DUBLIN: O'Connell Street, where much of the city's main shopping district and several important public buildings lie, was being worked on extensively while we were there. Its length is punctuated by various sculptures, including the Parnell Monument to the famous nationalist leader Charles Stewart Parnell, familiar to Joyce readers from an early scene in which the Dedalus family's Christmas is spoiled by a vehement argument over the scandal which led to his downfall.