Friday 12th August 2011 - Day 2 Dublin

Up and after a full Irish breakfast we set off to town to get the list done.  First stop Trinity College where the Book of Kells resides.  There were guided tours by students of Trinity.  The first tour was about to depart but it was so large we were advised by one of the guides to wait 20 mins for the next one.  While we waited Rod and I both struck up conversations with the guides waiting.  Marcus (my guide) was studying history and politics and had visited NZ a couple of years ago so we had a great conversation about NZ and Ireland.  The tour commenced and was very interesting.  The college is on the banks of the River Lifey  and as a result the grounds are continually sinking.  The dining hall has been rebuilt 3 times over the last several hundred years as it keeps collapsing.  Aside from that Trinity is a relatively small campus and holds very austere buildings one of the most significant being the Old Library.  Trinity has an arrangement that they are entitled to receive a complimentary copy of every book ever printed and as a result they need to find ¼ mile of new shelving every year to accommodate these. There is not enough space on campus so if you wish to take out a particular book it need to be brought over from one of the numerous storage areas around Dublin.  We then went round the corner to see the Book of Kells and the line was very long.  We waited for a short time and decided we did not have that much time to wait so headed off to the James’s Gate Guinness Brewery. 

The monument of where William Pearse was executed

 We thought we would get in before lunch to avoid the crowds. Wrong!!! Again, long queues and so once we had our tickets, off we went.  The self guided tour took just over an hour and with a half of a half pint glass in the tasting room to keep us going we slowly made our way up the 7 floors of the glass of Guinness shaped building to the top where the bar had 360° view of the city.  There we could redeem our ticket for a pint of Guinness or soft drink.  Now I am not a fan of Guinness usually but I must say it does taste better in Ireland.  I have heard it doesn’t travel well and of course it is brewed in lots of other countries around the world including NZ so if you don’t want to travel to Ireland then find the brewery in NZ and visit.  It is well worth it.  From the brewery to the Kilmainham jail.  One of the oldest jails still standing.  This jail has appeared in several movies so it’s main “modern” area will be a familiar sight.  It was built in 1792 primarily to house the poor who were being made an example of. Men, women and children were all housed together and had remain in silence for 23 hours a day.  They were let out for exercise 1 hour per day where they had to walk in a circle for 1 hour in silence before being taken back to their cells.  This style was then changed and they decided that to mend their ways they needed to be kept busy so a variety of activities were devised. One being to dig a hole and then fill it up again, Another was to move a pile of rocks by hand from one place to another and then back again and of course they had the rock breaking crew who broke rocks for roads etc.  Crimes committed to earn this wee holiday included stealing bread, being a prostitute, theft etc.  Then when the “troubles” began  the jail became filled with political prisoners the most famous being from the Easter Rising of 1916 where a group of dissidents unhappy with English Rule took over the Post Office (GPO) on Easter Sunday and shots and cannons were fired before they were overpowered.  These included names like Pearse ( 2 brothers) McDonagh, Connolly etc.



Singing Cockles and mussels alive alive oh! Sweet Molly Malone standing
on the corner where she used to sell her wares.



Had to try the real thing at the actual brewery. It does taste
at the brewery than it does in NZ.

These men were eventually taken into the yard and shot.  William Pearse (the leader) had been shot in the leg and had an infection so he was carried into the yard by stretcher, tied to a chair and then shot.  The shooting of the 14 men over 3 days caused unrest and outrage and as a result the people rose up and that is how Southern Ireland became a Republic while Northern Ireland has become part of the United Kingdom. An interesting place.  Many sad stories of humans being badly treated and a terrible life that many must have had all those years ago.  Click on the link if you want to read more about the gaol. http://www.dochara.com/places-to-visit/forts-and-jails/kilmainham-jail From there we headed to the souvenir shop to make a few purchases and then on to the Arlington Hotel for a meal and a show featuring Irish music and dancing.  A long day but a fabulous experience.

The view from the Brewery 360 bar.



Kilmainham Jail. Recognise it from some famous movies?



 

The sinking Dining Room of Trinity