The Odyssey: Dublin

Dublin Castle

Although it has been continually occupied since 1204, Dublin Castle has been modernized several times. It is a mixture of era-styles as can be seen in the photo below:

A medieval section towers above the rest of the castle.

Dublin Castle's Georgian wing.

Despite its medieval look, the wall behind Sarah is a new part of the Dublin Castle complex; it was built for a visit by Queen Victoria. The wall's purpose was to block the queen's view of the slums on the other side of the lawn.

Dublin's "Spire" was installed about ten years ago.

It was our landmark as our inn was on one of the cross streets of the spire.

We were in the greater Dublin area for almost a week, but Dublin proper for three days. We booked Dublin for our last days in Ireland because we were leaving from Dublin airport and like to not have to worry about getting the the airport on time. The shuttle bus to the airport was provided by our inn.

Some of the places we visited in the Greater Dublin area such as the neolithic Brú na Bóinne passage

graves and Kells' four High Crosses were reported in the last post. Some places are going unreported such as the site of the Battle of the Boyne, which has a new interpretative center to describe this major turning point in Irish history. I wasn't that interested as it is mostly fields where the fighting took place and I didn't care who won. I am sure that religion played a role in it. If you're interested in learning more, click here.

Replicas of WMDs used during the battle.

The head of St. Oliver Plunkett is in a reliquary in St. Peter's RC Church (Drogheda).

Plunkett was the last Catholic to be martyred in England (1681)

and the first Irish saint in almost 700 years (1975)

Dublin celebrated its millennium in 1988, but a Vikings settlement was there somewhat earlier. We saw archeological traces during our tour of Dublin Castle's basement. There are also artifacts in Dublin's archeology museum.

In order to promote the speaking of Irish, Ireland passed the Official Language Act (2003) which mandates the use of Gaelic in official signs and documents. Road directions, etc. are in both Gaelic and English.

Having English on the sign made it clearer.

Gaelic is the first language of many in the western Irish communities and in some villages elsewhere. Our host in Dingle expressed concern that her son, who wanted to pursue a career in science, felt hampered in that his local school teaches all classes in Gaelic and he would have to re-learn everything in English when he went to college.

Fishmonger

Molly Malone, the fictional representative of Dublin.

This buxom beauty is also known around town as 'The Tart with the Cart' and 'The Dish with the Fish.'

Jewish Museum
Synagogue (below right) on the second floor

We didn't know what days the Jewish Museum was open, but since we were close, we walked over. We weren't that close, but we saw sights along the way such as G.B. Shaw's house. Fortunately for us, when we got there two people were organizing the exhibits and let us in and showed us around. Even more fortunately, one of the people was Mrs. Briscoe, the daughter-in-law of Robert Briscoe, Dublin's first Jewish Lord Mayor, and the wife of the the Lord Mayor who unveiled the Molly Malone statue (above) in 1988.

George Bernard Shaw's boyhood home was around the corner (below right). The other two literary figures pictured are Oscar Wilde (l) and James Joyce (c). There is a greater percentage of major authors from Dublin than anywhere else. Maybe it's the drink; there's a Literary Pub Crawl.

We did our own pub crawl, but without the literature or the drink, at least not much drink.

Some of these pubs have been here for more than a century.

The one above was founded in 1840.

This time we found something that we liked: Cider. And live music.

Sarah gets into it!

More culture:

Famous dead guy

Since this statue is large and at the beginning of the main street, I'd say that it was of a VERY famous dead guy.

Kilmainham Gaol:

Opened in 1796, this prison was used by the British to hold and execute many of the Irish revolutionaries in the 20th century.

Entrance from street and the balcony from which prisoners were hanged.

A cell for five. The window is a newer addition.

Victorian Wing

One of the revolutionaries was too weak to be properly executed; he was placed in a chair and shot.

Natural History Museum

The extinct Irish elk (l) and the very Victorian show cases

We didn't stay here long as we were only interested in animals native to Ireland. The other animals we'd already seen elsewhere, like NYC. We were more interested in the Archaeology Museum around the corner.

Archaeology Museum

Dugout Canoe

Parks

St. Stephen's Green is Europe's largest garden square.

The weather was unusually balmy for late March and the lawns were filled during mid-day with workers enjoying an out-of-doors lunch and even some sunbathers.

Georgian Houses

Many homes and public buildings were constructed during the Georgian period (Kings George I-IV). Henrietta Street (above) has the oldest remaining Georgian houses in Dublin.
In the 19th century many were turned into tenements.
Some are occupied, others are being renovated.

I found them of interest because we live in a Georgian colonial, but built later.

Our house

At dusk, as we were looking at our map while touring the older area, a gentleman stopped and asked if we needed directions. He then advised us to leave the area and get to the south side of the river which divides Dublin. That's the safe side, he said.

We later learned what a north-sider wearing a suit is called: The Defendant.

This didn't faze us and we stayed in the area for dinner. It's multicultural. [And I'm from Brooklyn as in, "I'm from Brooklyn. Don't ---- wif me!" (Expletive deleted.)

There has been an influx of workers from eastern Europe.
There were at least four Polish superettes within a few blocks of our inn.

As we traveled through the towns and villages of Ireland, we often heard the lilt of "The Old Sod" in the voices of clerks and waitstaff. Very often today, the "Old Sod" is Lithuania, Ukraine or Poland.

The south of the River Liffey.

The Shelbourne Hotel's footman giving Sarah directions.
The Shelbourne overlooks St. Stephen's Green's north side.
Bill Clinton, Desmond Tutu and Bud Abbot are among the many luminaries who stayed here.
I may have sat on the same toilet as one of them.
Is ass kissing in order?

Neat row houses overlook St. Stephen's Green's south side.

One of the things that we found interesting was seeing modern stores in quaint 18th and 19th century buildings. We have some of that in NYC, too, but not so much as we have a tendency to knock things down and build something new.

THE END

We added our flock of Irish lambs (stuffed) to our herd of Moroccan camels (carved), Prado Hieronymus Bosch breakfast sets (ceramic) and other souvenirs (two carry-ons) and headed for DUB & NYC.

Why we don't travel more