Dublin is a city built on a river and on conversation. The Liffey divides it, crossed by a string of bridges including the pretty Ha'penny Bridge, and the centre is a mix of Georgian squares, with their coloured doors, and busy modern streets. Trinity College, founded in 1592, holds the Book of Kells, a ninth-century illuminated manuscript of extraordinary delicacy, and the nearby streets are full of pubs, bookshops and music. The Guinness Storehouse, at St James's Gate, draws visitors from around the world.
Phoenix Park, on the western side, is one of the largest enclosed city parks in Europe, with wild fallow deer, and its wide roads are a pleasant place to ride. The Spire, a tall steel needle, stands on O'Connell Street. The city has a strong literary tradition, with Joyce, Yeats, Beckett and Wilde among its sons, and on a quiet evening you can still imagine the characters of Ulysses on the streets.
The day ride heads north to the Boyne Valley, to Brú na Bóinne, a cluster of prehistoric tombs and monuments on a bend of the river. Newgrange, a great round mound with a white quartz front, was built around five thousand two hundred years ago, which is older than Stonehenge and the pyramids of Giza. A narrow passage inside is aligned so that at dawn on the winter solstice, the sun shines in and lights up the chamber. Visits are by guided tour from the visitor centre, and booking ahead is wise, especially in summer.
Getting out of Dublin takes patience, and a mental flip if you are used to driving on the right. The M50 ring road can be slow at peak times, and the M1 toll motorway north is quick but dull, so use the older roads when you can, through green fields and small villages. Rain is common, so a waterproof is essential, though it passes quickly. Fuel is plentiful, and the city has food for every taste. Try a bowl of Irish stew, or a seafood chowder, and finish with a cup of strong tea, perhaps accompanied by a slice of brack, a fruit loaf.