Dublin: "Éirinn go Brách" ("Ireland Forever")

by Steve W

Irish Flag, inside Dublin Castle.

While Belfast is in Northern Ireland, Dublin is in the Republic of Ireland. It is easy to confuse the two countries; the key difference is that Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom with England, Scotland and Wales, while Ireland is not part of the UK, as a result of the Irish War of Independence from 1919 to 1921 (although the conflict started years earlier). Because it is an independent country, Ireland is not subject to the laws or whims of the UK government. It is also not part of the Brexit movement, which is causing problems of its own as it relates to the currently open border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Unexpectedly, the trains were sold out, so we took a bus from Belfast to Dublin, passing through beautiful countryside. The next day, we walked into town, passing through St. Stephen's Green. In many places in the city, there are monuments to fighters in the battle for independence and stories about the various skirmishes that took place in different parts of town. It was here that we first heard of Countess Markievicz, a rebel who became well known as a sniper from the College of Royal Surgeons, across the street from the park. When the rebel leadership sent the order to surrender, the Countess kissed her gun before handing it over and said, "I am ready". More on the Countess later in this post.

Passing Trinity College, we headed in to the heart of the city. Near Trinity is a statue of Thomas Moore, an Irish poet mentioned in "Ulysses" by noted Irish author James Joyce. Under the statue is a plaque that quotes from the book.

Note the roguish finger.

James Joyce

Downtown are more monuments to the rebels and union leaders as well as civic buildings, including the General Post Office, once home to the leaders of the uprising. You can still see where bullets struck the building. A couple of days later, we strolled up and down O'Connell Street, the main drag in town.

The next day, we took a portion of the hop on, hop off bus tour. We often do this to get a sense of the city as well as the locations of different places we might enjoy seeing in more detail. As part of our journey around the city, we went to Dublin Castle (it's not a real European city without a castle or a palace).

In the courtyard was a replica of a stylized David with the head of Goliath, with another version inside the castle museum.

David looks in the pink. Goliath, not so much.

While we were there, the museum had an exhibit called "On A Pedestal", with busts in a variety of mediums and styles.

"Noble Nobleman" by Ann Carringrton made out of aluminium cans.

Self portrait of Kimido Yoshida as Louis XIV

"Hipster Farnese in bronze" by Leo Caillard

On the grounds of the Castle is the Chester Beatty Museum, an incredible collection amassed by Mr. Beatty of original artworks and manuscripts from the Middle East and Asia, which he donated to the City of Dublin. Unfortunately, no photos are allowed inside.

As Ireland is a primarily Catholic country, the spiritual center (and oldest building) is Christ Church Cathedral, originally built in 1030 by the Norse king, Sitriuc. It was formally incorporated into the Irish church in 1152 and within a decade Lawrence O'Toole, who later became the patron saint of Dublin, was named as archbishop. Like many churches and other structures from that era, the church has been rebuilt and renovated many times. It was the choir from Christ Church that first performed Handel's "Messiah" in 1742.

In the 1860s the church organ was undergoing refurbishment, and a mummified cat and rat were found in the pipes.

Near the church is Dublinia, a reminder that Dublin was founded by the Norse. Focusing on the Viking and Medieval history of the city, Dublinia has a museum as well as a "ride" through scenes from a Viking village of that era. Here, two Viking soldiers salute each other.

Call me "Sven".

Having passed it several times during our travels, we decided to go inside Trinity College to see the Book Of Kells exhibit. The Book Of Kells is an illustrated manuscript Gospel book in Latin believed to have been created in 800 AD.

The center of the quad at Trinity College

On our last day, we went to the Kilmainham Gaol, which opened in 1796 and closed in 1924. Kilmainham housed many of the leaders of the many revolts by the Irish against the English, some of whom were executed on the site of the gaol. One of them, James Connolly, was so badly wounded in the fighting that he could not stand, so he was tied to a chair and executed. In addition to Connelly, the execution of 12 other leaders of the Easter Rising of 1916 galvanized public support for the rebels and led to the War of Independence a few years later.

One of the leaders of that revolt who was imprisoned here was Countess Markievicz. Although she was sentenced to be executed, she was spared, which led her to complain as to why she was being treated differently than her compatriots.

Nameplate above her cell.

There is much more to see and do in Dublin, but our time was limited, so we moved on to Cardiff in Wales.

---

[Note: We were here in late October. The weather was pleasantly cool.]

We await your comments! If you followed a link from Facebook or Linkedin, please comment here, not there. If you are an email subscriber, please DO NOT REPLY TO THE EMAIL; replies just go to a dead end. To leave a comment, please look below or click here.