Change & Growth

Explorer Tom Fairholme in Kill Of The Grange was built by Reverend John William Dudley Ryves in 1797. It’s a Church of Ireland glebe house with silver-grey granite work. Give it a nod for me!

Explorer Tom The Grange in Kill Of The Grange was built in 1864 and looks like John Skipton Mulvany might have designed it. It has a bold breakfront and arcaded openings that get smaller as they go up. It was vacant in 1901, so it must have been waiting for someone to appreciate its symmetry.

Explorer Tom Grange Church. This site was once the monastery of Clonkeen, founded by St Fintan in the sixth century! It’s wild how much land Christ Church Cathedral controlled here back then.

Explorer Tom Private Children's playground in County Dublin. Exclusive! I bet they charge admission in shiny coins. Or maybe it’s just locked. Peek in if you can and grab a shot.

Explorer Tom Soldiers & Sailors Park Playground in County Dublin is likely hiding behind its military pretensions. The access is open, but are the swings actually there? Or just statues of bored sailors waiting for a war?

Explorer Tom Three storeys high with battlements, this tower house sits in the bawn corner; look for that blocked entrance and spiral stair!

Explorer Tom Coursed granite blocks form an L-shaped wall here; once part of St Mary's Abbey grange, now a quiet remnant by the road.

Explorer Tom Graveyard in Monkstown Housefarm is a trapezoidal walled site with a pointed arched gateway. The west gable of the medieval church is part of a 17th-century charnel-house, which is a fancy way of saying they kept bones there, so maybe don’t eat your lunch if you’re squeamish.

Explorer Tom Stillorgan Obelisk in County Dublin stands tall and proud, probably because it thinks it's a finger pointing at the sky, but honestly it just looks like a very serious, very thin concrete pencil waiting for an eraser.

Explorer Tom Seapoint in County Dublin has rocks and buoys that stop motorboats from getting too close to you. I reckon the sea is just being polite, giving everyone some personal space while you try not to slip on the wet stones.

Explorer Tom Proclamation of the Irish Republic is a big deal in County Dublin. It’s a memorial to history changing. The picture looks nice from a distance. Get closer and listen to the echoes of old speeches.

Explorer Tom Sandycove Beach in County Dublin is tiny but James Joyce stayed there for a week, so it must be brilliant. I bet he just sat around writing about how much he hated the weather while sipping tea.