6 Best Sights in Grand Canal Dock Area, Dublin

These shocking but beautiful bronze sculptures by artist Rowan Gillespie portray a few wasted victims of the Great Famine stumbling desperately along a road in search of salvation. The location, on Custom House Quay, is particularly appropriate as many of the ships carrying survivors to the New World left from here. A matching set of sculptures can be found on the other side of the Atlantic in Toronto. The nearby World Poverty Stone is another monument to the many people still suffering desperate deprivation throughout the world.

At the heart of the whole docklands development, this 10,000-square-meter, modernist square was designed by American landscape architect Martha Schwartz. Situated just to the west of the dock, with one side facing out onto the water, the sloping glass of the Daniel Libeskind--designed theater dominates the square's east side, while the black-and-white checkerboard Marker Hotel is to the north. The unusual red, resin glass-paved surface is supposed to reflect a "carpet" spilling out of the theater and into the public square.

South of the docklands, a few blocks west of the Sydney Parade DART station, Sandymount Strand stretches for 5 km (3 miles) from Ringsend to Booterstown. It was cherished by James Joyce and his beloved Nora Barnacle from Galway, and it figures as one of the settings in Ulysses; it's also a popular spot with strolling Dubliners today. (The beach is "at the lacefringe of the tide," as Joyce put it). When the tide recedes, the beach extends for 1½ km (1 mile) from the foreshore, but the tide sweeps in again very quickly. A sliver of a park lies between Strand Road and the beach, the water of which is not suitable for swimming. At the end of the strand there's a wonderful walk out along the south harbor wall to the Poolbeg Lighthouse, which has eye-popping views of Dublin Bay.

Seen at its best when reflected in the waters of the Liffey during the short interval when the high tide is on the turn, the Custom House is the city's most spectacular Georgian building. Extending 375 feet on the north side of the river, this is the work of James Gandon, an English architect who arrived in Ireland in 1781, when the building's construction commenced (it continued for 10 years). Crafted from gleaming Portland stone, the central portico is linked by arcades to pavilions at either end. A statue of Commerce tops the copper dome, whose puny circumference, unfortunately, is out of proportion to the rest of the building. Statues on the main facade are based on allegorical themes. Note the exquisitely carved lions and unicorns supporting the arms of Ireland at the far ends of the facade. After the Irish Republican Army set fire to the building during the Irish War of Independence in 1921, it was completely restored and reconstructed to house government offices. A visitor center traces the building's history and significance, and the life of Gandon.