Humans of The Liberties — Dublin, Ireland

A local collection of hand picked portraits & stories from a genuine and multicultural community, at the heart of Dublin’s most iconic neighbourhood.

This photojournalistic project features 27 portraits of people living, working or breathing in The Liberties. Similar to Humans of New York’s approach, I would stop people on the street and have a chat/interview with them — catching eventually a frame of their lives with my camera.

Very appropriate map for this article — at Teeling Distillery

Initiated by Connect the Dots, the project was part of The Liberties Festival and done in collaboration with photographer Steve O’ Connor, and Teeling Whiskey.

We simply wanted to celebrate the diversity and passion in the area, giving each participant a unique occasion to have their face and voice shared out there, directly on the streets they march on everyday. We thus got a couple of posters printed (A1-photographs and A4-quotes) displayed all around the area. A “community diner” was also organised at the Teeling distillery as a nice end-of-festival event where we could project the full set of portraits & quotes, while having people gathering and connecting.

Marisa Denker & Naomi Murphy — *Co-Founders of Connect the Dots*

About Connect the Dots

Connect the Dots designs events that bring diverse people across sectors, communities, and cities together around one theme, in one space. Unlike conventional events, Connect the Dots starts with the people. We co-create with our attendees to deliver personalised, engaging experiences in alternative venues throughout the city.

About the project

The idea for the project came about as Connect the Dots team live and work in the Liberties and wanted to know more about the area and most importantly, wanted to get all the different groups and people from different perspectives and lives in one room — to start the conversation about our area and what we love about it, what the challenges are, and what our hopes are for it / how we can exchange and help each other. Connect the Dots aims to do future events and dinners to continue this collaborative process.

Humans of the Liberties — Summer 2016 — Dublin 8

Fionnuala McDermott — Resident of the liberties (for 20 years)

“ The Liberties is completely different than anything else I’ve seen in my life and I love it. ”

“ Come on in! ”

“ Making the Liberties what it used to be: full of markets again. ”

“I think that’s what’s missing around here: the banter, the chat… It would be more vibrant, more colourful and especially with foreign people hearing traditional irish accents yelling ‘bananas right here!’ — traditional dublin character, that happy go lucky stamping quality — that’s what i would bring back.”

“Augustinian monks frequented this place — there was loads of beer-making around this area, this is the heart of beer-making in Europe… So it’s quite a historic street [Thomas street].”

“ I did four years in glass design […] It’s the only place in Ireland where you can do and learn glass blowing. […] It’s all about my identity. ”

“ It feels like there’s something happening again […] really like old dublin, people around here people on street corners selling the flowers…”

“I always did stickers for years and years and years… I always draw with masks, cartoons with masks […] it’s about covering up, hiding behind things”

“ The NCAD community stretches beyond the blue arch to create a sense of home for us in the Liberties… We eat vegetables from the allotments in the college canteen, our work is made from obscure materials found in the markets, we wear charity shop bargains found on 1 euro student day, we have exhibitions, lectures and fashion shows in the most unlikely places… It has been a homely and welcoming place to spend four years. ”

“ We’re all mad here. ”

“ We live in a bubble here, we have our own thoughts, our own business to run, our own deadlines, and our own ideas to develop so we forget about the outside world — in the moment it’s not relevant where we are. The moment we step out, we step out because we need to connect with a context, a neighbourhood, it could be going to a cafe or going to do some shopping or going to NCAD to consult an art book… ”

“ Focus on people more than structures. ”

Ritchie Taplin— The Irish Men’s Sheds Association

“ You’re never short of anything, there’s always a neighbour to knock on whether it’s milk, sugar or a smoke. ”

“ What are you smiling at? ”

“ Sometimes people come here by accident, and they love it! ”

“ One day I was running to college (where I learn English) and I was really late; a man on the street stopped me and said ‘ Don’t run, life is beautiful! Time doesn’t matter! ’ ”

“ There’s no such thing as a strange question. ”

Originally from Waterford, Rosemary loves living in the city centre — the shops, the colour, the life. She loves living in the Liberties, remembers the street before the antiques shops got really posh. Her customers include lots of artists & costumers designers (people creating the TV show Vikings for example). There’s no such thing as a strange question — she has heard it all and helps her customers as much as she can. She showed us a book by Maurice Curtis called The Liberties and told us about how he wants to bring textiles back to the liberties. She said we can borrow the book. Upstairs in the shop is a studio for workshops etc. She loves facilitating lots of activities and creative projects and lets anyone use the space to make & learn.