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Pauls's characters all visit one of her favourite cities!
Dublin has featured in all my Irish novels, even though the
main part of the story takes place in Clifden and Connemara on the opposite
side of Ireland.
In Irish Inheritance, Jenna and Guy first meet at Dublin
Airport, and again at the lawyer’s office on St. Stephen’s Green. I imagined
the office to be in one of the beautiful Georgian houses that border the large
park in the centre of Dublin.
They visit the Book of Kells exhibition at
Trinity College, and spend the evening together in the Temple Bar area of the
city, which is full of bars and restaurants (and tourists!). Later in the story
they return to Dublin, or rather to Dalkey, which was originally a separate
town, but is now classed as a suburb of Dublin. However, it retains its ‘small
town’ atmosphere, with a medieval castle, as well as a wonderful view of
Killiney Bay, one of my favourite views in Ireland.
In Irish Intrigue, Charley goes to Dublin with Jenna for a
weekend. They stay at a 5 star hotel overlooking St. Stephen’s Green – and
every Dubliner will know which hotel I mean even though I didn’t actually name
it! They also attend a film premiere at a cinema on Upper O’Connell Street. I
gave it a different name, but based it on a real cinema that does host Hollywood-style premieres!
In Irish Secrets, Kara and Ryan stay at that same hotel on
St. Stephen’s Green. One day, if my Irish books continue to sell well, I might just treat myself to a night there – it's only about £450 (about $600) per night!
Dublin’s Glasnevin Cemetery features in
this story. It is an amazing place, the final resting place of many of
Ireland’s patriots or, as someone has said, everyone who was anyone in Irish
history. I wrote about Glasnevin before I actually managed to go there, so I
based my description on photos and videos, and a fascinating DVD called ‘One
Million Dubliners’ – because there are over a million graves in the cemetery,
going back to the mid-19th century. I was quite relieved, when I finally
visited Glasnevin earlier this year, that my descriptions of the cemetery, the
visitor centre, and the pub next to cemetery were fairly accurate!
In my current ‘work in progress’, Irish Deceptions, the heroine, Ellie, will
be going to watch a ballet at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin. I saw a play there a
few years ago, so at least I’ll be able to draw on my own memories for that. I
haven’t yet decided what else Ellie will visit while in Dublin, but there’s
plenty to choose from!
