Dublin

Thursday 6th October

We started the day with a tour by a local guide. The city has a lot of Georgian style architecture and has the most complete Georgian streets anywhere as Ireland was neutral in World War II and therefore not bombed. I must admit the Georgian style is neat and regal and modern architects could do worse than study it. House prices in Dublin have dropped 40 per cent in the last couple of years – something that would decimate Australia were it to happen there. The country is bilingual, but on the east coast of Ireland English is the dominant language. The three Celtic countries, Scotland, Ireland and Wales all speak a type of Gaelic, but are all different, the Welsh being very different. It is a flowery and descriptive language which is why they have all produced numerous great writers.

In 1916 there was an uprising where 200 armed men took over the GPO in O’Connell Street and declared independence from England. 200 against the might of England did not turn out well for them and the leaders were executed, but Ireland did eventually get it independence, so they are all national heroes now. O’Connell Street is the main street in Dublin running from O’Connell Bridge and contains the Millenium Spire that celebrates the year 2000. This was in fact erected in 2003!! How very Irish!!

Dublin is very proud of Molly Malone, who was a fishmonger and sold cockles and mussels from her fish barrow. As she was a very pretty girl she came back at night and sold Molly. She was so well liked they made a statue of her in the city centre and have a well known song which celebrates her life.

There are two cathedrals in Dublin and with a population 90 per cent Catholic, would you believe they are both Protestant due to Henry VIII’s Reformation. They are both very old and majestic. Christchurch cathedral dates from 1038 and St Patrick’s Cathedral is several years younger.

Guinness is the national drink and I have tasted it several times and it is okay! When women give birth in the main maternity hospital they are given a pint of Guinness immediately after, for the good of the child! Also when you donate blood at the Blood Bank you are given a pint to regain your strength. Mr Guinness was a good business man. He leased 50 acres in the middle of Dublin for 40 pence a year, which may have been fair when he did it, however the term of the lease was 9,000 years! A very good deal!!

Would you believe there are no water meters in Dublin! All water is free. Due to the economic situation, that is about to change and every household will pay a fee in the next few years and this will go towards repairing or replacing the Victorian water pipes that lose 60 per cent of their water through leakage. Water meters may come in the future.

We set off for the Wicklow Mountains south of Dublin along a very long and winding road through some exceptionally pretty and green areas. Johnny Cash wrote a song called Forty Shades of Green and it was based on this area. We were going to visit an area where a monk settled around 400 AD. His name has been anglicised to Kevin and he eventually died and became St Kevin. A monastery was built and lived in for six hundred years by his followers. Many of these buildings are still standing. Two amazing structures are the Chapel, completely standing and with a stone roof supporting itself on the stone Walls. The other was a tower unique to Ireland, shaped just like a rocket. It stood 100 feet high and is still in perfect condition, except the six levels of wooden floors have rotted away. When the Vikings raided them (which they did seven times) the monks would throw their valuables into the tower and climb in there themselves through a small entrance door eleven feet above ground level and wait for the Vikings to leave. Those cunning Vikings realised the structure was built like a chimney, so they removed some of the lower stones and lit a peat fire which would either burn the monks or smoke them to death. Despite these raids, the stone structure still stands. The weather closed in on us while we were there and it was very wet with a biting wind, but it was still an amazing site to visit.

Ireland was populated by Celts who came from around the area of Switzerland about 400 BC. The Vikings started arriving in the AD years. They came to raid, but stayed to trade and marry local girls. Under Viking law the eldest son inherited all of Dad’s wealth. All other sons were sent out to raid surrounding lands and create their own wealth. England, Scotland and Ireland were the main targets. It is claimed that all redheads originate from Viking blood.

I have found the reason the main street in Dublin was named O’Connell Street. Daniel O’Connell 1775 to 1845 was the first Catholic elected to British parliament. He founded the Irish Catholic Rights organisation and had these rights sanctified in Parliament. Until then, Catholics could not own anything of value or hold any position of authority – an unbelievable situation.

In the afternoon we left our local guide and toured by ourselves. We visited Trinity College which was very close to our hotel to see the famous Book of Kells, written over 1,000 years ago on parchment (which is calf skin). There was a display showing how they prepared the parchment and the different materials they used to write with. The language in the Book of Kells is Latin and they contain the Four Gospels. There were a number of these written by monks, but Viking raiders and other heathens when raiding, would remove whatever they found of value and destroy the rest. This copy Is the only known one known to exist. It was an extremely interesting exhibition. Trinity is probably one of the first universities in the world, originally established to educate Protestants by an early English monarch. It was only in the middle of last century Catholics were allowed to attend.

Although Dublin doesn’t have many physical features that appeal compared to some other cities, it has a lot of history attached to it which made it a very interesting place to visit.

Tonight we attended a cabaret, with some lively Irish dancers, musicians and as only the Irish can do it, a comedian who had us crying with laughter. He performed his entire act without swearing once!! That is a true comedian!