Height is an important metaphor in Dublin. The Long Room at the Trinity College Library has tall vaulted ceilings. The ancient Kings of Ireland were called the High Kings, and are commemorated on the lofty Hill of Tara. The city's most famous contemporary monument, the Spire of Dublin, aka the Monument of Light, is far taller than anything else in the city. (Irreverent Irish nicknames include the Stiletto and the Stiffey at the Liffey.)
Seen at the left, this enormously high statue stands at the end of O'Connell Street, one of the broadest boulevards in Europe. Daniel O'Connell, a 19th Century man, is known internationally for peaceful political causes including abolition of slavery and Irish Catholic Emancipation.
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