Locations cover collage

Locations cover collage

A strong sense of place can really add to the enjoyment of a book for me, and I especially love when a book is set in the author’s home town (or adopted town), so you get a really good feel for the place from an insider’s perspective rather than a touristy travelogue.

Some Girls Do is set mostly in my home town of Dublin (and a little bit in London), and I wanted to showcase some of my favourite parts of my native city in the book. Here’s a little look around some of the main locations that appear in the novel.

The Iveagh Gardens

Iveagh Gardens

 The beautiful Iveagh Gardens, where Claire takes Mark on their first date

Queen of Tarts
DSC01859

 

The Queen of Tarts cafe, where Claire likes to go for breakfast with a book. Me too!  
The Merrion Hotel
DSC01824  
The Merrion Hotel, where Mark stays when he’s in Dublin  

 

Merrion Square Park  
Merrion Square Park  
Merrion Square Park with colourful Oscar Wilde memorial opposite the house where he grew up  
   
The Grand Social
  Grand Social
   

 

The Loft at the Grand Social has to be one of the coolest music venues in the city – and definitely the prettiest!

 

Highgate Cemetery
Highgate cemetery1

The Western Cemetery at Highgate, where Mark takes Claire when she visits London. It seems a odd choice for a date, but it really is an incredibly romantic place.

Whenever I have a London setting in a book, it tends to be the Highgate/Hampstead area because I always lived around that area when I lived in London.

 

 Roly’s BistroRolys2

  Roly’s Bistro  in Ballsbridge, where Ali takes Luca when she wants to feed him up.
Dun Laoghaire  
Dun Laoghaire  

(Pronounced Dun Leery)

Claire takes her mother for a walk on Dun Laoghaire pier – a popular promenade for Dubliners on a fine day. Afterwards they have ice-cream cones from Teddy’s – a Dublin institution.

 
   
Dalkey
Dalkey

These pictures were taken at a borrowed house in Dalkey, where I wrote a lot of the book. Dalkey is on the south coast of Dublin and is one of the most aspirational addresses, home to rock stars and film producers – and for a short while, me. It’s an inspirational setting, and I loved waking up every morning to the stunning views over Killiney Bay. Luca’s family live here in the book (with a few minor modifications).

 

    Brittas Bay
 

Brittas Bay is a beautiful sandy beach in County Wicklow, just outside Dublin.   

It’s the beach we always went to as kids, and I have a lot of happy memories of it.

Brittas Bay