ArtRoger's Fotothing

An tAirshe or The Arch - SOLD

This is a painting of The Merchants’ arch in Dublin, which is alongside the River Liffey at the Metal Bridge, also known as the Ha’penny Bridge. Walking through this arch brings you into the Temple Bar area of the city, which is the main tourist spot in Dublin at the present time with a plethora of pubs, cafes, Art Galleries and trendy shops.

Temple Bar is far from the way things were in James Joyce's time. In Ulysses it is a poor area of the city where there was a second-hand bookstall at which Stephen Dedalus met one of his younger sisters who had just made a purchase of a book entitled, "A French Primer." When he asked her why she had made the purchase she replied, "In order to better myself." At the time the family were in dire circumstances with barely enough to eat.

This original watercolour painting is based on that story.©2002.