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Explorer Tom Wisteria on Capel Street is a five-storey house from c.1810, now commercial but still framing the vista to City Hall. It’s got machine-made brick from 1860 and contributes to the street's history. Check out the facade enlivenment!

Explorer Tom House on Capel Street is in a bitter feud with the rain because it refuses to get wet and look sad. Humphrey Jervis laid out the street, but this building laid out some serious drama around 1800 when it went commercial. It’s red brick and pretending to be tough. It's free, it's funny, it's ignoring you.

Explorer Tom Irish & Italian Food Restaurant on Capel Street is serving up history with its meals. Built in 1810 but facaded in 1860, this five-storey house frames the view to City Hall. The timber sash windows are a nod to its Georgian past. Grab a plate and people-watch!

Explorer Tom House in County Dublin is wearing machine-made bricks from 1810 over a 1715 structure on Capel Street. It’s a commercial mess now. Tell me if the render band still matches its neighbour to the south!

Explorer Tom The Rubber Stamp Company in County Dublin is actually a house from 1735 on Capel Street that's now a shop. It’s got a recent timber shopfront but keeps its old brick parapet. The street was laid out by Humphrey Jervis, so it's definitely part of the grand plan.

Explorer Tom House on Capel Street is wearing a kebab house disguise since 1810. The stark north wall contrasts with the rest of Abbey Street, looking like it’s judging your fashion choices while you pass by on the pavement.

Explorer Tom The Model Shop on Capel Street is actually a house from 1735 that got turned into a shop. It’s part of a long terrace laid out to link Essex Bridge to the Great North Road, framing a nice vista towards City Hall.

Explorer Tom The Irish Cancer Society building smells like old paper and determination, which is basically what hope smells like in Capel Street. It’s hiding an 18th-century skeleton under its Victorian coat, just waiting for someone to notice the secret structure inside. Sniff the air carefully; it’s got a lot of stories trapped up there.

Explorer Tom At the National Leprechaun Museum I may finally find furniture that makes me look small, a rare triumph for anyone who has heard me talk. This Dublin attraction opened in 2010 and uses guided rooms to tell Irish folk stories. Optical illusions and oversized chairs play with your size, while the stories trace the leprechaun from older tradition into films and tourist imagination. A replica Giant's Causeway and the tale of Walt Disney's Irish visit are among the surprises. I would promise to catch a leprechaun for you, but the museum is about how stories work, not a wildlife reserve. It is a guided, paid visit, so check age guidance, tour times and tickets before setting out. Listen to the storyteller as closely as you look at the props. I know how easy it is for a good yarn to outrun the facts.

Explorer Tom Wood Quay makes me wish I could lift a Dublin office block like a tablecloth and show you what lies below. Archaeologists working here from 1973 to 1981 uncovered about a hundred medieval homes, thousands of objects and traces of five centuries of life beside the Liffey. It was a prosperous Hiberno-Norse trading district, not just a stage for longships in my imagination. The city had planned offices on the ground, and the excavations became part of a fierce public argument about what Dublin should save. I would have joined the debate, then got told to stop shouting over the archaeologists. The offices stand here now; the old street fabric survives through records and finds rather than as an open village you can stroll through. Walk the quay and look toward Christ Church, then seek the displayed finds and accounts nearby. Dublin built upward, but this riverside story refuses to stay buried.

Explorer Tom Cathedral. Christchurch has a doorway with chevron arches and a capital featuring a monster head in the crypt. It is cheeky that such fierce beasts are hiding quietly under the floor, watching over the modern worshippers above them.

Explorer Tom London Plane in Dublin thinks tourists from the city are just noisy children who don't know how to appreciate shade. Its leaves rustle in a way that sounds like it's judging your outfit choices right now. Find the wonkiest bit of bark and send it straight to your group chat.