Pulse

Explorer Tom Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary gates are guarding the entrance like they’re protecting a state secret, all wrought iron and Victorian pride. Legend says a hero saved them from demolition but nobody remembers his name because he was too polite to take credit. Look up at those piers and whisper your thanks to the forgotten saviour!

Explorer Tom City Quay has a superstition that if you drop a coin into the Liffey and it doesn’t splash, your next date will be a disaster. The granite walls were built by the Ballast Board to look tough, but they’re actually just really good at hiding their own age. If you see a seagull staring at you with judgment, that’s the quay telling you to hurry up.

Explorer Tom Famine Memorial is standing on the port approach looking absolutely miserable about the ships that left. It reminds us of how many people were forced out during the hunger years. It’s not a place for jokes, just heavy sighs.

Explorer Tom Matt Talbot 1856-1925 Memorial in County Dublin is dedicated to a man who went from drunkard to saint. His least favourite visitor was probably the bottle he used to love so much. It’s a stone that has seen some serious internal battles. Get a photo with it before it gets a better agent.

Explorer Tom You cannot tell Ireland's outward journeys in one room, so this Dublin museum uses twenty. I would need twenty more just to explain my luggage. The museum sits in the vaults of a bonded customs warehouse built in 1820, ground once tied to ships and goods leaving the port. County Down-born Neville Isdell founded the museum, and Mary Robinson opened it in 2016. Its galleries move from patterns of migration to reasons people left and the lives they made elsewhere. Some stories are painful; I will save the jokes for my own packing skills and let the people have their names. The old warehouse setting is part of the visit, so notice its fabric between the interactive displays. This is a privately run, ticketed indoor museum in the Docklands; check current admission and hours before arriving. If one family story follows you out onto the quay, give it more time than my suitcase joke deserves.

Explorer Tom The Jeanie Johnston's story deserves more than my usual sailor act. Jeanie Johnston in Dublin is a replica of a ship whose real voyages carried people across the Atlantic during Ireland's famine years. The original, built in Quebec in 1847, made 16 crossings to North America between 1848 and 1855. Captain James Attridge avoided overloading her, and doctor Richard Blennerhassett travelled with the passengers; despite the long journeys, no lives were lost aboard. That safety record matters because many other emigrant ships offered nothing like it. I'll let the crew and passengers' recorded journeys speak while I watch the space they shared. The vessel you can visit today brings those crossings into physical scale, from the deck to the spaces below. It is a managed museum ship, so check tour times and admission before visiting. Give the passengers their individual dignity rather than treating the journey as a sea adventure. The most startling thing on board may be how little room a family had for everything they hoped to carry.

Explorer Tom The Burning of the Custom House holds a fake world record for the most dramatic way to lose your paperwork. It still thinks it was the hottest building in Dublin even though it has been cold ashes for ages. Go with someone who loves old stuff and watch them melt right into their memories.

Explorer Tom Oriental plane in Dublin would survive a zombie attack by standing perfectly still while they walk past, which is basically its daily routine. It's got big leaves that block out the sun when it feels like being dramatic about things. Go in good boots and better humour because this one is wild.

Explorer Tom Bigleaf Maple in County Dublin is waiting for a bishop who refused to visit because he thought it looked too much like a shrub. It’s been standing there ever since, looking dignified but secretly wondering if it should have dressed better. Go with someone who loves old stuff and watch them melt.