Visited: Feb 2019
I've finally come to Ireland. It's been on my list for a while and with a sub 1 hour flight from London to Dublin why not. Part 3
Day 4
Up early to drive to Dublin. I left at a decent hour and hence ended up with a bit of extra time where I tried to stop by Newgrange with is an Irish passage tomb dating back from 3,200 BC. My plan was to either go in for 10 minutes, or if it was like Stonehenge, admire it from the parking lot. Neither plan worked as it turns out the site was giant, even the walk to the welcome centre was 15 minutes long. So instead I took photos of the walkway to the welcome centre (of which I managed to get about 5 minutes into), and a very distant photo of the tomb.
Walkway that I didn't complete and tomb at the top of the photo - it is quite large.
Back in the car which I dropped off at Dublin airport. Total driving: 175km. I got extra insurance for £14 a day which I don't often do but I wanted to make sure I wasn't worried about any scratches on the car, so I just dropped the car and took off. Apparently Europecar charges an extra €30 or so for cars driven into Northern Ireland. I'm not sure if their system is programmed to tell this even with the GPS tracking in the car. I'll have to watch out for another charge on my card.
Dublin (Dubh Linn)
I took the bus to Dublin form the airpot which took only around 1/2 hour. I was early at the hotel so luckily I was able to check in straight away. I managed to get back out into Dublin shortly after - I had a 2pm booking for Dublin Castle. A few notes on Dublin Castle:
I managed to get in free due to English Heritage - although they didn't check to see I had the card!
It's more a palace than a castle. The Castle was built over by a palace when castles became less relevant after the middle ages.
The original was built in the 12th century after the Norman Invasion of Ireland (which itself was a pretty big watershed moment as Ireland had in some ways been the last bastion of the old clans, mini kingdoms seen pre-classical times in much of northern Europe)
It was built next to the dark pool (Gaelic "Dubh Linn") which gave Dublin its name
It largely burned down in 1684 (possibly on purpose as a castle was no longer needed) and was replaced by a Georgian Palace
It was a British Administration centre until the Irish Free State came to be in 1922, and since it's been a Republic of Ireland administration building.
I didn't love the place but nothing wrong with a visit - the tour is around an hour.
Some photos: Surprisingly they kept the UK Monarch paintings up in many places. Aside from that it was a chapel, some pretty standard dinning and state rooms and a square with a tower.
I didn't have much else in place that day so I decided to walk around the city and see some sites. I did have a beer in Temple Bar at a pub the name of which I can't remember. The city is on the River Liffey which is a relatively short but very important river as it cuts through Dublin and brought water down from the Wicklow Mountains (including to the Guinness Brewery!) The south side of the river is where the more historic section including Temple Bar is. There is also a major street than runs north / south called O'Connell Street named after Daniel O'Connell who fought for Irish rights throughout the 19th century
The River Liffey, Thunder Road (A TouchBistro customer), Temple Bar (looks better in person and George's Street Arcade)
I also found it interesting that there are two cathedrals in Dublin - I believe because one is Anglican (Christchurch - Church of Ireland), whereas one is Catholic (St Patrick's). Both are beautiful from the outside although I didn't go into either. If I had to pick I would have gone into St Patrick's.
Photos of the two major cathedrals:
Day 5
Who wouldn't start out a day with a Guinness Storehouse tour! Well I may have preferred later but due to timings of the Gaol tour and the Trinity College tours I had to go early. Anyway they say Guinness Stout is healthy and can be drunk as a meal - sounds like a decent breakfast to me!
The tour is quite good, if a little commercial. The tour takes place in a part of the brewery at St. James Gate. The site was originally 4 acres and was leased for 9,000 years at £45 / year. Sounds like the founder of Guinness - Arthur Guinness cut a good deal (although the lease has since been terminated as the property / site has undergone ownership and size changes over the years).
I learned a few interesting things:
Guinness is owned by the evil Diageo who also owns many of the Scottish whiskey distillers and I'm sure many other brands and brews.
They produce 3 millions pints a day there
They use 4 ingredients (barley - roasted and not roasted), hops, water and yeast (a secret yeast kept for 100s of years) Of course it has to be secret and amazing otherwise they'd not have a brand!
They figured out how to make the perfect carbonated (or should we say nitrogen-anted) beer by adding nitrogen to added the right fizziness to it
Guinness is claims to be 'healthy' which you could believe if the ingredients do contain healthy antioxidants and vitamins and minerals as claimed!
They have a nice 7th floor glass bar which I had my 1 free pint in. The tour was self guided which I didn't now but there was enough there to keep you busy for an hour or two depending on how much you wanted to read.
Photos: The entry, the lease, the brewing process, the 'not real' safe where one of the backup yeasts is kept, hand made barrels formerly used, learn how to pour a Guinness bar, rooftop bar and the final product!
A pano view of the factory:
Trinity College Dublin
From the Guinness Storehouse it was off to Trinity College Dublin where I got a tour from a just graduated student who claimed he could not get a job from his politics and law degree (maybe the Irish are too nice to sue!) Trinity was founded in 1592, given its charter by E1. The college itself is quite a sight with a couple very large quads surrounded by old lovely looking buildings that you expect to find in an old European university.
Around Campus:
The highlight of the tour though is the Old Library which is a very old looking long hall filled with really old books ordered - you guessed it - from heavy at the bottom to light at the top. Did anyone tell them about the dewey decimal system. When you are there you can see why though, the shelves are purpose built to hold the books.
The Old Library was also used as a the basis of a large library in a film! You may be thinking Harry Potter, but alas no, it was Star Wars! They used it as the Jedi Library (although only the shell as the Star Wars version is digital).
Photos: Fake Book of Kells, the Irish harp - although that is the Guinness version as it's shaped like a D (the national Irish version is shaped mirror image to a D), one of the many busts, and a sphere of art outside which I liked.
The library is also the home of the Book of Kells - an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. The Book of Kells is by some accounts Ireland's most important national treasure. I didn't find it that exciting - you can only see a few pages that are open at the time. From a historic perspective and art perspective I can see though why it's treasured.
A facsimile for the Book of Kells.
Kilmainham Gaol
Last (and maybe least) for the day was Kilmainham Gaol. The Gaol is probably best known as a prison for Irish revolutionaries and separatists as it housed many of them in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The tour focused a lot on this topic and the stories of some individual prisoners, many of whom were executed.
The tour was about 6 or 7 stops each with an overview of the area in the gaol and some stories for those areas. The tour guide was quite passionate, but with so many names and pieces of information, after a while it was tough to follow all the details.
The tour lasted around an hour and by the end I was ready to move on. I had also gone to the museum ahead of time as I got there early. I found it more interesting than the tour although you can't see the innards of the goal without the tour. The museum apparently is free. Speaking of free I got into the gaol tour for free due to!!! you guessed it my membership with English Heritage.
Some photo of the Gaol. It was tough to get good photos due to the lighting and crowds. It's best to go to the site to take a look at their photos.
The goal was highlighted many times as a must see. For Irish citizens I can see why, for foreigners it will depend on your interest level in Irish independence history.
Is that all there is?
Well yes for me, but no for Ireland. On a future trip I will have to see the south (Munster, Cork, Limerick, et al).
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