Author: Arran Henderson

Arran leads both public tours and private walking tours around various areas of Dublin, focusing on different themes of history, art and architecture, He has collaborated with events and organizations like Culture Night; the Irish Georgian Society and the Dublin Festival of History. Details of upcoming walks can be seen on arranqhenderson.com and on the public tours page of this site. (Just find Public tours on the drop-down menus above) If you wish to book a private tour, for your own private group, please fill out one of the contact forms, to be found on each private tour page of our site. Thank you.

South-East Dublin gems & visit inside old Sinn Féin HQ at No 6 Harcourt St: – a Dublin Decoded walking tour, with Arran Henderson.

South-East Dublin gems & visit inside old Sinn Féin HQ at No 6 Harcourt St: – a Dublin Decoded walking tour, with Arran Henderson, & Conradh na Gaeilge archivist Cuan Ó Seireadáin. The first hour of our tour – led by Dublin Decoded’s Arran Henderson – takes in a selection of buildings, monuments and history… Read More South-East Dublin gems & visit inside old Sinn Féin HQ at No 6 Harcourt St: – a Dublin Decoded walking tour, with Arran Henderson.

April 2, 2018May 20, 2018 Arran Henderson1 Comment

a busy April, with 4 very different events

a busy April, with four, very different events.. In terms of public scheduled tours for our members and guests, this April is shaping up to be the busiest in our history, with our improved Dublin Decoded website just relaunched. And four, very different walking tours next month… 1- 11.30 morning of 08 April, Kildare to… Read More a busy April, with 4 very different events

March 16, 2018March 16, 2018 Arran HendersonLeave a comment

inside the Sir Denis Mahon archive & the Italian Baroque, Thurs 08/03/18

Image credit: Guercino (1591-1666) Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph, c.1620 Oil on canvas Photo © National Gallery of Ireland. Sir Denis Mahon Bequest, National Gallery of Ireland. This Thursday afternoon at 2.30pm, Thursday 08 March, we are looking forward to our one-off visit inside the beautiful Denis Mahon Archive, located in a Georgian house… Read More inside the Sir Denis Mahon archive & the Italian Baroque, Thurs 08/03/18

March 4, 2018 Arran Henderson2 Comments

How to Read a Painting fun workshop: interpreting subjects & symbols at the National Gallery of Ireland.

Our last edition of this tour 26th October sold out weeks in advance so we have decided to run one more in 2017, in case potential guests were disappointed last time and wish to avail now. It will run on Thursday evening of 16th November 2017. Tickets for the public editions of the tour range… Read More How to Read a Painting fun workshop: interpreting subjects & symbols at the National Gallery of Ireland.

November 7, 2017October 28, 2017 Arran HendersonLeave a comment

Cast of Thousands

A few coal hole iron covers, these particular two are on Merrion Street. There are coal-hole covers in all the older parts of Dublin. This Merrion/Fitzwilliam area has a particularly rich store of them. The majority of the most interesting are coal holes, those circular discs of cast iron capping the coal chutes, ubiquitous to… Read More Cast of Thousands

November 7, 2017November 9, 2017 Arran Henderson2 Comments

Utility covers..

Writing recently about the lovely old cast iron coal plates which adorn the Georgian and many Victorian districts of Dublin, I found my obsession spread from coal covers to utility covers also, such as gas, water, and the like. Yes, I know, I know what you are thinking. And it’s true, I have a… Read More Utility covers..

October 31, 2017November 9, 2017 Arran Henderson14 Comments

for Ease of Navigation: a practical suggestion for architects, planners, builders & developers.

I occasionally write about Fine Art here, but very rarely my own output. i don’t draw as much as i used to, it is more of a hobby than an obsession these days. Also, when you sometimes have to write about a towering genius like Johannes Vermeer, or any of the great Dutch, Flemish or… Read More for Ease of Navigation: a practical suggestion for architects, planners, builders & developers.

October 16, 2017 Arran HendersonLeave a comment

Hugh Lane to Broadstone & Grangegorman walk, 11.30am Sat 21st Oct.

At 11.25PM, Saturday 21st October, 2017 Grangegorman could be considered the “forgotten” quarter of Dublin. Hemmed in by disused rail tracks and giant bus depots of old Broadstone, and blocked off by the high walled penal institutions of yesteryear, it kept out visitors, even forming a sort of terra incognito across two huge sections of… Read More Hugh Lane to Broadstone & Grangegorman walk, 11.30am Sat 21st Oct.

October 6, 2017 Arran HendersonLeave a comment

Did Vermeer use Optics in his Art?

The superb exhibition Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting currently nearing the end of its run at the National Gallery of Ireland, ask and adreeses sucessfully fascinating questions about how the genre artists of the Dutch Golden Age influenced each other and spurred each other on to ever great feats of virtuosity. It has… Read More Did Vermeer use Optics in his Art?

September 19, 2017October 7, 2017 Arran Henderson6 Comments

South-East Central historic walking tour, & visit No 6 Harcourt St old Sinn Féin HQ

Saturday 9th September, meeting Kildare Place, 1.30pm. Southeast Centre Gems: from Kildare Place then via a circuitous walk to No. 6 Harcourt Street. The first two-thirds of this walking tour cover some of my favourite gems and oddities in the south-east quarter of Dublin’s South Georgian Core. Forgotten educational history, and Soviet-style social realism on… Read More South-East Central historic walking tour, & visit No 6 Harcourt St old Sinn Féin HQ

August 25, 2017August 25, 2017 Arran HendersonLeave a comment

Arran Q Henderson

History, Art & Architecture, Dublin & abroad. Also highlighting Dublin walking tours by Arran & Dublin Decoded.