When I originally started this blog, I thought I'd be including driving trips throughout Texas. Then as we drove to cool places outside of Texas, I started adding those in as well. But sometimes, the scenic route will take you on a plane overseas. And this time, it did.
We've wanted to to go Ireland for a while but something else always got in the way, usually a "sexier" location. Last year, we were plotting and planning only to be offered the opportunity to go to Asia with some friends. How do you pass that up?
Well this year, we were undeterred. We booked our flight and we were off. Our first stop was Dublin. I've read that Dublin is overrated and that you only need to spend a day or so there. I'm not sure what Dublin those people saw but we were there four nights and I could have stayed another couple.
Ireland has an amazing history dating back to the Vikings in 1030. Their relationship with the British is interesting as well. And then there were the "troubles". It's all fascinating!
When we got there, we were informed there was a protest going on. The truckers were protesting the cost of diesel fuel (which was about $10 a gallon there so I get it!). The result was that all the roads were blocked in central Dublin. Our cab driver got us close to our hotel so we got out and walked the rest of the way.
We stayed at The Morrison which is right on the River Liffey. The room was nice and we had a view of the river. Our room came with daily breakfast that ran until 11 am! No need to get up too early. I love this town!
Our first meal was at Temple Bar. Temple Bar is an actual neighborhood. The restaurant is the Temple Bar Pub. The area used to be gardens and fancy homes for wealthy English families. William Temple was the provost of Trinity College in the 17th century and the area was named for him.
In the 18th century, a customs house was built nearby and the neighborhood became notorious for taverns, brothels and warehouses. In 1835, then owner Cornelius O'Meara got a liquor license. In 1840, it was James Farley that opened it as a fully operational public house. During the 1916 Easter uprising, Temple Bar Pub famously (or infamously) still poured pints as the fighting went on in O'Connell street.
We were there at 4pm on a Wednesday and the place was packed. There were two guys playing "Take Me Home Country Roads" and everyone in the bar was singing along, including me! Who doesn't know the words to that song? It's not even Irish.
The rest of the first day we took the Hop On Hop Off tour. Our first Hop Off was at the Kilmainham Gaol (Jail). It opened in 1796 to replace a "notorious dungeon". It was set up to reform inmates by enforcing strict separation and reflection. Each inmate had their own cell so they could think about their crimes and resolve not to do it again. It quickly became overcrowded and then squalid. People were thrown in prison for everything like owing money, stealing food, etc. If your sentence was over seven years, you were shipped to Australia! To go into the museum, you needed to have booked a reservation several weeks in advance.
After the Easter Uprising of 1916, it was here (in the stonebreakers yard) that the leaders were executed by firing squad. In 1910, the British used this prison during the War of Independence to detail the members of the Irish Republican Army. Then in 1921, the prison was used by the Irish Free State Army during the Civil War. The jail was officially closed in 1924 but the "formally" closed by the Prison Closing Order of 1929. It was left vacant until the 1960s when it was saved from demolition and turned into a museum.
Across the street is the Richmond Tower. It was originally erected in 1810 near the River Liffey by the Rory O'More Bridge. It was named for Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond. The designer secretly embedded his coat of arms into the structure. In 1846, Dublin's Heuston station was built and the tower created major traffic headaches. At the expense of the Great Southern & Western Railway Company, the tower was dismantled block by block and reassembled here at the entrance to the Royal Hospital. During the dismantling, the designers family crest was found and removed. It now has the crest of the Royal Hospital.
If you go through the arch of the Richmond Tower, it leads through some amazing gardens and a cemetery to the Royal Hospital, which is now the Irish Museum of Modern Art. It's the oldest classical building in Dublin, built in 1680. It was a retirement home for veteran soldiers. It was inspired by Les Invalides in Paris. Back in 1174 (yes, I said 1174!) it was the site of a priory for the Knights Hospitaller (aka the Knights of St. John).
Over the years its been HQ for the Guarda (police) and a storage facility. In 1980 it went through a massive restoration. In 1991, the Museum of Modern Art opened in this building. It's a big square that surrounds a lovely courtyard.
Christ Church Cathedral (aka The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity) is Dublin's oldest active building. It was founded in 1030 by the Viking King Sitric Silkenbeard and Bishop Dunan. In 1170, the church was rebuilt in stone by the Normans funded by the nobleman Richard de Clare (aka Strongbow). In 1582, the roof collapsed and was quickly repaired but by the 18th century, the church was in ruins and there was a tavern being run from the crypt!
It was originally a catholic church, of course. Then in the 16th century, Henry VIII broke from Rome. While Mass was said here once more for King James II in the 1600s, the cathedral now is part of the Church of Ireland. The Cathedral also houses the preserved heart of Dublin's patron saint, Laurence O'Toole. You can take a guided tour or do the audio tour. We chose the audio tour which worked out quite nicely. We got to check things out at our own pace.
In the crypt, which used to be a tavern, they have the mummified remains of "Tom and Jerry", a cat and a mouse that got stuck in an organ. In 2028, the church will turn 1000 years old. That is so cool!
The Bridge to Dublin Castle. It was built by King John of England in the 13th Century as a fortress. In 1684, most of the castle was destroyed by fire. The castle here today was built as a replacement. It was home to the Viceroy of Ireland, who governed on behalf of the English Crown.
The courtyard to the castle. The guided tour was well worth it. We got some amazing information. You could tour on your own if you wanted but there was no audio supplement so you wouldn't really know what you were looking at. The new castle was built on top of the ruins or the original.
This is the record tower, the only surviving building from the original fortress. Built in 1230, it was separated from the rest of the structure when the fire started because it housed the arsenal. Had they not done that, the tower would have blown up. Later all the national archives were stored here, hence the name, "Record Tower". The tower was raised. The top of the tower looks newer. Note the windows at the top vs. the windows on the way up. The bricks at the top are more evenly placed and organized that the stones at the bottom.
The Chapel Royale was built in 1813 to show the importance of the Viceroy to the English Government. It became a catholic chapel in 1922 when the Irish Government took over. It was deconsecrated in 1980. It's made of wood as a river runs underneath it. It was thought the building would sink if they made it with stone.
A quick peek of Dublin at night from our hotel window.
A must see, so I'm told, is the Book of Kells. It's located at Trinity College, which Ireland's oldest University! It was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I. The Old Library is part of the Book of Kells tour. The view when you walk in is quite fantastic. The Long Room, as it's called, was built in 1732 and holds 200,000 of the library's oldest books. A lot of the books are being decanted - which means carefully cleaned and digitized. The bays and shelves are labelled alphabetically and each book is assigned a running number. According to this system, a book classified as A.f.34 is the 34th book on shelf 'f' in bay A. There's no "J" or "U" in the Roman Latin alphabet, which is weird.
The Book of Kells was produced by monks in a Columban monastery on the island of Iona, possibly to commemorate St. Columba, the founder around 800 AD. The Vikings attacked the island in 806 and the monks fled to Kells. The book contains the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. This is a facsimile. No photos of the real thing. It's a bit of a let down as the place is super crowded and you get to peek at the book and then you are herded off to the rest of the exhibit.
The last part of the exhibit, while visually beautiful, is kind of boring. And this coming from a person who loves history! This building houses "virtual" books in the long room, a virtual book of kells, a video about the history of the book and then this presentation which I didn't understand.
Walking around Dublin you can find all kinds of cool things like this statue of Molly Malone. Molly depicts a legendary 17th century fishmonger. She represents the unofficial anthem, "Cockles and Mussels", which tells of a beautiful girl who died young of a fever and now haunts the streets. She's nicknamed "The Tart with the Cart". Note the breasts of the statue are worn. This is from tourist rubbing them for good luck. They put flowers around the statue but that clearly doesn't keep people from climbing over them.
From 1845 - 1852, there was a famine in Ireland that killed over a million people and caused that many or more to emigrate. This famine statue represents the emigrants walking toward the ships. In 1847, the tenants from the Mahone estate in Roscommon walked 100 miles to the Dublin Docks. 1,490 people left Roscommon and only a third of them survived.
The shoes represent the route that they took. There's a map and you can actually follow this route if you are so inclined. I would be, just to see what they endured but I couldn't walk the whole thing.
You can't go to Dublin and not see U2. This is the Irish Rock and Roll Museum. It's a recording studio where a lot of the Irish bands rehearsed and recorded and it's right in the Temple Bar neighborhood.
It's a guided tour through the history of Irish Rock and Roll. Our guide was Anto and she was from Chile. Huh? How did she end up in Ireland? I wanted so badly to ask her. Instead, we learned about Ireland's home town hero...Rory Gallagher. That's right. It wasn't U2. Rory Gallagher was a famous (or not) guitarist from the 70s and he's the first one you encounter on the tour.
Then you get to go into the rehearsal room where a young band of high school lads would rehearse and later become U2! It's cool because you can sit behind the drums, play the guitars, etc. I wanted John to get up there and do his Bono impression when everyone left but he was too shy. After this, you got to see a documentary about the various Irish rock bands from Rory Gallagher to Inhaler. It was very cool.
Oscar Wilde had a presence in Dublin. There's this cool statue in Merrion Square Park. I love the pink scarf.
This is Oscar's house which you can go into on the weekends. And we were going to but John got sick and we ended up hanging around the room instead. But we were still in Dublin!
The Clarence Hotel was right across the river from us. I wanted to stay there but it was closed for renovations. It opened in 1852 then became super famous in 1992 because Bono and The Edge from U2 bought it. It has since been sold. Maybe next time.
This is the Four Courts building built back in 1800. It holds the four superior courts of Chancery, King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer. During the 1916 Uprising, this building was held by the rebels
I loved walking around Dublin. Behind me is the Ha'penny Bridge, so named because that was the cost to cross it back in the day. The weather was incredible. We went in April so everyday was just like this. Blue sky, brisk. Then ten minutes later overcast and raining. Then another ten minutes later, back to blue sky. It rained a little every day that we were in Dublin.
By the time we left, the protests were over and the streets had cleared. An agreement had been reached and the government agreed to help.
There were still a lot of places in Dublin that I wanted to check out but didn't have the chance. Next time. We caught a train to Cork for the next part of our adventure. So long Dublin! We loved visiting.
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