Temple Bar Gallery

Explorer Tom Store or warehouse on Temple Lane South was once for East India Pale Ale stores. Now it’s a recording studio! Imagine mixing tracks where horses used to deliver beer. The loading bays are huge and the archway looks like it swallowed a cart. Take a pic!

Explorer Tom Irish Theatre Institute on Eustace Street was built after a bargain involving a very expensive hat for a Lord Mayor. Sir Thomas Blackhall traded his best accessory for the land, which is a wild story for such a serious building. You just need to look up at the roofline and wonder if that hat is still hidden somewhere inside.

Explorer Tom Millennium Bridge claims its first owner had an elaborate escape plan involving a hot air balloon and a very confused goat, though nobody really believes that story anymore. It wobbles just enough to make you feel like a hero for crossing it without falling over or making eye contact with the river. Perfect place to be dramatically windswept.

Explorer Tom Unicef on Ormond Quay Lower reviews its visitors by how loudly they complain about the river view. This Georgian house was built as a pair, so it probably has a sibling complex going on upstairs. Keep your eyes on the façade and don’t let your imagination wander into the office!

Explorer Tom House on Ormond Quay Lower is the one that caused the whole parish to argue about whether the paint was blue or green for three solid weeks straight. It’s a Georgian gem that got into a massive fight with its neighbour over whose chimney looked more impressive, and they’re still sulking today. Keep your ears open!

Explorer Tom Dublin's Last Supper gives Leonardo a roomful of local faces, and I am relieved John Byrne did not ask me to sit for the camera. Installed in the Italian Quarter in 2004, the photographic mural shows thirteen Dubliners in the familiar arrangement. Byrne approached about 150 people before choosing the models. The finished picture stretches roughly 9.3 metres across nine enamelled steel panels on Bloom Lane. One of its joys is that the people are not distant saints in a dusty frame; they are recognisably from a living city. I would pick out a neighbour and be wrong, so take your own time with the faces. It is public street art: visit freely, leave the panels alone and give passersby room. Step back far enough to see the whole table. Dublin has made an old image answer in its own accent.

Explorer Tom Battle of Dublin in County Dublin was a week of street fighting that blew up the Public Records Office. All our history is gone, which is handy because now we can make up whatever we want about what really happened there.

Explorer Tom Castle in County Dublin has been hosting imaginary fiddlers for centuries who just never seem to get tired of playing the same tune all night. It’s the kind of place that makes a dull Tuesday interesting, mostly because it looks like it’s about to collapse into the river Poddle. It's the kind of place that makes a dull Tuesday interesting.

Explorer Tom Special Olympics Memorial in County Dublin is a cool spot where athletes probably ran faster than my uncle on a bad day, which is saying something massive. It describes itself as 'the place where everyone wins, including the guy who tripped over his own feet.' Bring the dog, it'll have opinions.

Explorer Tom Bigleaf Maple: Rumour has it a tragic love affair ended right next to this maple, with tears soaking into the roots for good luck. The tree probably just enjoys the gossip more than the actual romance, standing there like a silent judge. Linger, it's not going anywhere and neither should you.

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 Oriental plane in Dublin once smuggled a whole crate of cabbages up through its hollow trunk during the famine, or so the story goes. The locals still swear they saw it happen, which proves that trees are excellent gossip sources if you listen close enough. Stand still and listen, the wind tells it better than I do.