At the north end of O’Connell Street, on the left-hand side as you face north to Parnell Square, turn left onto Parnell Street. The Parnell Monument, commemorating Charles Stuart Parnell, presides over the crossroads of O’Connell Street and Parnell Street. Although he was the greatest campaigner for Home Rule of the second half of the 19th century, Parnell, like a number of other prominent Home Rule leaders then and later, was a Protestant; the cause of Irish independence was not a sectarian struggle. It attracted a cosmopolitan following, with Scottish and Welsh guiding lights as well as native Irish leaders and Anglo-Irishmen like Sir Roger Casement (hanged for his part in the Easter Rising) and Erskine Childers, while the Sinn Fein leader Eamon de Valera was, as his name suggests, of Spanish descent.

Continue along Parnell Street and, with the Rotunda Hospital on your right on the opposite side of the street, pass Moore Lane on your left, and turn left into Moore Street. Packed with fruit and vegetable stalls and flower sellers all day except Sunday, and lined with small greengrocers’ shops and delicatessens, Moore Street Market vividly reflects the tastes of an increasingly cosmopolitan population. Next to stalls piled high with potatoes and carrots are heaps of more exotic offerings from around the world. Sadly, in 2014, Moore Street is under threat of development and the vibrancy and community feel of the area may be buried under a glass and concrete shopping mall. If the demolition goes ahead only buildings 14–17 Moore Street will remain.

At the foot of Moore Street, turn right on to pedestrianised Henry Street. After one block, take the first left on to Upper Liffey Street. After one block, cross Abbey Street Upper to Liffey Street Lower and walk down to Ormond Quay Lower and the riverside, where the Ha’penny Bridge crosses the river. Turn right, staying on the north side of the street with the river on the opposite side, and walk towards Swifts Row. The north side of Ormond Street Lower is now occupied by Dublin’s ‘Italian Quarter’, a pedestrianised eating and shopping district also known as ‘Quartier Bloom’. Designed by Mick Wallace, it’s perhaps not as authentically Italian as it claims to be, but it does have several outstanding Italian restaurants and food shops, including Bar Italia, opposite the river, run by Dublin-Italian restaurateurs Izzo and Crescenzi.

Continue along Ormond Quay with the river on your left, past Grattan Bridge. At O’Donovan Rossa Bridge, next left, cross the Liffey to Merchant’s Quay and turn right. At Father Mathew Bridge, turn left on to Bridge Street Lower and walk to Bridge Street Upper and then to the corner of Cornmarket. Turn left to enter the pretty churchyard of St Audoen’s Church, at the corner of Cornmarket and High Street. St Audoen’s is virtually two churches in one. The earlier church, closest to the corner, is the oldest surviving church in the city, with a 12th-century tower that is claimed to be Ireland’s oldest, though its bells and nave date from the 15th century. Behind the church is St Audoen’s Arch, the only surviving gateway of several that formed part of the old city walls. The church is named after St Ouen, patron saint of Normandy and 7th-century bishop of Rouen, indicating its Anglo-Norman antecedents. Next to the medieval church is a much newer addition, St Audoen’s Catholic Church, completed in 1848. Its great bell, nicknamed ‘The Liberator’ after Daniel O’Connell, tolled to celebrate his release from jail in 1843, and seven years later to mourn his death. 

Continue along High Street with the twin churches behind you on your left. At the end of High Street, turn right on to Nicholas Street. At the end of Nicholas Street, continue straight on down Patrick Street, with St Patrick’s Cathedral on your left. St Patrick is another multi-ethnic Irishman; according to legend, he was born in Christian Wales, was captured by Viking slave-traders and sold in Ireland, bringing his faith with him. His charisma brought him converts, and he started baptizing them here around AD450. 

At the south end of Patrick Street, turn left on to Kevin Street Upper, walk to the end and turn right on New Bride Street. Follow this to its south end, where it becomes Heytesbury Street. Continue to the South Circular Road. Cross this busy main road and walk on down to Stamer Street. After one block, at Lennox Street, turn right, cross over the road and go down Kingsland Parade. Turn right at Walworth Road and the Irish Jewish Museum at No. 3 on the right. Ireland’s Jewish community has dwindled to just over 1,000, mainly due to emigration since the founding of the state of Israel in 1948, but Jewish professionals, writers and educators played a significant role in Irish culture and history both before and after independence. Dublin also provided a refuge from the Nazis for Ernst Schrödinger, the German-Jewish pioneer of quantum mechanics, whose ‘cat in the box’ thought-experiment to illustrate one of his more arcane hypotheses is a triumph of scientific surrealism. Walk to the corner of Victoria Street and the South Circular Road to catch a bus (route 16 or 122) back to the centre.