Dublin - Day 1

Our whirlwind weekend tour of Dublin began with an evening flight on Ryanair – Ireland’s budget airline. I have to say it was horrible – not the budget aspect, but the fact that throughout the flight the staff relentlessly shilled for money (buy food, drinks, duty free, lotto cards, bus tickets blah blah blah!) via an over-loud and shrill overhead speaker.

Stepped out of the plane into the same weather we had in London – cold, very windy, and a touch drizzly. Guess the Irish Sea doesn’t make that big a difference. Caught a bus to our hostel and checked in.

Got up bright and early the next morning – had our complimentary muffin and cup of tea – and struck out on foot for a day of sight-seeing:

Custom House - architecturally the most important building in Dublin – which was gutted by the IRA during the Irish Civil War of 1921-1922.

The River Liffey

Random graffiti (there is a whole lot of it about – mostly political)

Trinity College is a large walled off area in the centre of the city. After entering through a small cloister, it opens up into a wonderful courtyard surrounded by grey stone buildings of vintage appearance. We enjoyed a visit to the Library museum that houses the Book of Kells (a lavishly ornate illustrated manuscript from AD 800) and the breathtaking Long Room (a 65m long double height library of 200,000 antique books). The Long Room is truly the Mecca for secular humanists, and I only wish I could have taken photos there because it was very moving. Instead you’ll just have to enjoy a couple of pictures from the surrounding grounds:

Parliament Square

The Pomodoro sculpture in front of the Berkeley library

Next we struck out for the National Museum of Archaeology. It was a little disappointing, but we got a nice overview of the early history of Ireland – Neolithic, Celtic, Viking, Norman etc (with a random Egyptology section thrown in!). Circumnavigating the block we passed the National Gallery, Government Buildings, Oscar Wilde memorial and Huguenot cemetery – but alas could not find Bram Stoker’s house.

Had a nice little lunch – Shamrock-shaped ciabattas – then ambled through St Stephens Green and down Grafton Street (the main shopping drag), past the impressive Bank of Ireland, through the Temple Bar area and ending up at Dublin Castle:

Grafton Street

Molly Malone statue by Jeanne Rynhart. Known colloquially as The Tart With The Cart, The Dish With The Fish, The Dolly with the Trolley, The Flirt in the Skirt or The Trollop With The Scallops.!

In Dublin's fair city,
where the girls are so pretty,
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone,
As she wheeled her wheel-barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive alive oh!"

More graffiti. Well... not really.

Dublin Castle was the seat of British rule in Ireland until 1922. Most of the building dates from eighteenth century, though a castle has stood on the site since the days of King John (indeed we visited a damp medieval excavation under one of the towers).

My Goodness My Guinness! The Guinness Storehouse exhibition at the St James’s Gate Brewery.