We do enjoy food, but for the most part, we enjoy meals at home. If we are eating out, we’ll go somewhere cheap, like Wetherspoon’s. I particularly like the Forty Foot in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, where you can look out at the harbour while eating lunch.
And there are at least three more around Dublin. They’re often located in historic buildings. The Silver Penny in Abbey Street, Dublin, use to be a Baptist chapel back in the 19th Century. It’s always a bit sad to see church buildings turned into something else, but the reverse happens too. Churches often move to suburban areas where parking and expansion is easier.
We used to go to Wetherspoons around the UK too. I think that the first one that we ever went to was in Camden Market back in 2012. In fact, it would be cool to travel and visit every single one of the Wetherspoons locations. Some of them are in really beautiful old buildings, such as cinemas and so on. And if there isn’t any Wetherspoons, we generally head for McDonalds 😀. Maybe we should be more adventurous, but the times when I’ve had more expensive food at weddings and so on, I didn’t really think that it was much better than what I get in Wetherspoons.
Anyway, given that I referred to a Baptist chapel, let’s close with a few hymns written by folk from an Irish Baptist background. I asked Microsoft Co-pilot for a few Irish Baptist hymn writers, so hopefully, it told me the truth:
This one’s written by Irish Baptist, William Young Fullerton (1857–1932). It’s often sung to the tune Londonderry Air
Charitie Lees Smith (1841–1923) was born in Co. Fermanagh. H was raised in the Church of Ireland but later associated with Baptist congregations in Canada. Nowadays it’s sung to a more modern tune.
The Gettys aren’t Baptist in the denominational sense of the term, but many modern churches are essentially evangelical and baptistic in their outlook. So that’s probably why Microsoft Copilot mentioned them.
Hibernia Gospel 