In a yellow house on sparkling Dublin Bay, I stay until I belong - Destinations

National Catholic Reporter, April 12, 2002 by Patty McCarty

My next trip to Dublin was to see a Saturday matinee at the Abbey Theatre, "Big Maggie" by John B. Keane, a contemporary Irish playwright. I caught a late morning train to Tara Station, walked to my landmark, Trinity College, although it was out of the way. I crossed the Liffey, the river that flows through Dublin, at the Ha'penny Bridge, a pedestrian bridge. Built in 1816, it originally cost a halfpenny to cross. I was then on Abbey Street and knew the theater was not far, but couldn't find it. I asked several artsy-looking people for directions. One said this way; another pointed that way. This is the national theater we're talking about! I spot a newsstand. Surely the man who operates the stand will know. And he does.

A short way from the theater, a thin young man approached me. He said he was homeless and said, "I haven't had a t'ing all day. That's how bad it's got in Ireland." He said he could get a good meal for 3 pounds at a place that serves homeless people. I gave him three big, beautiful silver pound coins with an Irish harp on one side and a sharp-beaked bird in flight on the other. He kissed my cheek and said, "Take care nobody robs you. There's t'ieves all over."

The set for "Big Maggie" had a graveyard with gravestone at the one side. The counter and shelves of a small shop took up the rest of the stage. All were washed in gloomy gray. A sparse audience waited. A woman near me studied the set and whispered to her husband, "This isn't a comedy."

"Big Maggie," a widow, alienates her adult children as she attempts to manage the small shop her husband has left. Not a comedy.

Heading back to Blackrock, I found hundreds of young people crowding the platform waiting for the DART. Robbie Williams, an English rock star would perform that night and the next night at Landsdowne Stadium, between Dublin and Blackrock. We crowded into the green train car and stood, packed and happy. Almost everyone but me got off at Landsdown.

Two days later as I walked along Idrone Terrace, an older couple greeted me with smiles. We had passed each other on this walk before. The woman said, "Lovely evening, thank God." I felt I belonged there. I thought, "Now I can go home."

Related Web sites

The Abbey Theatre www.abbeytheatre.ie

Blackrock Market www.connect.ie/users/blackrock

County Dublin Tourism www.countydublin.com

DART www.irishrail.ie/dart

Trinity College www.tcd.ie

Patty McCarty, NCR's copyeditor, is a frequent contributor to the newspaper.

PATTY McCARTY
Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland