Back to Dublin
Weather: Temperature around 12C or 53F, slight rain, misty.
Well, time for the final chapter to begin. Got everyone packed up and off to the airport. Easy enough, arranged a taxi online with Cabs+, showed up right on time and only cost 30EU for the group of 5. The city bus would have been 7EU but it would have been hours to get to the airport, standing room only and with luggage! No thanks! Checked in with RyanAir, BTW if you don’t print out your boarding pass before you get to the counter plan on paying 8EU for them to print it out for you. Their motto ought to be “RyanAir, making a buck anywhere we can and at your expense”. Guess that would be too much to paint on the plane.
Our B&B in Dublin was Stauntons on the Green, next to St. Stephens Green. Now this is billed as a B&B but in reality it’s a hotel with meals. It’s also the hottest place on Earth! I understand it can get cold in Ireland but when you have to strip down to skivvies when you check in, might be a little too warm. The girl at the counter didn’t seem to mind, Justin was with us. This is a big hotel and rooms are pretty spread out, biggest issue, no lift! Get ready to carry those 50lb suitcases up several flights of stairs. Cost of this hotel is 103.50EU for a twin per night.
Checked in and being retired we want to try all methods of walking so we decide to mosey down to Temple Bar district for dinner and traditional Irish music. Dinner was at The Old Mill and was absolutely fabulous! We all voted to have traditional grub, fish & chips, beef and Guinness pie, shepherd’s pie, etc. Complete with a pint of Smithwick’s ale and a glass of wine, great meal!
Shepherd’s Pie
Beef and Guinness Stew
Dinner is over now for some music. If you haven’t been to Dublin during Christmas, you’re really missing something. They certainly get into the decorations and Christmas spirit. All the streets are decorated as well as all the stores and pubs, very festive. We walked down to John Gogarty’s just in time for the band to take a break, union rules, so off to Temple Bar. The band there wasn’t playing traditional music so back to Gogarty’s. This time the band was playing and the music was good so we had a few pints and enjoyed the evening.
Temple Bar at Christmas
Grafton Street
The next morning we enjoyed our breakfast, typical English / Irish breakfast with all the trimmings then sauntered (yet another style) out to catch the HO-HO. I know, “what you got stock in Hop On-Hop Off?” No, just a good way to get around a large city with lots of things to see in a short period of time. Cost of our tour is 20EU per person, not too bad considering the ground we will cover.
With only one day to explore Dublin we needed to make the most of our time so Collette planned out the stops on the bus tour and off we went. First stop, Dublin Trinity College and the Book of Kells. The book is housed in the college’s Old Library which is the earliest surviving building on campus. Three medieval manuscripts are maintained for display in the Library, The Book of Kells, The Book of Armagh and The Book of Durrow. The Long Room located upstairs from the book viewing room is some 215 feet long and holds over 200,000 of the Library’s oldest books. Short description of the Book of Kells: The Book of Kells is one of the most famous of a group of manuscripts written in Insular style, a very detailed graphic style that consists of decorated letters, swirling motifs, Celtic knots and ornamentation. Written around the year 800 at the Abbey of Kells where it got its name, the book is actually a collection of 4 volumes of which 2 are on display. No photos are allowed so you’ll just have to go and see it for yourself. Sorry. Cost to see the book is 10EU per person or 9EU if you’re over 60, yeah baby!
Next stop was St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Admission was around 8EU per person, 7EU over 60, yeah baby! Originally built as a wooden structure around the 5th century it was rebuilt using stone by the Normans around 1191 and rebuilt again around the 13th century which is the building existing today. Major reconstruction in the 1800’s was paid for by Sir Benjamin Guinness, yep same one as the beer. There are numerous exhibits within the cathedral, many of which are memorials to fallen soldiers. One interesting exhibit is the “reconciliation door”. The door, called “The Chapter Door” is said to have been used to end the feud between the Earl of Kildare and the Earl of Ormond. The story is that the Earl of Kildare cut a hole in the door and through it stretched out his arm to grasp the hand of the Earl of Ormond, his enemy, who had taken refuge in the Chapter house. By taking this initiative, peace was restored. Guess we could use a door between the World and ISIS.
Speaking of Guinness, that’s the next stop. The Guinness Storehouse has evolved into a real money-making attraction. Not only does it take you through the steps involved in making Guinness beer, it has food courts, souvenir shops, restaurants, and the Gravity Bar located on the top floor with 360 degree views of Dublin. All for the small price of 20EU per person, 16EU over 60, you know. So for the tidy sum of 96EU we were allowed to have a glass of Guinness in the Gravity Bar, that’s it unless you put a value on the tour. Huh, put that way I’m not surprised why so many people have been calling me with swamp land for sale.
So it only seems appropriate that the next stop on our tour is the prison, the Kilmainham Gaol. Opened in 1796 Kilmainham quickly became a prison for those considered as political radicals. Although in the 19th century there were numerous persons, including women and children, that were imprisoned here for crimes ranging from stealing bread to murder. The youngest of these was a 5 year old child imprisoned for stealing bread.
Probably the most significant event for Kilmainham was the imprisonment and execution of the leaders of the 1916 Rising. Between 3rd and 14th May 1916, 14 men were executed by firing squad in the old stone-breakers yard. The last man of the 14 to be executed was James Connolly and was said to have been too badly injured from the fighting to stand. Connolly was brought to Kilmainham via ambulance and tied to a chair and shot. His body was buried with the others in a mass grave. These executions were not well received by the Irish public and actually gathered support for the movement.
Damn, after that uplifting tour, we needed alcohol. Number 5 on our Dublin tour, and last stop for the day, Jameson Whiskey Distillery. After reviewing the cost of the factory tour 15EU per person, we elected to take the short tour and headed to the bar. Guess we learned our lesson from the Guinness tour. A couple of Irish coffees, a whiskey sour and a shot made the afternoon breeze right by. Time to head back to the B&B and get ready for dinner.
We headed out for the Arlington Hotel located on Bachelor’s Walk by O’Connell Street for our dinner and the Celtic Nights show. We visited this hotel back in 2013 during our first trip to Ireland and really enjoyed it so we decided to go back. Dinner was good with a variety of Irish meals such as roasted pork, duck breast with colcannon, beef and Guinness stew, etc. and a good pint of Smithys. The highlight of the evening was the show which was traditional Irish music and dancing performed by a young and talented cast. Somewhat different from the show in 2013 but still quite an impressive display of step dancing, good music and at times some interesting lyrics. Cost for the dinner and the show was 33.95EU per person and lasted about 2 hours. Pretty good value.
