OVERALL VIEW OF DUBLIN TOUR

November 12, 2018

We got back from our trip one month ago today.  I had planned to write my blog during the tour, but I was just too tired in the evening.  There was wifi on the bus, but I was too busy sightseeing to think about looking at my computer.  We had a great time. Ireland is a beautiful, green and very clean country.  The people are so friendly and helpful.  The weather is just like it is in Washington. We never saw any graffiti. Everyone on our tour was really nice and friendly.   They were from several  States, Canada and New Zealand. We became friends with several couples, I wish we didn't live so far apart. There is one couple that we will probably see again. They live in Prescott, AZ, close to where we stay during the winter months.  We met another nice couple from New Jersey, but, you never know, we might meet on another tour.  That would be great.

I hope I didn't bore anyone with all the  commentary (sometimes pretty detailed) and posting so  many pictures. It was so hard to chose. 

I would recommend a trip to Ireland to anyone. It was  so fun and fabulous!

14DAY-KILMAINHAM GAOL (JAIL)

October 11, 2018

Our last place to visit was the Kilmainham Gaol.  It was opened in 1796 as Dublin's county jail and debtor's prison. They would arrest very young kids for  begging on the streets or even just stealing a loaf of bread.  Sometimes they got very lengthy sentences. It was also used as a political prison.  Many who fought for Irish independence were held or executed here, including leaders of the rebellions of 1798,1803, 1848, 1867 and 1916. The last prisoner to be held here was Eamon de Valer, who later became president of Ireland. He was released July 16, 1924, the day the prison was finally shut down.  The prison was in ruins, but restored in the 1960's

Original courtroom

Exterior views

Interior walkways, very dismal looking place

Prison Cells

 Original artwork by one of the women political prisoners 

After taking a taxi back to our hotel, we had a last dinner with 2 couples that we had gotten to know

14TH DAY-THE BOOK OF KELLS

October 11, 2018

Besides visiting the Guinness factory, this is considered the biggest attraction in Dublin.  It was amazing to see.  The Book Of Kells is located inside Trinity College.

The College was built in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I to establish a Protestant way of thinking about God. It is Ireland's most prestigious college. It was first limited to rich Protestant men. Women were admitted in 1903. Catholics were only given formal permission by the Catholic Church to study at Trinity in the 1970's. Today, half of all the students are women and 70% are Catholic. Only 20% of Irish youth are churchgoing. 

As you can tell, the first 2 are postcards to get an overall view, better than I could get.

The Book Of Kells is a lavishly decorated copy, in Latin, of the 4 Gospels of the Life of Christ.  It dates from the 9th Century, written by  dedicated cloistered monks on the remote island of Iona near Scotland.  It came to Trinity College in 1653 for security purposes.  It was first displayed to the public in the mid 1800's. 

It was written on vellum. The vellum was made by slaughtering 185 calves, soaking the skins in lime, scraping off the hair and drying the skins. They can still detect hair follicles on some the pages.

Vellum

Closeup view of the writing

The next 2 pictures show the intricate designs and artwork in the Book Of Kells

Description of the Book Of Kells

This is the Long Room, built  between 1712 and 1732.  It  is situated on the 1st floor of the Old Library, chosen by the designer to preserve the books from the elements. It is the longest single room library in Europe. It is 200 ' long and stacked to the ceiling with 200,000 books.  

Postcard

My pictures

I am always amazed at how intricate and elaborate they built buildings back hundreds of years

14TH DAY-BACK TO DUBLIN

October 11, 2018

After staying the night in Trim, it was the end of the line for people that had gotten the 14 day tour. We dropped them off at the airport. For the people on the 15 day tour, we went to Dublin  for a free,  on our own sightseeing day and a final  night in Dublin.  We got to the hotel early, so we stashed our bags and went sightseeing. I had a full day planned of seeing three of the must see attractions in Dublin.

Our first stop  was the Archeology Museum. It was very interesting, but, we were so saturated with the History of Ireland, that we could have actually skipped it.  It shows the treasures and history of Ireland from the Stone Age to Modern times. We saw 4000 year old gold jewelry, 2000 year old bog mummies, Viking swords, metal tools from 2500 BC and much more. The building itself was beautiful, well worth the visit.

Amazing how intricate the shoe design is

13TH DAY-DROGHEDA

October 10, 2018

After leaving the tombs, we went to Drogheda.  That means another beautiful church, St Peters. Inside, it has St Peter's mummified head and a sliver of the cross that Jesus was crucified on.  I won't show the picture of the head, it's kind of gross looking and the sliver is so small, you can't really see it in a picture. Allister, our guide, said there are many, many churches that claim to have a sliver,  so who knows if it's true or not. 

We also went to Old Mollies Beer Garden. If you order a Guinness,  you have to pour it yourself. This was for the tour only, I doubt regular customers do. We both did and got certificates that we poured the perfect Guinness. It is a real art, but the bartender was with us the whole time. 

After you let it sit for a few minutes, you then top it off.

Saw these picnic tables while sipping our Guinness in the beer garden. Had never seen any where the seats fold up. Would be great to keep them dry in the rain

Allister, our guide, is on the left. Oliver, our driver, is on the right.  They were great, making our trip so enjoyable and over the top. Allister is from Derry in Northern Ireland, Oliver is from Limerick, in the Republic of Ireland

13TH DAY-NEOLITHIC TOMBS

October 10, 2018

 On our way back to Dublin, we stopped at the Bru na Boinne area of  prehistoric tombs. We saw Newgrange, the best known of the 40 mounds, This is a World Heritage Site on the merits that this is one of the best possible examples of cultural or natural heritage.  Other World heritage sites  include are The Pyramids of Giza and Stonehenge. These tombs are over 5000 years old. The large mound only holds one tomb. The entrance was built in such a way that light only shines thru and from the top 20 minutes  each year at the Winter Solstice. People  make reservations well in advance to see it. The sun has to be in an exact position for this to happen. 

The next 2 pictures are postcards so I could show you an overhead view

This is a postcard of the interior, standing on the floor and looking up. It is hard to picture looking at this, but they built up all of these stones without anything holding them together. Amazing it is still this way after 5000 years. The  slim hole at the top is where the sin shines thru. The guide turned off her flashlight and we were in complete darkness. She then pointed her flashlight to the entrance to show us the thin beam that comes in once a year. We couldn't take any pictures inside. it is such a small area that only 10 people could go in at one time.

Entrance. The open space on top of the horizontal stone is where the slim beam of light shines in.

Outer edges, these stones are all original

12TH DAY-CABRA CASTLE

October 9, 2018

After leaving Belfast, we went to our hotel, The Cabra Castle. It was certainly the best place we had stayed at during our tour. In 2010, it was named the 2nd scariest hotel in the world. There have been many sightings from guests, but, none of the staff has ever seen a ghost. We never did when we were there, that certainly would have been interesting, but, spooky.

Cabra Castle has a long history (too long to tell) starting in 1699. The Castle we stayed in is actually the 2nd Cabra Castle. It was rebuilt in 1808.  It had many owners thru the years, but, was finally sold in 1991 and became a hotel.  

Our room

The grounds were beautiful

After a walk on the grounds we all stopped for a drink. I had a hot toddy to ward off the chill.  Denny was taking care of all the ladies.  He did a mighty fine job! Some men were off golfing, so the wives,  several single ladies, plus Denny and I were having a good time relaxing