When you reach Merrion Street turn left and walk past the impressive Government Buildings, the Natural History Museum (the "Dead Zoo") and the National Gallery. You are now in the center of Georgian Dublin and near the Center of Irish politics. Merrion Square is on your right and in the northwest corner the strange monument to Oscar Wilde is to be admired - opposite his childhood home and also known as "The Fag on the Crag". If you are feeling energetic take a stroll around the park, originally earmarked for construction of a cathedral. As the Catholic Church ran out of funds and steam for this project the park was presented to the citizens of Dublin. Today it hosts memorials, flowerbeds, pleasant walks and the buried remains of a bomb shelter.
From Oscar Wilde's statue carry on into Clare Street and then straight on to Leinster Street. At the corner of Kildare Street the former Kildare Street Club can be admired - look at the curious carvings at the windows, from squirrels playing the lute to monkeys playing pool. Today the French Cultural Institute and the Heraldic Museum are based here. Walk up Kildare Street past the National Library and have a look at Leinster House and the National Museum. On a normal day you will see protesters in front of Leinster house proclaiming worthy or simply bizarre causes. The gardai on duty seem to have seen it all and are usually visibly bored.
