FORGET GALLERIES AND museums. Some of Dublin’s most notable art and design assets are permanent fixtures on the city’s streets.

Wrought iron, curlicues and ornate features are just a few reasons Dublin’s lamp posts are so impressive, and one photographer has spent years paying tribute to his favourites.

Thomas Fitzgerald is the man behind the blog Streets Of Dublin. When he’s not photographing buildings, humans and cobblestones, he’s looking upward.

“I’ve always taken photos of interesting architectural details around the city,” he says.

Photographing lamp posts is not something that I set out to do, it just sort of happened organically. Once I realised that I was developing a collection, it sort of snowballed.

The Ha'apenny Bridge. Thomas Fitzgerald Thomas Fitzgerald

According to Dublin City Council, there are 43,500 street lights in Dublin, ranging from run-of-the-mill lights to the more ornate, old-fashioned lamp posts. The very oldest ones date back to the 1820s, when gas lighting was introduced to the city.

The lamp posts vary in style and location: in Rathmines, for example, there are posts adorned with shamrocks, and some city centre lamp posts are adorned with Dublin’s ancient crest. Many are plainer, of course, but still worth a second look.

Shamrock posts, which you'll find plenty of in Rathmines. Thomas Fitzgerald Thomas Fitzgerald

Thomas has a keen eye for the detail of the lamp posts:

Dublin has lots of really interesting things hidden in plain sight. I like interesting and quirky objects. The lampposts themselves are full of brilliant little details if you stop and look at them.

'Baggot St has a beautiful line of double lamp posts with shamrocks in them,' says Thomas. Thomas Fitzgerald Thomas Fitzgerald

The photographer’s favourite lamp post is located on O’Connell Street, but there are some beauties on Baggot Street too.

His recommended Insta-worthy lamp posts are in Ranelagh, just off the main road around Mount Pleasant Square, plus on many of the city’s bridges and around Stephen’s Green.

O'Connell Bridge, a personal favourite of Thomas's. Thomas Fitzgerald Thomas Fitzgerald

Oh, and don’t forget to look up. “There are also several lamps which don’t have poles but just stick out from the sides of buildings and some of these are quite ornate too,” says Thomas.

Find more photos like these on Thomas’s blog, Streets Of Dublin.

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