Erin go Bragh - Dublin

You think you've had bad days?

By some estimates there are up to 80 million people around the world with Irish ancestry, which is an amazing number considering the current combined population of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (which is part of the U.K., but you already knew that, right?) is around 7 million. I am part of that diaspora. Though my mother was a Londoner and a proud English and British woman, some of her ancestral branches meander off into Ireland and Scotland, the former especially on her mother's side. My great-grandmother on my father's side of the family was the classic Irish immigrant who landed on Ellis Island I believe sometime in the 1880's (at least according to what my father told me). Though I've always been conscious of my English and Scottish lineage, for a long time I'd never paid much attention to my Irish roots. I certainly didn't want to be the type of American mocked in this SNL skit:

That changed a while back when my parents made a trip to Ireland. While hearing about it from my mother, she remarked that I should be more aware of our Irish heritage. And so fast forwarding to the present day, when I decided to visit Paris as part of our R&R trip this summer, instead of visiting other parts of France (perhaps for another day), I added a trip to Ireland to our itinerary. And so the Wednesday on the 8th of July found the three of us on Air France flight from Charles de Gaulle Airport to Dublin. My wife snapped this photo as we made our approach to land:

After arriving we picked up a rental car and drove to our accommodations, arriving in the late afternoon. For our first taste of Ireland for dinner we ended up at a...New Orleans-inspired eatery called Krewe where I had that Irish staple, tacos. At least I did enjoy my first Guinness of our visit, though later I would learn that I preferred Smithwick's:

As long as there's beer and seafood on the menu (especially crab or shrimp) Shu-E is satisfied:

The area around our hotel had several Asian restaurants and this grocery store. To placate my wife's taste buds we would dine at a Chinese restaurant on our last evening in the Irish capital:

The stunning view from our hotel window on the morning of our only full day in Dublin. It was otherwise a good place to stay, with a decent breakfast. More importantly the room was air-conditioned, the only one during our stay in Ireland that had that amenity: 

This establishment that we passed by in the morning claims to be Dublin's "oldest merchant house and shop":

This day would turn out to be one dominated by museum visits, but it wasn't initially intended to be that way. The only such visit that was reserved online in advance of our trip was to Trinity College, Ireland's top university, founded by Queen Elizabeth I in 1592. More specifically we were there to see the Book of Kells Experience. As you can deduce for yourself it was a bright and sunny day:

Regarded as Ireland's greatest historical treasure, the Book of Kells is an illustrated manuscript/Celtic gospel created by Irish monks living on the Scottish isle of Iona around 800 CE:

Located in the Old Library, the Experience is an exhibition combining modern technology with historical insights:

One of my previous tours was in Addis Ababa which is why these 18th-century Ethiopic book satchels attracted my attention. Ethiopia is the second-oldest Christian country in the world (after Armenia), which makes "Do They Know It's Christmas" all the more condescending and cringeworthy:

The actual Book of Kells is displayed in a separate room, opened to only a couple of pages. Photography of such a delicate object is understandably prohibited: 

https://www.visittrinity.ie/blog/why-is-the-book-of-kells-important/

The other highlight of the Old Library is the aptly-named Long Room, spanning nearly 65 meters/213 feet in length: 

A rare original copy of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, issued by Irish nationalists who launched a revolt against British rule on Easter Monday in 1916. More on that later: 

The room is lined on both sides with marble busts of famous philosophers and writers from history. Of the stock of 4 million titles, the Long Room has over 200,000 oldest books in its bookcases, though many of the tomes were absent from the shelves for cleaning and restoration:

One of the exhibits was celebrating the 300th anniversary of the publication of Gulliver's Travels:

A medieval harp known as the Brian Boru harp, the oldest of its kind in Ireland. Glare from the class case made photographing the instrument a challenge:

A facsimile of the Book of Kells:

"Gaia" is a large illuminated globe created by British artist Luke Jerram that has been hanging in the Long Room since 2023: 

One can't leave Ireland without procuring a flat cap, that stereotypical symbol of Irishness, though I don't recall seeing a single person sporting one while we were in Eire (the heat might have played a part in that). The college's gift shop saw to that:

Top o' the morning to you:

Other than the Book of Kells exhibition our itinerary for the day was open to suggestion. Following some discussion the girls suggested the National Museum of Ireland - Archaeology, our second museum of the day and only a ten-minute walk from the college. And even better admission was free. The museum is housed in the former Dublin Museum of Science and Art, an ornate example of neoclassicism that opened in 1890. It's noted for its Irish marble columns, mosaic floors and rotunda, the latter rising 20 meters/66 feet above the floor: 

The museum looks small upon entrance but there were a lot of items on display covering the earliest human settlements, prehistoric goldwork, the development of Irish art up to the Medieval period (c. 1200 CE), Bronze Age and Iron Age kingship rituals, the Viking period and Medieval Ireland. There was even a room displaying ancient Egyptian relics, though what the connection is to Ireland wasn't clear. Needless to say I took a lot of photos, with a few of them shared here. Stifle those yawns.

A carved stone head dating from the 1st-2nd centuries CE:

A silver chalice from the 8th century:

The Cross of Cong from the early 12th century:

On the central floor of the museum is a large collection prehistoric goldwork dating between 2200 BCE and 500 BCE. Much of this gold was unearthed in peat bogs:

The 15-meter/49-foot-long Lurgan Logboat, dated back to around 2500 BCE, was unearthed from a bog in Galway in 1902:

The most arresting items in the museum were the Iron Age bog bodies, displayed in the Kingship and Sacrifice exhibition area. The first one we saw was the Baronstown West Man: 

Clonycavan Man, who died a violent death:

Old Croghan Man must have also really pissed someone off:

And finally there was Gallagh Man, whom you met at the start of this post:

Some of the less disturbing displays following the peat mummies included this embroidered cape, a medieval vestment made of Italian silk with Flemish embroidery. It was worn by priests on ceremonial occasions:

This 9th century Viking warrior was buried with his sword and dagger. His grave was uncovered in 1934:

There were various instruments of destruction from Ireland's violent past:

The Prosperous Crozier:

Swords and axes:

Bronze maces, with helpful illustrations showing how they were used:

The Ballylongford Cross, a processional cross discovered in 1871:

A small figure of a bishop which might have adorned a side altar or niche of a church:

By the time we finished at the Irish Museum we were getting hungry, and accidentally ended up at a historic pub for lunch. Accidental in that Kennedy's was chosen not for its backstory but because Google Maps said it was Irish and close by. 

We were joined at the table by Ireland's most famous writer. In China there is a chain of hotels called James Joyce Coffetel, where every room comes with a copy of Ulysses in Chinese. I have no intention on reading that classic in any language, including my own. We stayed at a James Joyce Coffetel when we drove to Inner Mongolia last summer while we were still in Beijing:

For my meal I had a beef & Guiness pie, washed down with an Irish craft beer: 

Joyce was at our table. Waiting for us outside was none other than Oscar Wilde. According to the plaque on the wall he was employed at the age of 14 in Kennedy's. It was his first job, and he earned a few shillings stacking shelves. "Alcohol often drunk in sufficient quantities can sometimes bring on the signs of drunkeness": 

After lunch it was time to discuss what to do next. Amber expressed an interest in seeing the GPO Museum. Shu-E, however, seeing that locale was a nearly 20-minute walk in the (Irish-level) heat and sunshine, and not having much of an interest in modern Irish history, opted to return to the air-conditioned comfort of our hotel.

On the way my daughter and I popped into a bookstore to have a look. From the titles on the shelves I drew the conclusion Irish readers are interested in the Great Famine and the Irish War of Independence. And who can blame them?

The O'Connell Monument. Located on O'Connell Street, Dublin's main thoroughfare, this 12-meter/40-foot-high granite and bronze monument honors nationalist leader Daniel O'Connell. Unveiled in 1892, it was damaged by gunfire during the Easter Rising of April 1916: 

On Easter Monday, April 14, 1916, Irish rebels rose against British rule, occupying buildings in Dublin and proclaiming an Irish Republic. The uprising was eventually crushed by British forces, but the executions of 16 of the Rising's leaders beginning the following month galvenized popular support for Irish independence, which was eventually achieved (at least in the southern part) with the establishment of the Irish Free State in December 1922.

The General Post Office served as the headquarters for the insurrectionists during the Uprising. The GPO Museum uses touchscreens, AV booths and artefacts from that time to tell the story of what happened before, during and after. A 17-minute-long film called Fire & Steel uses actors to recreate the roles of the main protagonists during the fighting: 

The dagger under the kettle has an interesting story: it was made in prison by Rory O'Connor, who was executed in December 1922 for his actions during the Irish Civil War. His execution order had been signed by government minister Kevin O'Higgins; O'Connor had been best man at his wedding just the year before. The civil war was fought between the new Irish government's forces and those republicans who had opposed the treaty that divided Ireland after the Irish Revolution. The government side prevailed, and ultimatey carried out the executions of 77 men, more than the 53 the British had executed during the 1919-1921 war for independence:

Surprisingly the General Post Office is still a functioning post office:

Close to the GPO stands the Dublin Spire. The tallest structure in the city, it marks the spot where Nelson's Pillar once stood until it was blown up by Irish nationalists in 1966. The spire is a 120-meter/394-foot-high stainless steel needle. At its base it's 3 meters/10 feet in diameter but tapers to just 15 centimeters/6 inches at its summit. One's neck gets very strained trying to see the top:

The two of us returned to the Staycity Apartments following a coffee and sweet treat break at a cafe to reunite with Shu-E. We had dinner soon after at a Chinese restaurant where the girls could order in Mandarin, then returned to the hotel. The view at sunset was a much more pleasant scene than that seen in the morning:

Like Paris, we only just skimmed the surface of Ireland's capital city as Dublin is much more than just a handful of interesting museums. But our time was limited, and unlike Paris, we had a country (or at least a small part of it) outside the capital to explore. More importantly we had a car by which to do so. In our next installment we will drive to Killarney. Hope you come along for the ride.  

To end this post I thought I would link to a video showcasing Irish music. I don't care much for Enya or U2, and am not in the mood at this moment for something more traditional. So I'll finish with this song from the Boomtown Rats. "I Don't Like Mondays" would've been the obvious choice, but I've always preferred this track even if the lyrics are obviously dated. Proof that Bob Geldof had a life before decided to feed the world: