August 5
In the distance at the north end of O’Connell Street is the great Spire of Dublin, also called the Monument of Light and the world’s tallest sculpture. It stands in the place where Nelson’s Pillar stood, and destroyed by an IRA bomb in 1966.
O’Connell has been the grand thoroughfare through Dublin since the 1700s, “Lined with many handsome buildings, O’Connell Street is the most monumental of Dublin’s commercial streets, having been largely rebuilt in the early 20th century following extensive destruction in the struggle for Irish independence and subsequent civil war.”
Refurbished lastly in the early 2000s with the installation of the Spire, reconfiguring of the traffic lanes, regulations regarding signage, etc., it’s looking pretty good right now.