Today I used a 12 year old Sony camcorder, the VG10E, combined with a Sony GM 70-200mm lens hoping the capture what the streets feel like on a typical Sunday at about lunch time. Most of the restaurants were open or in the process of opening.
The street affords a vista all the way from the junction with Bolton Street south through Parliament Street to Dublin's City Hall. Capel Street is notable for the remains of some "Dutch Billy" houses dating from the 18th century.
Note: Dublin’s Dutch Billys were reputedly named after William of Orange, and their arrival in Dublin is generally attributed to an influx of French Huguenots after 1685 and to Dutch and Flemish Protestants fleeing persecution after 1690 (Craig 1980, 86-87). However, it is clear from a number of excavations in Dublin including Smithfield (Directed by Franc Myles) and Newmarket (Directed by William Frazer) that this Anglo-Dutch building style was prevalent since at least the 1660s. The distinctive features of these buildings was that the roof-ridge ran at right angles to the street with the front gables, in the most characteristic examples, being masked by quadrants sweeping up to very flat curved or triangular pediments.
