Juan Convers

Dun Laoghaire is a beautiful coastal town located just south of Dublin. As I mentioned in a post a couple of of weeks ago, I had the chance to visit Ireland recently and during the weekend, I took a trip to Dun Laoghaire.

I repeated a plan that I used to do quite frequently when I lived in Dublin years ago: take the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) train from the city center to Dun Laoghaire, walk all the way through the pier back and forth and the head to bookstore in Marine Road, grabing a coffee and a scone in the coffee next door.

When I look at the window and saw the church of St. Michael's, I remembered those days many years ago when I was in that same coffee writing the dissertation for my Master's degree.

A long time ago, when I first moved to Ireland for work, I was lucky enough to settle in Sandymount – a charming coastal suburb just south of Dublin’s city centre. My apartment sat right on the edge of Sandymount Strand, a wide sandy beach that stretches past one of the historic Martello Towers.

In the mornings, as I walked along the promenade, I would admire the twin chimneys that appeared in the distance: the famous Poolbeg Chimneys. These towering figures used to belong to the now‑decommissioned Poolbeg Power Station. Although the plant is no longer operational, the chimneys remain and have become an iconic symbol of the city.

Last weekend I finally had the chance to revisit that view in person. For many years I hadn’t seen those chimneys again, but this time I found myself walking along Sandymount Strand—reviving all the vivid memories tied to Ireland’s capital city.