Perhaps oddly, this is one of my favourite views of Dublin, capturing the intersections between the River Liffey and its bridges, and between 'traditional' (-seeming...) bar culture and modern commerce.
The viewpoint is Eden Quay, on the north bank of the Liffey, looking across to the south bank at Tara Street Station; though the entrance to the station isn't quite visible, it's between the bar and the railway bridge.
Butt Bridge, in the foreground, was built in 1932 to replace a 1879 steel, steam-powered swing bridge; the newer three-span reinforced concrete bridge doesn't sound as exciting, but its cantilevered and counterweight construction made it quietly revolutionary.
According to The Irish Times, J Kennedy’s Bar on George's Quay used to be a "spit and sawdust"-type of establishment popular for "a quiet Friday pint", but look closer: the street level sign names it as 'The Workshop', a reworking of the bar into a gastropub: fewer "yellowing walls and old leather couches", more "slick bar stools and metal pails of chunky chips". For what it's worth, the paper's review was positive.
I didn't immediately notice that the artwork on the end wall, on the corner of Tara Street, was three-dimensional. As part of his 'Trash Animals' series, Portuguese artist 'Bordalo II' (Artur Bordalo) used waste metal and other items (there's a bike in there) to add texture to the wall before painting the huge squrrel, all to highlight such environmental issues as the decline of Ireland's red squirrel population.
The photo's from October 2017, towards the end of the six months the mural was anticipated to last. However, it remained until mid-2019, when the site was cleared for redevelopment.
Designed by John Chaloner Smith, Loopline Bridge (aka the Liffey Viaduct) was built in 1891, using wrought iron lattice girders, to carry the railway across the Liffey and quayside streets. Running six metres above street level, it's become a landmark (not invariably considered favourably) even mentioned in James Joyce's 'Ulysses'.
The pyramid-pinnacled towers (seven in total) in the background are the most visible element of the One George's Quay Plaza office complex, built in 2002 and apparently nicknamed 'Canary Dwarf', a reference to Canary Wharf, London's modern financial district – those pyramids are certainly similar to the roof of One Canada Square, the 50-story, 235m-tall 'flagship' building of Canary Wharf. Though the 13-storey complex is 'only' 59 m tall, at the time of the photo it was the fourth tallest in the otherwise low-rise city (not counting church spires; three in the city are taller).
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