Focus on the Pale – a 24-hour stroll through the streets of Dublin

A 24-hour stroll around Dublin city, captured as a photo story, has raised much needed funds for two charities.

‘Focus on the Pale’ was the brainchild of photographer Andy Davies who runs Celtic Photography from his Tallaght based studios and who picks a different charity to fundraise for every year.

“The quiz I run is supported by a core group of good people, they come every year, even though they know it’s a painful exercise in self-humiliation,” Andy tells Dublin People.

“It’s not called the Craic’d Charity Sports Quiz for nothing!

“This year, I had the good fortune to visit Barretstown in Co. Kildare and was blown away by their operation.

“It’s an incredible place and does so much good work for deserving children and their families.

“Many people volunteer there every year, but they can’t survive on just that.

In fact, they need €160k per week just to run the place which is a staggering sum. I was sold. That was my charity choice for the quiz in 2023.

“Then everything changed when I was asked to photograph an event for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland.

“I couldn’t help but be moved by the stories I heard from the guest speakers and so I told myself I wanted to try and help them too, but the funds raised wouldn’t make much of a difference when divided between the two charities.

“Nope, I needed to do something else…something that I could do utilise my skills as a photographer.”

Andy tells us that he had read so many stories over the last few years of people setting themselves personal challenges, walk 50km a week, or swim in the sea every single day.

“Whatever it was it got me thinking that maybe I should do something like that and so the idea of a photoshoot around our capital city of Dublin was born,” he says.

“Now me being me, I didn’t want to do things by halves.

“No three hour walk for me, no, I had to be different.

“How about a 24 hour photoshoot? Sounds great right? There’s a reason people say, ‘think before opening your mouth’!

“I wrote off to both charities who were very enthusiastic about the idea so there was no going back now.

“I chose a suitable day and set off at 7pm on Sunday 13th August and finish at 7pm on the 14th.

“I figured it would be better to be relatively fresh and focused whilst walking the streets of our capital at night so that I could keep my wits about me.

“I had a lot of expensive gear, so it needed to be minded.

“I’d like to say it was a life changing experience, but it wasn’t really, unless you count feeling crippled from an aching back, dodgy knees and pained ankles. Even my hands and arms were sore from carrying the camera around with me. What’s more, the lack of sleep was horrific at times too. Every few hours my entire system felt like it wanted to shut down, but I had told everybody what I was doing so there was no way I could back out at any stage despite my body asking me otherwise.

“No, I ploughed on hour by hour counting down the minutes until I could put my feet up and get some shut eye.

“Now that’s the downside, but I also have to be honest about the good things too, because there was plenty to smile about during the day”.

“I set off from Lansdowne Road at 7pm full of positivity, but creativity is not always something you can switch on and off at will.

“Sometimes you need to be inspired by something you see so it was a slow start. A lot of good street photography comes from the gritty parts of a city. The parts that might highlight social decay, poverty and dereliction… but there’s not too much of that to be seen in D4.

“I set off up Grand Canal Street towards the Grand Canal Hotel which was scheduled to be my first stop of the evening. I realised that if I wanted to upload a good image on the hour, every hour, I would need somewhere safe indoors to download the images to the laptop, edit, and upload to my social media channels.

“The cafes and bars are shut by 11pm and I couldn’t risk doing that on the street as it were.

“So, I set out an itinerary that would bring me to a series of hotels along the route.

“Each was about a 10-minute walk from the next and allowing for 15mins for the laptop stuff it meant it allowed me half an hour to walk freely and photograph.

“Starting off, I was very enthused and had no problem asking people if they minded me taking their photos. I was wearing a bib advertising my intentions and people were only too happy to be photographed. As the day rolled on, however, I found it increasingly difficult to engage with anyone and explain what I was doing, my brain just wouldn’t cooperate. As a result, you’ll notice a definite change in style between the images at the start and what I finished up with.

“It was interesting to watch the hours pass by and see the change in how the city behaved. Calm and relaxed at 7pm, couples taking leisurely strolls along the riverside or chilling in Grand Canal Lock watching the sun go down, but then buzzing with social activity by 11pm in Temple Bar, lots of noise, music and predictable debauchery!

“They slowly empty out to be replaced by bin lorries, street cleaners and urban foxes clearing up after them.

“Of course, not everywhere is like that, Grafton Street was empty by 12pm as were most of the streets around there.

“By four in the morning, I made my way across the river to Smithfield, I wanted to try and catch the activity in the Fruit Markets.

“The beautiful Market building is stunning and is a must see. I believe there are plans in place to renovate and reopen and it can’t come soon enough. It’s too much of a jewel to lie abandoned like this.

“Lunch was a healthy break in Phibsborough before making my way past the Mater towards Drumcondra.

“I still had 5 hours to go, and I was running on empty, but I just couldn’t hang round these streets until the time was up.

“I ended up in a coffee shop in Drumcondra and this was where I really hit the wall. I fell asleep four times while trying to work on the pics!

“As I reached my destination, I felt elated but exhausted, and sat on the concourse outside Croker.

“I had a few people to thank, not least those who had supported the cause during the day but as I began my videologue, I was asked to move to the adjacent pavement as it is private property!”

“Almost as if I was transported back to reality and this had all been a dream.

“Dublin, I love ya!”.