Two doors, two neighbors, two colors …

… and the PR poster

WELL, WELL, WELL – I WAS IN DUBLIN MORE THAN ONCE, but these gayly painted doors never made an impression on me! But a few weeks ago I visited the Irish capital just for them, stimulated by the poster I show you here (issued by the city of Dublin as a tourist lure). Pretty views indeed, but the legends around them are even more colorful: 1. The British queen Victoria had ordered that all doors had to be painted black as a sign of mourning after the death of her prince consort Albert in 1861 – and as an act of rebellion the Dubliners painted them in all colors but black. 2. No, no, say some Irish, that’s not true. The doors were painted multicolored after a double murder by mistake, when a drunk, coming home in the early hours, found his wife in bed with her lover, killed them both – and discovered the next day that he had confused the doors and committed the killings in his neighbor’s house! To avoid future mistakes, the house owners (or the city council) decided on different colors for neighboring houses. Well, well, well – the Irish …