if that is you, I challenge you to visit this church and be pleasantly surprised! Firstly, it has a rich history brimming with historical lore and entertaining and whimsical incidences which would almost amount to a chapter in themselves in a book of nostalgia and memories. The place where Ireland’s revolutionary, Wolfe Tone was married; where Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker crossed paths - Oscar Wilde’s girlfriend at the time met Stoker there and ditched Oscar on the spot; and most recently where Nelson Mandela gave a speech.

But its the general design and layout which is so quaint and aesthetically pleasing; it features behind the altar, the curious and lovely place called 'The Bread Shelf’. There is always a loaf of bread here for a hungry person who needs it; this has been a continuous thread since the 1700s. It is also famous for some Gospel concerts in the evening where the great Ballymun Gospel choir and some great North American Gospel impresarios have appeared. Hear them belting out Jackie Wilson, Paul Robeson, Bob Marley and many others. St Ann’s church is a jewel with many diadems to its name. Oh and don’t miss its very nice coffee shop!

The Ballymun Gospel Choir in full voice and splendour - this gig had a 15 Euro admission but was well worth it!

''Dublin's charms''

This church - St Audeon's church of Ireland - is actually the oldest Parish church in Dublin; has the quirky coincidence of being next door to another St Audeon’s which is Catholic. Anyway… It has a very nice park within its grounds, has at least two hauntings withing its grounds - not to mention the clergyman who guards a wee monument, I'll mention in a moment - and to the rear, one can see part of the Old City Wall of Dublin - from medieval times. Of course, it is centred in the heart of Old Dublin, at the juncture of the Liberties etc. But housed in the Church - in the porch area - is a very unusual artefact which few people know about. It is called 'The Lucky Stone’ - a rival of the very famous Blarney Stone! But this is a stone with a difference! Dating from the middle ages, it was believed to be a kind of head stone of a religious cleric buried in the graveyard but it is the legend that has grown up around it, that’s most interesting. In the middle ages, merchant traders and business men would come to it as a daily ritual to elicit luck from its stony mass. Despite being the victim of theft, strangely disappearing on a number of occasions to God knows where, even falling off a horse, when someone tried to take off with it, it has still mysteriously turned up in St Audeon’s - come rain or hail - and has now remained there since being retrieved for the last time circa 1830 by that famous antiquarian priest, Father John Spratt - its true home! Legend says that you merely rub off it, instead of kissing it! St Audeon’s church is one of Dublin’s most charming and interesting churches which offers you a free guided tour of its site - a stone’s throw from Christchurch.