Dublin ~ Where are the Jays

Can you see the harp? A harp is a symbol of Ireland

We drive back to Belfast in a light rain where we return the car and then wait for a bus to take us to Dublin city center. The weather turns worse, so we are very glad to be passengers on the 3-hour drive to downtown Dublin. Happily, when we arrive the weather has cleared. We had not completely unpacked since we left Belfast so it was time to discover some of our clothes.

The Church Bar and Restaurant

After unpacking, we wandered a block or 2 to a restaurant Jeff had noticed on our way to our hotel. It is in an old church and something I had made a note about months ago. The food was pretty good, and the views were impressive.

view from our table; notice stain glass in back

After dinner we wandered around the area some and then headed back to the hotel. Must say we slept well that night because I set an alarm for 8 the next morning just to be sure I got up - assuming my early bird husband would be wide awake working on something. Wrong. My alarm woke us both up. We threw on some workout clothes since there is a gym in our hotel then cleaned up ate and started exploring.

Trinity College and the Book of Kells

We had booked a tour of Trinity College with the Long Room Library and a special exhibit on the Book of Kells. After a little confusion, we found the main gate to the school (no sign anywhere with a campus name) and found the tour starting spot. The tours are led by Trinity students - ours was Harry a Drama student and soon-to-be graduate who was a great tour guide. We wandered around the interior square of the campus to several buildings. He pointed out one building that only students are allowed to enter since it is a memorial to past students who died in wars and is a present-day graduate residence hall. He then pointed out another student residence and told us a story of a junior headmaster who died in a room and is now a ghost in that building. He went on to say that each year some poor student is still assigned to that room.

center of campus with the memorial building across the way

I suspect most of the people on the tour booked it partially to see the campus but really to see the Long Room Library and the Book of Kells. However, the most impressive building in many ways is the Musuem Building. It was built as a geography building by the Guiness family thus money was not an issue. The builders were also sculpturers. There is a row all around the outside of the building of each type of flower native to Ireland (no repeats), there is gorgeous work on doorways and on the roof. Then there is the marble/granite in the building. There are columns of stone in it that you cannot even build with now-a-days it is so rare. Including one called Connemara green marble that is used for jewelry these days. The columns were inside where we also saw a gorgeous tile ceiling. The ceiling has skylights; they placed blue tiles close to the skylights with the goal of making it seem seamless on a sunny day. Oh, the tile work was meant to resemble an Iranian bath house.

exterior of Museum Building

examples from flower row

interior

ceiling

Then we wandered some more to the outside of the theatre where Harry told us a couple of stories about Samuel Becket and Oscar Wilde. (Meet Harry) After all that and dodging some brief rain showers, we headed to the library - well the one we all came to see. It seems there are 5 other ones on campus too. The library is undergoing a renovation project so many of the books were off the shelf, but it was still an impressive site. Then on our own we headed to the library to see the book of Kells and the long room.

Gaia exhibit in library

Confession here: before we planned this trip, I knew nothing about the Book of Kells. For those like me. It is 4 gospels of the New Testament written in honor of Saint Columba. It is known partially for its age and also because it is extremely well illustrated. Saint Columba brought Christianity to Scotland on the isle of Iona (we visited it 2 years ago). The book was written years later in his honor- around 800BC. This is during the times of Vikings who knew that monasteries had riches and were not well defended. Several times the monastery was attacked so the monks made a dangerous journey across the sea to Ireland to a monastery in Kells. Only the book was not safe there either at first due to wars. It was buried at one time and when found again no longer had its fancy cover which had held jewels. Ok history lesson done.

The exhibit had an audio version and wonderful wall size blow up of pages so you could see the detail work in the book. It was pointed out that the book was written on vellum (lamb/cow hides) and used native ingredients for the colors of the ink. To this day, many of the colors are quite vibrant. The book was written by several scribes and the experts can tell the difference in their styles. Guess I should add it is in Latin. We also got to go into a darkened room where they had the book open for all to see. I highly recommend it.

Food Tour

Shortly after we finished touring the campus, we had a food tour scheduled - good timing we were getting hungry! There would be 5 of us with our guide Shannon on this tour. One couple had just landed that morning from Canada, we were impressed they made it through the whole tour on their lack of sleep. We started off in a pub where we had a choice of a beef dish, lamb stew or seafood chowder plus a half pint of beer (our choosing) and a small glass of Jameson. I had the seafood chowder which was very good, and Jeff enjoyed the lamb stew. He went with a Guiness, and I tried a Kilkenny which is also a stout beer. To my surprise, I really liked the Jameson they gave us too. On to our next stop - Wigwam for Irish Coffee.

Um I despise coffee - no problem you can have something else I was assured. They made the Irish coffee in front of us. It started with strong hot coffee then they added some hot water, some Irish Whisky, some whole milk cream and then just the essence of an orange. Jeff had some and said it didn't really taste like coffee. I passed and got an unusual, iced tea. We were wandering around the Temple Bar area, so she pointed out THE Temple Bar and warned that it is seriously overpriced and recommended a couple of nearby places as more reasonable options. A chocolate store kept coming up in conversation so before we leave Jeff and I need to visit a Butler Chocolate store (small local chain that is supposed to be good). From there we stopped and had oysters - did that in Belfast too. Again, locally farm raised. I liked it better than the one in Belfast, but still prefer them chargrilled at Jesses in Fort Morgan. From there we went to a little deli for cheese - Ireland is known for their dairy products. We had 3 cheeses and a glass of wine. I enjoyed all three of them and got Jeff to try the Blue Cheese which he declared not bad. A big compliment from him for a strong cheese. It was a creamy cheese which is not the norm for Blue Cheese the other 2 were a cheddars one plain and one with herbs. We walked around a little more with our guide pointing out some places that locals visit and then we went to our last stop. Murphy's Ice Cream - YES!! I knew ice cream was on the menu AND a Netflix show we watch a little (Feed Phil) had visited Dublin and had ice cream, from guess where. We each had a small scoop of sea salt and of brown bread (yes you read that right). Both were nice, but I preferred the sea salt. The brown bread had little pieces of bread in it - kind of like cookie dough but smaller pieces. Nice ending to a good tour. Jeff and I were ready to meander back to our hotel and decided to pick up a couple of sandwiches for later because we knew we wouldn't want a full meal.

Temple Bar is both a bar and a part of town paved with cobblestones

Irish coffee with grated nutmeg on top of them

Next morning I set my alarm for 8 again, this time Jeff was up and working away on something. We had gotten a Dublin Pass so we could visit several museums and sites over the next couple of days at a reduced price. Time to start using it.

EPIC the Irish Immigration Museum and Jeanie Johnston Famine Ship

We had heard about this museum which is about the immigration experience of the Irish. Well Epic is a good name for it because it is an epic experience. When you get your ticket, they tell you that you can come back within 10 days for a second visit. This is a large museum and doing it in 2 days would be good, but truthfully, I never saw a place to just leave it early; you would have had to wander through all the rooms on the way to the exit, I think. Parts of it are very good, it is just too much and when they got into all the stars and well-known Irishman throughout the ages it was a bit much. There was a "passport" you could punch as you went through the various galleries - 20 of them. The first half were about why people left at different times in history from the potato famine to lack of jobs in the early to mid 20 century to the troubles in the late 20th century. One interesting fact about Ireland is that it is one of only 2 countries that has a lower population now than it did in mid 19th century. We have been told several times that if Ireland's population had continued as most countries did it would now have a population over 30 million instead it is a population of 6.6 million. EPIC is a good place to visit if you have the time.

a piece of art depicting all the ways through the ages that people immigrated from Ireland from small ships to constantly larger ships to airplanes

Since at its base, the museum is about Irish people who immigrated to other lands, there is a wall that just scrolls through names of people who left and when they did. There is a kiosk where you can add your relative and then see it projected on the screen. I did that for my ancestor on my mother's side.

Right outside the door of the epic museum is a replica of a famine ship. This particular one was the Jeanie Johnston. This ship was famous because unlike all of the other ships people did not die on it let alone in the large numbers on the other ships. Seems there were 2 times a year when the seas were calm enough for the ships to sail to North America - April and August. Now realize this was a lucrative side hustle for these ships. Historically they came from North America with lumber on the deck to Ireland and then returned empty. Taking immigrants/famine survivors to Canada or America was purely a money maker. Even so most ships' captains were not concerned about the health of their human "cargo" and thus 30% or more of the people on a ship would die on the way to America. This particular ship provided food and water for you and required that you get out on deck once a day -others did not let you go out on deck. This difference allowed you to clean your bed linens from grime and get some vitamin D. Also, this ship carried only 200 people in the hold while the others held 300. I did some calculating while we were in the hold and there was not a lot of room - bunks of 5 people, 3 levels deep so I can't imagine how tight it was on the other ships. We heard a couple of nice stories too about unique people who came over on that ship and how they lived in America. Unique because one example was a baby that was born right as the ship was sailing. Most captains would have put the mother and child off at port, but this guy took them to America and the baby eventually grew up and owned a bar and had lots of kids.

top corner food ration for a family for a week, bottom 5 to a bunk with 2 rows above you

Jeanie Johnston is old ship; new swing bridge that looks like a harp

Dublin Castle

After those 2 museums, we were ready for something different. Not sure why a castle seemed different, but it did. Dublin Castle is right in town and still in use for ceremonial purposes. It also has a nice garden. The tower is undergoing renovation so no visit there. While the outside has some stonework it is not gorgeous in any way. The interior is much nicer. There are long hallways with all sorts of portraits and pretty ceilings, other rooms with lots of old paintings and nice furniture. The rooms still used are a big room for large dinners and a hall that is where the Irish President is sworn in. (Note Irish President is a ceremonial position not political - their leader is a Prime Minister). Just beyond the tower is a garden with very nice plantings along the edges and bricks inlaid in the grass with designs,

top left is the State corridor
room on top right is a huge, very ornate hall where the president is sworn in
bottom picture is a throne room from when British ruled

Dubh Linn Garden outside of castle

Jameson Distillery

We ended our tours for the day at the Jameson Distillery. Thankfully it was not as alcohol intensive as the tour up in Bushmills. It did however start off with a complimentary drink before you even started the tour. Now they no longer actually make the whiskey here in Dublin, but rather in the Southeast of Ireland so this is all for show. Jeff and I decided that the distilleries and Guiness hired away some of Disney's special effects and story tellers for their tours because they are very high tech at times. There was not a lot to take pictures of, so you get me with my drink in hand. We tasted 3 whiskeys and had a glass of water to cleanse our palates between them. For once, I actually preferred their less expensive version!

notice the words on the floor of the area to my right

Gallagher's Boxty House

Sometimes deciding where to eat can be a major decision. Happily, this night we remembered that Phil from Netflix had eaten at a couple of places in town and even better one was nearby so off we went. While it was busy they could take us, and we sat in the front window. No doubting we were in the correct place because paper clipped to the menu was a sub menu that could be ordered call Phill's tasting. We ordered that to share. Phil has good tastes by the way. What is a boxty house you ask? Well, it is named for a boxty which is a type of potato pancake (little more solid) that has ingredients on top of it.

Dublinia and Christ Church Cathedral

It is just a little after noon on a Sunday, but we figured the cathedral would be open to the public by now. Wrong not for another half an hour. There is another museum right across the street - good spot to stay warm and dry and explore a little while we wait. That was a good decision. It is in an equally old building and all about Vikings in Dublin. We spend a little under an hour in the museum and learn a lot about Vikings in Dublin - some stayed and helped Dublin become an established area. The museum also has a medieval tower which we go up and enjoy the view. From there we are able to utilize the enclosed bridge to cross over to Christ Church which is part of the Church of Ireland so protestant. The church was first founded in 1030 with updates in the 19th century. Being an old cathedral there are many people born here and many old documents. As a cider drinker, I recognize the name Strongbow, but till this trip did not know there was a person nicknamed Strongbow. Actual name is Richard de Clare and he captured Dublin for the Anglo-Normans in 1170. In the crypt area they had many old documents including an Irish version of the Magna Carta (I knew what that was).

Christ Church Cathedral

Dublinia on the right, bridge and then Cathedral

inside bridge between Dublin’s and Cathedral

Cathedral is very pretty inside

Guinness Storehouse

One of the places you are told to visit while in Dublin is the Guiness Storehouse. Now they do actually brew somewhere around where we were, but we saw a very stylized description of brewing beer. Guiness has an indoor water feature that puts the Bellagio fountains in Vegas to shame. They use the water to define designs and to spell out Guiness. Things I learned - they roast their barley at a very high temperature (almost burn it), a former mathematics professor discovered the value of adding nitrogen/nitrous oxide to the beer to make more easily transported, it is actually red in color, and they claim to do everything extraordinary to make their beer great. An interesting part of the tour was that we did a small glass tasting. We were told that you do NOT sip a Guiness rather you must take a good-sized drink so that you get past the foam. Once we did that we were told to exhale through our nose. Surprisingly you were able to more clearly notice the various flavors in the beer. From there we went to a floor full of various ads of theirs through the years. Then up to the Gravity Bar for our free tasting. During the safari someone recommended to me that I ask for a Ladies Guiness. Well the bartender did not know that name, but he did know a black fog which seemed to be the same drink - I enjoyed it by the way. Unfortunately, this part of the tour was underwhelming which was surprising because we had read a lot of recommendations to visit this bar. It is a 360* bar at the top of the building so 7th floor. Problem was that it was overflowing with people finding a place to stand was a problem let alone sitting. Happily, we did a good poaching job and grab a table and 2 seats at the window to finish our beers.

the word Guiness is actually a water fall in the background
These three images recreate the effect

St Patrick Cathedral

I had assumed if Christ Church was protestant than St Patrick was Catholic - wrong. It is the National Cathedral for Ireland, and it is a Church of Ireland cathedral. Surprisingly it is very close to Christ Church. St Patrick's has a very nice park right next to it which on Sunday was busy with people and a little fair. We stopped to check out the fair and got to the church as they were closing so we came back first thing Monday morning. We have heard stories from Hop On Hop Off bus tour guides from when Jonathan Swift (as in Gulliver's Travels) was the minister here so one of the sites we look for is his burial spot. The church is quite pretty, and we wander for a few minutes then head down to the crypt where we see lots of very old ceremonial serving pieces and read stories of things being hidden when it went from a Catholic building to Protestant and back and forth again. We are short on time so head on our way.

Teeling Distillery

This distillery was not our original plan after the church. We had planned on visiting a distillery in a church only because it is in a former church and we're curious. However, we discover they are not open for tours on a Monday - oh well. Now what to do? Well Teeling is nearby, and we have heard it is interesting so off we go. We are able to sneak into a tour group's tour. This is a rarity as it is a true working distillery. Matter of fact in 2015 when they opened, they were the only distillery in town. The distillery is owned by 2 brothers whose last name is Teeling. Historically there was a Teeling distillery in Dublin and dad has run a small distillery outside of town, so they had an idea what they were getting into. This is the best alcohol related tour we had done in Ireland; we decide. It is a low-key tour with gleaming clean and new buildings; they're not full of themselves. Doesn't hurt that their symbol is a Phoenix rising on top of a whiskey pot wither (Atlanta ties for Jeff). We do the tour, get our taste of their whiskey and our cocktail and talk with our server a little bit. Oh, by the way, we like their whiskey, and it is sold in the States at Total Wine and Costco. Hmmm

Howth Coastal Tour

As part of our Dublin City Pass we could do a 4-hour bus tour to a coastal fishing village. We had read about how cute the town was on a couple of travel blogs so we are eager to go on the tour even though it is our last day in Dublin. Thus, our time limitations in the morning. We get to the bus early so we can be upfront on top (undercover) happily while not in front we are undercover. The bus fills up and off we go. Our driver points out a couple of things downtown before we head to the dockyards area and then north. He pointed out the "portal". I had forgotten about that - it is new this spring. Literally it is kind of a portal - reality it is a camera on this end broadcasting in New York's Times Square and vice versa on this end. I want to check it out when we get back.

We get off the bus twice. The first time we are on top of the headlands and have a half an hour to wander around and take pictures. Back on the bus for the five-minute drive to the town below. On the way he points out some good places to eat and the piers that you can walk out on and see a couple of islands and maybe Scotland. He had mentioned that one was particularly good for calamari; we make a beeline for that restaurant and order some. As he said it was wonderfully soft and non-chewy. Then we explored the area a bit and much too soon we had to hop back on the bus for our ride back to Dublin.