Dublin in Nine Hours

 Fortunately for my driver, Robert, we are on a train line to Dublin. We had ambitious hopes for tours, visiting parks, shopping and checking out Irish music all in one day. We accomplished a lot in one exhausting day of being on our feet for at these 7 of those hours. I barely made the last mile back to the train at the end of the day. 

It started as a grey day but by 11:00 it cleared up to be magnificent. We’ve repeatedly been told how lucky we are to be experiencing such good weather. Hoping our luck holds up! Here is the view of the port as we walked across the river Liffey which runs through the middle of town.

Although we did not get any pub music, we came across a number of buskers on the street. This seemed to be a popular busking spot - in front of the church and next to the Molly Malone statue. Molly is the subject of a famous Irish folksong, which you may have heard. She’s likely an idealized, mythical figure, said to be a fishmonger. Somehow I think her dress is a little fancier than what a fishmonger would wear. Now if she wore the bust as low as this, she must have done a wale of a business! Notice that her bosom has been polished by passer goers and tourists.

Trinity College and the Book of Kells were the central purpose of our visit. The college was founded by the Queen of England in 1592 as a training center for Protestant clergy. By 1793 They allowed Catholics and “Dissenters” to attend. But the Catholic Church banned attendance until 1970. As you see this Protestant vs. Catholic thing has been going on for a long time!

Our visit to Trinity was partially a tribute to Robert’s cousin who attended school here in the late 1960s. We thought of her walking across campus and tried to imagine her lifestyle.

We toured the campus, learned about its history and famous people who had attended. It certainly represents the notion of the Ivory tower - a world of its own, set aside from the general populous on the other side of its walls.

One of the main buildings we entered was the geology building. The staircase reminded me of an MC Escher lithograph.  We also learned about the, now rare, Connemara marble which is this amazing green color. It’s mined in Galway.We’ve seen it in a few of the old estates around the country.

Another important building was the long room in the Old Library, built in the 18th century. Few books remain as they were removed for preservations. The world globe, called Gaia, hanging I the long room of the old library represents the  “ beauty and fragility” of the world and the importance of sustainability.

Since studying the book of Kells during art history classes in college, I fulfilled my dream of actually seeing it. It’s truly incredible what people were able to do in 800 AD.  We learned about its production and travels to preserve it from destruction by the invading Vikings. There are now engaging multimedia experiences to learn all of this. 

Here are a few shots around the small area of Dublin we managed to visit including the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, now a mall and coffee shops, George’s Street Arcade and music shops.

We had a great visit and wished we could have stayed for a few more days - there is so much more to see!