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ON A good night, Dublin City Council might expect a crowd of 60 or 70 on one of its historical walking tours. On a bad night, maybe 40. But when Pat Liddy led a walk through the city's old Jewish quarter on Tuesday evening, well over 200 people defied damp conditions to join in, almost overwhelming the organisers, writes Frank McNally.

Supplies of luminous yellow bibs ran out early. The accompanying Civil Defence volunteers were stretched. And the scheduled stop for a talk by the curator of the Jewish Museum in Portobello turned into two stops and two talks, with the old building unable to house the attendance in one go.