Please excuse what may seem to all of you Dubliners (and others as well) a dumb question from an outlander. What can anyone tell me about "Anna Liffey" a name that occurs in several (fairly recent, I think) Irish songs? ("Dublin In The Rare Ould Times" is the one I know best.) Was she a real person? Was the river Liffey named for her? What is known about her, if she was a real person?

I came across this recently in an Ireland Travel Guide in the Dublin section: "Also on O'Connell Street... is the ridiculous Anna Livia Millenium Fountain.... It is supposed to represent the River Liffey but most Dubliners dismiss it as the 'Floozie in the Jacuzzi.'" Are Anna Liffey and Anna Livia the same person? When I was in Dublin, I made a special point of visiting with the "Tart with the Cart" -- how could I have missed the 'Floozie?' Oh, well, I plan to visit Ireland again if at all possible. BTW, is the fountain really "ridiculous?" Thanks to anyone who can clear things up for this ignorant sassenach.

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