Last day in Ireland

The flight was in the afternoon, so the problem was how to spend the time after the 1000 checkout and have lunch. I realised my EPIC ticket was the solution. It was near the shuttle pickup point and allowed a second visit within a month for free. Also there were lockers and eateries. I didn't have Euro coins left, but I found that a ₤ coin from Belfast worked as a refundable deposit. (I had saved some coins to pay for dinner at Heathrow because NI ₤ notes are not acceptable in shops, but could be exchanged at a bank.)

I took a walk around the Custom House Quay area. I had paid little attention to the River Liffey, and now was the last chance to make up for that.

The Seán O'Casey Bridge crosses the river at this point. An amusing story I just read now is that the bridge which swings to allow boat passage could not be opened between 2010 and 2014 because the remote control was lost.

I walked over to the other bank and took some of the following pictures.

This is the Jeanie Johnston, a replica of the original barque that sailed between Tralee and North America. The original carried many of the Irish fleeing the famine to the New World. Remarkably, thanks to the captain and the ship's doctor, not a single life was lost during all her passages. Ships carrying fleeing emigrants were called coffin ships because of the high death rate from starvation and disease.

Another view of the Jeanie Johnston. In the distance is the harp shaped Samuel Beckett Bridge.

The quay from east to west.

Was Ireland what I expected? For the Wild Atlantic Way it was better than the picture on the box so to speak. I covered key sights between Achill Island and Kinsale. It fully justified the car rental. I would gladly trim days from the cities in exchange for additional days on the WAW. But there are many aspects of Ireland and this was the one I concentrated on.

People ask me if the Irish were chatty as seems to be the popular image. Nobody buttonholed me for a conversation but I got a sense that they are at ease expressing themselves when they do converse. Good natured is the term that comes to mind. Perhaps it's influenced by being recipient of hospitality as Ireland is and has been for a long time geared up to cater for visitors. Céad míle fáilte (a hundred thousand welcomes) is a traditional Irish greeting.

Many of those visitors are ancestrally Irish and have come back to see the "old country". Later that day there was a long queue at check-in due to many USAn passengers going home.

When people think of Ireland it's usually the tumultuous events of the last century that come to mind first. But Ireland has a long history which I did not explore more than superficially, going back to prehistoric settlement, then a Celtic culture. Then there were Viking arrivals. The arrival of the British divided the island into a Protestant minority and a Catholic majority, setting the stage for future conflict.

The Famine Memorial is a set of sculptures that represent the defining event in Irish history that also changed the world. The proximate cause of the famine was the failure of the potato crop due to blight. In fact blight also struck other European nations but the effect was more pronounced in Ireland due to mono-crop dependency. The famine was exacerbated by the inadequate response of the ruling government.

Even today, weather forecasts in Ireland warn farmers when conditions are ripe for blight, then they can take measures.

Before my trip, one piece of news gave me a favourable impression of the Irish. When war broke out in Ukraine, the Irish government set up a website where people could pledge accommodation for refugees. Within 4 days people had crashed the website with 4000 registrations. You've gotta love such big hearted people.

Another thing that impressed me was how progressive Ireland has become. They have shaken off years of church-led conservatism by legalising abortion and enshrining LGBT rights. Leo Varadkar who is gay and of mixed parentage served as their head of government. Dublin was crowded when I was there due to pride week. I read somewhere that the change is partly due to the greater proportion of youth in the population compared with other European nations.

I did use my ticket to revisit a couple of EPIC displays I liked. One was a film about the beginnings of the Irish Dance phenomenon that swept the world with Riverdance. Very impressive footwork.

The other was this montage of notable people of Irish ancestry who have influenced the world. Can you spot Paul Keating peeking out of the top right of the text panel?

Is there a typical Irish look? Well they are already a mix of settlers over centuries and their descendants are all over the world so it might be just imagination, but I think the proportion of red haired people is slightly greater in Ireland.

I had an excellent chicken and leek soup with bread lunch, then caught the shuttle to the airport, and a few hours later, it was goodbye to Ireland.

Dublin: The Book of Kells

People will be puzzled if you were in the vicinity of The Book of Kells but didn't view it. First off, it's not a book about kells, whatever those might be. They are books of the Gospel named after the Abbey of Kells which housed it for centuries. It was created about 800 AD and a remarkable work, not just for surviving all those centuries but also as a masterwork of calligraphy and illumination. It comprises four volumes and pages from a couple are on display in a darkened room for a couple of weeks before the pages are turned.

The Old Library was just 5 minutes from my lodgings so how could I skip it. You have to specify your half-hour slot when you book your ticket, an attendance control measure. Mine was for 0900 but the 0830 group must have been small so we were allowed in early.

Before the room with the original are many posters and slides about all aspects of The Book and related works.

The chronology of The Book. Notice that you can rent an audio guide with headphones.

Naturally it has been subject to a lot of scholarly examination. They have deduced from the calligraphic style various scribes. The substrate and the inks have been subject to scientific analysis. Suffice it to say that the scribes and artists were infused with the purpose of creating something greater than themselves that outlived them.

Fortunately you don't have to travel to Dublin, the book can also be viewed on the Internet.

The upper floor of the Old Library contains the Long Room with many original manuscripts. Along with a few other Irish libraries the TCD library is entitled to receive a copy of every book published in Ireland. Also due to an older act, it is entitled to receive, on request, a copy of every book published in the UK. Nowadays submissions are electronic.

It also holds the Brian Boru harp which is the oldest of three surviving Irish harps. The harp is the emblem of Guinness stout.

A better view of the harp.

Also held is one of the surviving copies of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic read by Patrick Pearse outside the Dublin GPO.

The room also contains busts of famous scholars through history. I've included only a couple.

I wonder how they can be sure that's what he looked like. I guess they can't.

They've also recently added four female scholars: Rosalind Franklin, Ada Lovelace, Augusta Gregory, and Mary Wollstonecraft, to begin to rectify a long-standing inequity.

And that was the end of about ¾ of an hour in the Old Library.

As usual, one exits through the gift shop. I suppose any funding for their conservation is welcome.

Oscar Wilde doesn't have a bust in the Long Room, but I think he would have liked this seated statue outside the Kennedy's Pub and Restaurant on Westland Row better. Seems he once worked here.

I happened upon that pub on the way to get a sushi lunch. It was alright but they squirted mayo on the dish again! It tastes fine without it!

I don't remember what I did for the rest of the day and there are no more pictures. Except for one of a clutched gelato cone to send to a friend. Isn't that terrible? I must have been getting homesick.

Glendalough

I didn't do much for Sunday morning. I was starting to get lazy, perhaps weariness with the trip was starting to set in. Or perhaps there wasn't as much in Dublin to interest me as I had thought. Natural scenery, the best part of the trip, was mostly over. The museums are of course treasure troves but I don't find it necessary to look at the actual artifacts to get a sense of history.

I had signed up for a half-day tour of Glendalough. It would also be the last Irish county I would visit: County Wicklow which is favoured for walks and hikes.

The bus driver was a chatty fellow (aren't they all?) and told us snippets of interesting information heading south from Dublin.

We were dropped off ouside the visitor centre (which we did not enter) and given instructions to reach the loughs.

First we reached a road junction where there were these vendors.

Then up this path.

The ruins of the cathedral, surrounded by the churchyard.

The interior of the cathedral.

The roundtower.

Near the edge of the site, St. Kevin's Church.

Then it was downhill to the bridge across the stream where we turned onto Green Road Walk, the trail to the lakes.

It had been raining recently so the stream was fast.

I got talking to an elderly Indian couple from the tour. They were from Italy, on holiday. Possibly retired. They had only a few days. I encouraged them to take longer trips within Europe.

After about 5 minutes we reached southern bank of the lower lake.

I'll show the panoramas here or they'll be out of place later:

At this point the rain turned heavier. The Indian couple gave up and turned back. I pulled my jacket's hood over my head and pressed on. I was determined not to miss out on the upper lake. About 10 minutes later I reached it.

I think it was worth it.

Some of the locals.

Close up.

Why are they always preening when I take their pictures?

The southern bank of the valley.

The northern bank.

Glendalough Park seems to be a popular spot for picnics and gatherings.

The panorama, before I forget:

On the way back, the tour took us to Lough Tay.

We climbed a little rise and this is what we saw.

The other half.

It's part of the private estate of Luggala.

Panorama:

And that was the end of the half-day excursion. My jacket had got so wet that water seeped through to the inside. It is water resistant, not water proof. To say nothing about my jeans and shoes. I was glad I would be discarding the shoes later. I was shivering when I got off the tour bus in Dublin.

I was determined to get a warm bowl of phở for dinner, so I caught the light rail to Aobaba on Capel Street, where I had this. It was pretty good for Ireland, but we have more Vietnamese joints in Australia.

I must have had a quiet evening, my diary records nothing else.