We got up early for our Irish breakfast and our Hop On Hop Off ride. We caught the bus in front of our hotel. We passed Cathal Brugha Street which was named after a signatory of the 1918 Rising. It was originally Gregg Lane but was renamed during the reconstruction of O’Connell Street in the 1920s. We passed the General Post Office, the headquarters of the Rising of 1918, whose interior was destroyed by shelling of the British Army. As we passed the O’Connell monument, we were told that the four corners of the monument represented the 4 virtues of Patriotism, Fidelity, Courage and Eloquence. Our first hop off was the Guinness Brewery.
We passed many monuments we had walked by previously. We were told that the Millenium Spire, aka the Hinge on the Syringe, the Stiletto in the Ghetto, the Stiffy on the Liffey, the Skewer in the Sewer, Bertie’s Erection, has 11,000 holes with a time capsule to be opened in a 100 years. The capsule contains menus, stamps, coins, receipts, and the TV Times.
We continued across the Liffey and into the Trinity College area. The College, founded by Elizabeth I in 1592 on the site of an Augustinian monastery, is one of Ireland’s foremost seats of learning. Alumni include Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, Samuel Beckett, and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson. Fronting the College are statues of Edmund Burke, the philosophical father of modern conservatism and supporter of the British Americans, and Oliver Goldsmith, author of The Vicar of Wakefield and She Stoops To Conquer.
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| the lease for Guinness |
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| Tone's Grave, Trinity College |
We were in an area of Georgian houses distinguished by the Roman entry with a formally decorated door and columns, 3-4 floors with the higher floors have smaller windows (glass was taxed). One door decorated black and white was designed for the arrival of Edward VII.
We passed the Bank of Ireland, now a private bank, which used to be the Irish Houses of Parliament until dissolved by the Act of Union in 1801. We also passed the Grand Canal, 82 miles in length connecting River Shannon with Dublin. We passed St. Ann’s church where Bram Stoker married Florence Balcombe whom he had “stolen” from Oscar Wilde and Dame Street with Dublin Castle and City Hall. The street was named after a nunnery called St Mary del Dame which was named because of a dam or mill pond at a nearby crossing point of the river Poddle. (I love taking notes on these hop on hop off rides; can't you tell!).
We then drove by Merrion Square and the National Gallery. We would return tomorrow for a visit to the Gallery which claims to be the largest collection of European paintings in Europe. I wonder if the Louvre heard of this claim.
We passed Christ Church Cathedral, the original cathedral of Hiberno-Norse Dublin, founded c. 1030 by King Sitriuc. Its bishops were for a time subject to Canterbury, but were incorporated into the Irish Church at the synod of Kells in 1152, when Dublin became an archbishopric. In the neighborhood is the National Cathedral for the Church of Ireland (Anglican) built first by Anglo-Norman Bishop, John Comyn, in 1192 on the site of a little wooden church dedicated to St. Patrick. Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels and A Modest Proposal, is buried here.
We got off at Guinness Brewery for our tour after passing a series of red brick row houses. The building is of the Chicago Style of Architecture. After obtaining our tickets, we entered the brewery where we learned a little of the history of the person and company. Arthur Guinness was born in Celbridge, County Kildare in 1725. It seems that Arthur first learned the art of brewing from his father Richard, whose job as a land steward included brewing beer for workers on the estate of Dr. Arthur Price, later Archbishop of Cashel. In 1759, at the age of 34, Arthur Guinness signed a 9000-year lease for the St. James's Gate Brewery, Dublin, at an annual rent of £45. The brewery was only 4 acres in size, disused, and had little brewing equipment. But in only 10 years, despite competition from imported English beers, Arthur began to export his beer to England. Arthur began by brewing ale, and in the 1770s started brewing 'porter', a new type of dark English beer. Arthur's porter was so successful that in 1799 he stopped brewing ale. Arthur married Olivia Whitmore, and had 21 children, 10 of whom survived into adulthood. When he died, his son Arthur Guinness II took over the brewery. In all, 6 generations of the Guinness family were directly involved in the brewery management. Today Guinness is owned by Diageo plc (LSE: DGE, NYSE: DEO), the largest multinational beer, wine and spirits company in the world.
We walked through the introductory section of the tour with the water fall showing the purity of the water (I was so tempted to spit in that “pure” water). We inspected the barley and got to peek at the secret yeast formula in the “safe.” We watched batch 6966 start, then took a break in the coffee shop. We continued our walk around the brewery to the Gravity (360°) bar at the top. It was Espana Day so we were treated to a boisterous bunch of Barcelonans plus a rousing rendition of La Espana. Everyone was enjoying their Guinness from the tap. We however had Guinness from a bottle in the Brewery Bar with lunch of soup and a Smithfield ham sandwich served up by Lorraine and Godfrey. We also peeked into the "My Goodness My Gilroy" (the artistic designer of Guinness advertising) exhibit. While catching the lift down, we stopped at floor1. Since no one got off, I opened my big yap and wondered who was the American in the lift. Of course, his buddies looked directly at him, and the guilty one said he was not an American, but a Canadian, to which I replied, “Better work on those outs and abouts, eh.” I should have told him be proud to be an American, but I couldn’t resist the dig.
We returned to the bus stop to continue our On, Off. While waiting, we were the victims of a drive-by. Instead of bullets, the idiot used a water gun. Thank God, it was water and nothing else.
Once back on board, we passed Kilmainham Gaol, one of the biggest unoccupied gaols in Europe. Now empty of prisoners, it is filled with history. It has aptly been described as the ‘Irish Bastille’. When the Gaol was first built public hangings took place at the front of the Gaol. However, from the 1820s onward very few hangings, public or private, took place at Kilmainham. The last political prisoner to be released was Eamon de Valera.
We were told about Jonathan Swift who was the dean of St. Patrick’s Church, Jonathan Swift became very aware of the plight of the mentally ill. On October 19, 1745, Swift died and was laid out in public view for the people of Dublin to pay their last respects. He was buried in his own cathedral by Esther Johnson's side, in accordance with his wishes. The bulk of his fortune (twelve thousand pounds) was left to found a hospital for the mentally ill, originally known as St. Patrick’s Hospital for Imbeciles, which opened in 1757, and which still exists as a psychiatric hospital.
We passed The Wellington Monument (or more correctly the Wellington Testimonial), an obelisk located in Phoenix Park, situated at the southeast end of the Park, overlooking Kilmainham and the River Liffey. The structure is 62 meters (200 ft) tall, making it the largest obelisk in Europe. The Wellington Testimonial was built to commemorate the victories of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Wellington, a member of the Anglo-Irish upper class, also known as the 'Iron Duke', was born in Dublin. Originally planned to be located in Merrion Square, it was built in the Phoenix Park after opposition from the square's residents. The Testimonial was designed by the architect Sir Robert Smirke and the foundation stone was laid in 1817.
We drove the northside of the Liffey and returned to the starting point, to continue on to Trinity College, where we left the Hop On-Hop Off. we visited the Molly Malone statue for a photo op. It was quite the undertaking with the number of tourists, Americans mainly with their kids, trying to take pictures. If the American mothers only knew what the nicknames for Molly are, they may not have been too anxious to have their kids photoed. The sculptor endowed Molly with large breasts, and this is reflected in her eponymously titled song which is hollered by supporters of the Irish International Rugby Team at their matches. Rugby fans like their women, well, hearty and stacked according to these fans. She is variously known as ‘The Dolly with the Trolley,” “The Trollop with the Scallop,” “The Flirt in the Skirt,” and “The Tart with the Cart.”
we continued on to Trinity College and bought a tour from a law student. Our guide was a typical lawyer, being full of himself and not as humorous as he wished. We started the tour in Parliament Square under the shadow of the Campanille. Our guide started with the basic birth of the college and named amateur architect Theodore Jacobsen as the designer of the western facade. He told us that the College was built on monastery grounds, and the monastery’s name was All Hallows. Parliament Square was paid for by Parliament, thus the name. The square is bounded by the School of Music; Regent Hall with its four Corinthian columns; a chapel with services for Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Methodists, and Presbyterians; and a dining hall. The square is dominated by the campanille built in 1853. The campanille was fitted with bells obtained earlier in 1742. One bell is called Commons and rung regularly; the other bell Great and rung during exam time and for funerals and historically important events. The square also is home to two statues, William Leckey who wrote a five volume history of Ireland and George Salmon (September 25, 1819 - January 22, 1904), provost of Trinity College Dublin from 1888 until his death in 1904. His deep conservatism led him to strongly oppose women receiving degrees from the University. Supposedly he said that he would only allow women to enter Trinity over his dead body; and, when he heard that the first women were allowed to enter Trinity, he died of a heart attack. Supposedly, according to our witty guide. We entered Library Square bounded by the debating hall, more societies for philosophical and historical discussions. On the southern end was the Graduate Building and the Rubrix, the older graduate quarters where Goldsmith resided. The square is lined with Oregon maples.
We then walked to New Square whose main occupant is the Bishop George Berkeley Library. Named after Bishop George Berkeley (1687-1753), this building caused quite a stir when built inside Trinity's grounds next to Burgh's Library building, the modern in great contrast to the traditional. A sculpture by Arnoldo Pomodoro is situated in the square. It is called "The Death Star". There are many of these mysterious “Sphere-within-sphere” monuments scattered throughout the northern hemisphere. They revolve. Also the geology and engineering schools are located here as well as a series of residential halls.
We walked over to Library Square, housing a stabile by Calder and the old library where the Book of Kells is located. Two of the four gospels are on display at any one time. We entered the exhibit. It was a major disappointment for several reasons. The lighting was so poor to protect the delicate pages which were displayed next to each other so it took time to get to them as there were those who actually thought they could read the gospel verses. The best element of the display was the graphics explaining the process of illumination, the odd graphic placed to hide a mistake (I thought they scribed with divine inspiration; I guess not). But the highlight of the event was the Long Room of the Old Library. The stacks of books and the lighting created this golden hue which made me feel like I had entered the Holy of Holies. It was a classic library I’ve seen so many times in films like the Indiana Jones series. The books were arranged by size (I guess the interior designer got a hold of the decorating). The room was used to exhibit a collection of mystery writers like Agatha Christie. Her first publication, a short story with Tommy and Tuppence, The Clergyman’s Daughter, was on display as were other works by such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I saw a poster about a Colonel so I looked at this kid and said, “Well, I know it was done in the Library by the Colonel. I wonder what was the weapon?” His mother looked at him and said, “Don’t you remember that Clue game we played?” Ah, the lights that came on.
We did the obligatory shop visit and I bought a couple of illuminated gifts like bookmarks and key chains. We walked back to the hotel, my back not that bad – YET.
We passed many statues in the College area. First, we walked by Tone’s Grave, a wonderfully whimsical fountain fronting Trinity College (a favorite). We passed the nearby statue of Thomas Daibhis. He was a revolutionary Irish writer who was the chief organizer and poet of the Young Ireland movement. Another statue in the Trinity College area was that honoring poet-historian Henry Crattan. We also passed a statue of Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) who was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer, now best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel Boy and The Last Rose of Summer.
We got to the hotel for a short rest and then was off again. Our first stop was O’Lanigan’s Trough where I had vegetable soup with gluten wheat bread (maybe they’ll serve Love’s wheat bread next time?). We had tickets for the Abbey Theatre’s production of Tom Murphy’s The Last Days of a Reluctant Tyrants, a redo of The Golovlyov Family, by Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin. The play was reminiscent of a soap opera, of a Dickensian novel; however, the play had to be chopped up from the Russian novel so much is left as offstage actions. The set was very utilitarian, scene changes made in seconds. Good acting made the evening enjoyable.
We returned to the hotel and passed the Spire. Unfortunately, the 11,000 holes were not illuminated.
We passed the Bank of Ireland, now a private bank, which used to be the Irish Houses of Parliament until dissolved by the Act of Union in 1801. We also passed the Grand Canal, 82 miles in length connecting River Shannon with Dublin. We passed St. Ann’s church where Bram Stoker married Florence Balcombe whom he had “stolen” from Oscar Wilde and Dame Street with Dublin Castle and City Hall. The street was named after a nunnery called St Mary del Dame which was named because of a dam or mill pond at a nearby crossing point of the river Poddle. (I love taking notes on these hop on hop off rides; can't you tell!).
We then drove by Merrion Square and the National Gallery. We would return tomorrow for a visit to the Gallery which claims to be the largest collection of European paintings in Europe. I wonder if the Louvre heard of this claim.
We passed Christ Church Cathedral, the original cathedral of Hiberno-Norse Dublin, founded c. 1030 by King Sitriuc. Its bishops were for a time subject to Canterbury, but were incorporated into the Irish Church at the synod of Kells in 1152, when Dublin became an archbishopric. In the neighborhood is the National Cathedral for the Church of Ireland (Anglican) built first by Anglo-Norman Bishop, John Comyn, in 1192 on the site of a little wooden church dedicated to St. Patrick. Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels and A Modest Proposal, is buried here.
We got off at Guinness Brewery for our tour after passing a series of red brick row houses. The building is of the Chicago Style of Architecture. After obtaining our tickets, we entered the brewery where we learned a little of the history of the person and company. Arthur Guinness was born in Celbridge, County Kildare in 1725. It seems that Arthur first learned the art of brewing from his father Richard, whose job as a land steward included brewing beer for workers on the estate of Dr. Arthur Price, later Archbishop of Cashel. In 1759, at the age of 34, Arthur Guinness signed a 9000-year lease for the St. James's Gate Brewery, Dublin, at an annual rent of £45. The brewery was only 4 acres in size, disused, and had little brewing equipment. But in only 10 years, despite competition from imported English beers, Arthur began to export his beer to England. Arthur began by brewing ale, and in the 1770s started brewing 'porter', a new type of dark English beer. Arthur's porter was so successful that in 1799 he stopped brewing ale. Arthur married Olivia Whitmore, and had 21 children, 10 of whom survived into adulthood. When he died, his son Arthur Guinness II took over the brewery. In all, 6 generations of the Guinness family were directly involved in the brewery management. Today Guinness is owned by Diageo plc (LSE: DGE, NYSE: DEO), the largest multinational beer, wine and spirits company in the world.
We walked through the introductory section of the tour with the water fall showing the purity of the water (I was so tempted to spit in that “pure” water). We inspected the barley and got to peek at the secret yeast formula in the “safe.” We watched batch 6966 start, then took a break in the coffee shop. We continued our walk around the brewery to the Gravity (360°) bar at the top. It was Espana Day so we were treated to a boisterous bunch of Barcelonans plus a rousing rendition of La Espana. Everyone was enjoying their Guinness from the tap. We however had Guinness from a bottle in the Brewery Bar with lunch of soup and a Smithfield ham sandwich served up by Lorraine and Godfrey. We also peeked into the "My Goodness My Gilroy" (the artistic designer of Guinness advertising) exhibit. While catching the lift down, we stopped at floor1. Since no one got off, I opened my big yap and wondered who was the American in the lift. Of course, his buddies looked directly at him, and the guilty one said he was not an American, but a Canadian, to which I replied, “Better work on those outs and abouts, eh.” I should have told him be proud to be an American, but I couldn’t resist the dig.
We returned to the bus stop to continue our On, Off. While waiting, we were the victims of a drive-by. Instead of bullets, the idiot used a water gun. Thank God, it was water and nothing else.
Once back on board, we passed Kilmainham Gaol, one of the biggest unoccupied gaols in Europe. Now empty of prisoners, it is filled with history. It has aptly been described as the ‘Irish Bastille’. When the Gaol was first built public hangings took place at the front of the Gaol. However, from the 1820s onward very few hangings, public or private, took place at Kilmainham. The last political prisoner to be released was Eamon de Valera.
We were told about Jonathan Swift who was the dean of St. Patrick’s Church, Jonathan Swift became very aware of the plight of the mentally ill. On October 19, 1745, Swift died and was laid out in public view for the people of Dublin to pay their last respects. He was buried in his own cathedral by Esther Johnson's side, in accordance with his wishes. The bulk of his fortune (twelve thousand pounds) was left to found a hospital for the mentally ill, originally known as St. Patrick’s Hospital for Imbeciles, which opened in 1757, and which still exists as a psychiatric hospital.
We passed The Wellington Monument (or more correctly the Wellington Testimonial), an obelisk located in Phoenix Park, situated at the southeast end of the Park, overlooking Kilmainham and the River Liffey. The structure is 62 meters (200 ft) tall, making it the largest obelisk in Europe. The Wellington Testimonial was built to commemorate the victories of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Wellington, a member of the Anglo-Irish upper class, also known as the 'Iron Duke', was born in Dublin. Originally planned to be located in Merrion Square, it was built in the Phoenix Park after opposition from the square's residents. The Testimonial was designed by the architect Sir Robert Smirke and the foundation stone was laid in 1817.
We drove the northside of the Liffey and returned to the starting point, to continue on to Trinity College, where we left the Hop On-Hop Off. we visited the Molly Malone statue for a photo op. It was quite the undertaking with the number of tourists, Americans mainly with their kids, trying to take pictures. If the American mothers only knew what the nicknames for Molly are, they may not have been too anxious to have their kids photoed. The sculptor endowed Molly with large breasts, and this is reflected in her eponymously titled song which is hollered by supporters of the Irish International Rugby Team at their matches. Rugby fans like their women, well, hearty and stacked according to these fans. She is variously known as ‘The Dolly with the Trolley,” “The Trollop with the Scallop,” “The Flirt in the Skirt,” and “The Tart with the Cart.”
we continued on to Trinity College and bought a tour from a law student. Our guide was a typical lawyer, being full of himself and not as humorous as he wished. We started the tour in Parliament Square under the shadow of the Campanille. Our guide started with the basic birth of the college and named amateur architect Theodore Jacobsen as the designer of the western facade. He told us that the College was built on monastery grounds, and the monastery’s name was All Hallows. Parliament Square was paid for by Parliament, thus the name. The square is bounded by the School of Music; Regent Hall with its four Corinthian columns; a chapel with services for Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Methodists, and Presbyterians; and a dining hall. The square is dominated by the campanille built in 1853. The campanille was fitted with bells obtained earlier in 1742. One bell is called Commons and rung regularly; the other bell Great and rung during exam time and for funerals and historically important events. The square also is home to two statues, William Leckey who wrote a five volume history of Ireland and George Salmon (September 25, 1819 - January 22, 1904), provost of Trinity College Dublin from 1888 until his death in 1904. His deep conservatism led him to strongly oppose women receiving degrees from the University. Supposedly he said that he would only allow women to enter Trinity over his dead body; and, when he heard that the first women were allowed to enter Trinity, he died of a heart attack. Supposedly, according to our witty guide. We entered Library Square bounded by the debating hall, more societies for philosophical and historical discussions. On the southern end was the Graduate Building and the Rubrix, the older graduate quarters where Goldsmith resided. The square is lined with Oregon maples.
We then walked to New Square whose main occupant is the Bishop George Berkeley Library. Named after Bishop George Berkeley (1687-1753), this building caused quite a stir when built inside Trinity's grounds next to Burgh's Library building, the modern in great contrast to the traditional. A sculpture by Arnoldo Pomodoro is situated in the square. It is called "The Death Star". There are many of these mysterious “Sphere-within-sphere” monuments scattered throughout the northern hemisphere. They revolve. Also the geology and engineering schools are located here as well as a series of residential halls.
We walked over to Library Square, housing a stabile by Calder and the old library where the Book of Kells is located. Two of the four gospels are on display at any one time. We entered the exhibit. It was a major disappointment for several reasons. The lighting was so poor to protect the delicate pages which were displayed next to each other so it took time to get to them as there were those who actually thought they could read the gospel verses. The best element of the display was the graphics explaining the process of illumination, the odd graphic placed to hide a mistake (I thought they scribed with divine inspiration; I guess not). But the highlight of the event was the Long Room of the Old Library. The stacks of books and the lighting created this golden hue which made me feel like I had entered the Holy of Holies. It was a classic library I’ve seen so many times in films like the Indiana Jones series. The books were arranged by size (I guess the interior designer got a hold of the decorating). The room was used to exhibit a collection of mystery writers like Agatha Christie. Her first publication, a short story with Tommy and Tuppence, The Clergyman’s Daughter, was on display as were other works by such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I saw a poster about a Colonel so I looked at this kid and said, “Well, I know it was done in the Library by the Colonel. I wonder what was the weapon?” His mother looked at him and said, “Don’t you remember that Clue game we played?” Ah, the lights that came on.
We did the obligatory shop visit and I bought a couple of illuminated gifts like bookmarks and key chains. We walked back to the hotel, my back not that bad – YET.
We passed many statues in the College area. First, we walked by Tone’s Grave, a wonderfully whimsical fountain fronting Trinity College (a favorite). We passed the nearby statue of Thomas Daibhis. He was a revolutionary Irish writer who was the chief organizer and poet of the Young Ireland movement. Another statue in the Trinity College area was that honoring poet-historian Henry Crattan. We also passed a statue of Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) who was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer, now best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel Boy and The Last Rose of Summer.
We got to the hotel for a short rest and then was off again. Our first stop was O’Lanigan’s Trough where I had vegetable soup with gluten wheat bread (maybe they’ll serve Love’s wheat bread next time?). We had tickets for the Abbey Theatre’s production of Tom Murphy’s The Last Days of a Reluctant Tyrants, a redo of The Golovlyov Family, by Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin. The play was reminiscent of a soap opera, of a Dickensian novel; however, the play had to be chopped up from the Russian novel so much is left as offstage actions. The set was very utilitarian, scene changes made in seconds. Good acting made the evening enjoyable.
We returned to the hotel and passed the Spire. Unfortunately, the 11,000 holes were not illuminated.
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