Traveler’s Notes . . .

A five-star hotel, created from four 18th century row houses with period gardens, opened earlier this month in downtown Dublin. The Merrion has 146 rooms, two restaurants, two bars, a pool and a spa. Room rates through Dec. 31 start at about $253, including taxes. Reservations: tel. (800) 447-7462. . . . A restored plaster version of the Shaw Memorial, created by Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907) to honor Col. Robert Gould Shaw and a celebrated African American infantry unit in the Civil War, was unveiled this weekend in Washington, D.C. The plaster, formerly at the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, N.H., is at the National Gallery of Art.