Portobello Lock

Nice lock can be ruined by hundreds of people drinking druid cider and shouting a lot.
But if they are not there, good place to chill spot some swans and count empty bottles floating in the canal.

Summer drinking spot for some.
A place to stop and take in Portobello life for other. Me being one of them.
I walk passed this lock every day and never tire of it. And it’s a bonus when its in use, like it was today. Two cruisers heading west.
Lovely.

I grew up in a town cut in two by the Grand Canal. It was always a pretty prominent feature of the town and hundreds of times in my youth, I’d cross the lock gates to take shortcuts. the lock gates were always a meeting point — mostly for rubbish. The gates conveyed all the rubbish that had found its way into the canal to the lock gates and there always seemed to be a layer of scum on the water at the gates with the sole purpose of providing a platform for the detritus.
Fast-​forward 20 years or so and I’m back living near the Grand Canal, crossing the lock gates on a daily basis. But now crossing the lock gates is an entirely different experience: it’s pleasant. The water is cleaned regularly to remove branches and grass from the canal banks that have gathered there.
Ducks and swans have set up home nearby and are an attraction in the area. I occasionally pause on the lock gates and cast my gaze down the canal towards Harolds Cross bridge and for a brief moment you’re transported to a place of great serenity, oblivious to the traffic along the road beside you. A place where you can hear the feet of the ducks paddling underwater. Where the swans preen themselves to preserve their pristine beauty.
A place that reminds you that despite the occasional ugliness we see in Dublin, it can be a truly beautiful place.