I’m not Irish, but a recent trip to Dublin almost made me wish I were. A few reasons: the Dublin Writers Museum, the National Library’s exhibit on William Butler Yeats, and the bartender who explained that his job was “coaxing frogs to water.” I mean, how can you not love a place with this sign:

The display of ancient Irish artifacts behind the card was interesting, but more appealing was the fact that Ireland’s National Museum of Archaeology assumes that visitors know the meaning of “plinth.” (I looked it up: “a heavy base.”)

Near a busy intersection I spotted this electronic notice:

Cyclists were plentiful, but no one was smoking. It was daytime (though cloudy), and if any bikes had headlights, I missed them. Thus I have no clue what the sign means, but I like it all the same.

Here’s one of my favorites, painted on the wall of the Little Museum of Dublin. The room recreates the office of an editor of the Irish Times:

This quotation is from an editorial published in April 1916, while bloody battles raged throughout the city. To paraphrase: If you have to stay inside to avoid getting killed in a civil war, you may as well read Shakespeare. I’m in peaceful surroundings now, but I may just follow the newspaper’s advice. More Dublin gems will appear in my next post.