The first stop in Dublin was to have lunch upstairs at the Kilkenny Shop on Nassau Street. When I taught two summers at the University College Dublin, I would take the bus up from campus to Stephen’s Green and walk along Grafton Street to wind up at the Kilkenny Shop for lunch and to hear a solo jazz musician. The food was tasty and enough to take leftovers back for another day of feasting. The memories return of my first visit when I took my tray to a distant table but had forgotten my flatware. I stood up to go back and get it when a woman at the table next to mine asked if there was anything she could help me with. I told her no; I had forgotten my flatware and napkin and would go get it. “No,” she said, “let me get it for you.” Before I could move, she was out of her chair and back again with the flatware. This scene was repeated over and over during all of my many trips to Ireland. People cheerfully directed me, led me, helped me, figured out where I needed to go while standing in the rain, and generally were helpful and kind. 

I returned to Dublin in September 2024 to put together a few pieces of research for the novel I am writing called “Tybee Rhapsody.” The main character, Gertrude, is a pianist and has a page turning job in the National Concert Hall. Though I had attended a concert in the hall previously, I was not writing about it and did not take notes, I needed to see the space. I made my way across Stephen’s Green and entered the building. I was directed to speak to the receptionist, Sheila Dunne across the grand lobby. Sheila Dunne, when she heard about my research, pulled out a book, “The National Concert Hall at Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin, A History” by Patricia Butler and Pat O’Kelly. I was thrilled to see the book and asked if I could sit over in the lobby and look it over. Sheila Dunne said, “You may have it. I have other copies.” She even had a bright red shoulder bag to put it in. Then she motioned for me to follow her. She took me through several doors and we were in the back of the building where the musicians enter. She whispered for me to look through a glass window on a door and there were the orchestra members in rehearsal. We walked back down the hallway and she explained how the renovations changed some of the inside spaces, but did not change the route the musicians still use to enter the building. In the back was a garden. The tour and conversation with Sheila made the trek to the concert hall the main event of my day. Her generosity and willingness to share historical information cemented my already high estimate of people I have interacted with in Ireland. When we parted, I spent some time in the garden behind the concert hall and took many photos.