Fagel Library in Trinity College
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You need a bit of Irish luck to fully enjoy your holiday in Dublin. We encountered our first problem the moment we came out of the airport. Bus drivers were on strike for two days. There goes our chance to buy the €27 (RM125) bargain package which includes airport transfer, bus rides within the city and a "Hop on, Hop off" service. Luckily for us, one airport bus service was working. We had to pay €14 (RM64) each for the return tickets. So off we go to explore the land of Guinness and Irish whiskey, and home of St Patrick and literary giants James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats and Jonathan Swift. Yes, there is also those famous smiling Irish eyes and a country which gave us the wonderful voices of Mary Black, the Corrs, Gilbert O'Sullivan and one of Ireland's greatest exports Bono and U2. We were crazy to think we can do it all in two and half days, and staying only in Dublin. No bus service in the city means we had to walk a lot.
That's good exercise for us, right? It is a blessing or curse, depending on how you look at it
Did I mention that it was very cold in Dublin. Much colder than London. Plus we were hit by another Irish curse - RAIN. It always rains in Ireland, says my UK friends. I keep forgetting that the Republic of Ireland is a separate country from U.K., so the SIM card I bought in London does not work here in Dublin. Add that to my woes. I am tired, wet and cold. Now I am also lost. Actually, that is not absolutely correct. Dublin is not such a big city and you can get by with an old fashioned physical map. Plus our two friends, my wife's classmate Judy and her husband Danny, have a very good sense of direction. So with the little time I have, I decided to see the following (not necessarily in this order): St Patrick's Cathedral, Guinness Storehouse, Jameson Distillery, Trinity College, and do a walking tour of the 1916 rebellion. Oh, and if I can, I would like to explore the world of the leprechaun. Now how do we go about visiting all these places? Here we had a bit of Irish luck. Fortunately one "Hop on hop off" bus service was operating and they charged us €38 (RM176) each for 48 hours. This includes the ticket to the Guinness Storehouse which costs €17 if we had bought it separately.
A visit to the Guinness Storehouse is a must for all visitors to Dublin. I am glad we made that our first early stop because when we came out later in the afternoon, the queue was miles long. And those poor folks had to queue out in the rain. The founder, Arthur Guinness, is a very interesting guy. Or should I say a loving guy. He and his wife have 21 children. It is not certain whether his famous drink had anything to do with his big family but I am sure you are all very familiar with its popular tagline, Guinness Stout is good for you. Others have described Guinness Stout as "Liquid Viagra." On the business side, Arthur Guinness started his brewery on a 64-acre site. He paid £100 for a 9,000-year lease and paid £45 annual rent for it.
There are seven floors to explore in tracing the story and spirit of Guinness. At the ground floor, look up and you will soon realize that you are standing inside the world's largest pint shaped glass. It could hold 14.3 million pints of Guinness. The adventure continues on the second floor as you are grouped together to be taken into the Tasting Room. First you enter a brightly lit white cold room where you will experience the four distinctive smell in the making of this drink. In the next room you are taught how to use the different parts of your tongue to taste the drink. Sad to say, I had to skip the Guinness Academy on the 4th floor as I was running out of time. Here you learn how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. I figured I could learn that from my drinking friends back home. I also wanted to spend more time in the two pubs found here in the Guinness Storehouse. I guess I may not have time to visit a regular Irish pub, so why not experience it here with its Irish music and all.
Irish eyes are smiling at The Arrol pub
Music and drinks at Arthur's pub
The Arrol, had a lady Irish singer. So I get to see "when Irish eyes are smiling." In the second pub, Arthur's, I had my second wish fulfilled -- the beautiful sound of the Irish flute. Finally on the 7th floor, you can have a panoramic view of Dublin. No Irish luck here. This is where The Gravity Bar is located and it was jam packed with visitors getting their complimentary drink. I could barely make it to an ideal spot to shoot this magnificent sight of the city. Eventually, when I managed to push my way through, I found the glass panel was all misty from the heavy rain. Suffice to say, I did not not get my free drink. The next logical stop should have been Jameson distillery but again the Irish luck was not with us. This famous maker of Irish whiskey has closed its distillery from September 1 until March next year for redevelopment. I should have come a month earlier. So no free Irish whiskey, too.
Street protest over the country's abortion law
We then tried making our way to St Patrick's Cathedral. That is another "must visit" place in Dublin. What can be more Irish than St Patrick, right? Guess what? Our plans were foiled again, this time by a massive street protest against the country's abortion law. Our bus had to make a number of detours until finally the driver decided to halt the journey until the protest march was over. By then, it was too late to visit the cathedral. That was one day gone, and I have one more day to cramp in all my remaining Irish plans. We could not visit St Patrick's Cathedral on Sunday morning as there were prayer services.
The Brian Boru's harp, dating back to the 15th Century
So we headed to Trinity College which produced great literary figures like Oscar Wilde, Edmund Burke, Samuel Beckett and Jonathan Swift. This institution, which was founded in 1592, has a spectacular collection of 200,000 old books and manuscripts in its library. This priceless collection had belonged to Dutch chief minister Henrik Fagel and was acquired from him in 1802. Imagine a very long room (slightly over 60 metres) with two floors of books as far the eye could see. And all along both sides of the corridor are busts of famous thinkers. Appropriately called the Long Room, it will take your breath away. Well, it did for me. And on display in the centre of the corridor are historical manuscripts and documents. The most famous one must be a copy of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic. This copy is one of a dozen or so still in circulation today. There is also the oldest surviving Irish harp on display here. The Brian Boru's Harp, which dates back to the 15th century, was made from oak and willow and has brass strings. You can see this harp on Irish coins as it was used as a model for Ireland's coat of arms. Drinkers will notice this harp symbol in the Guinness logo. The great treasure of this institution, however, is the Book of Kells, which is over 1,000 years old. This book is truly a work of art and a labour of love by the monks at the monastery in Iona and later in Kells where they fled to after their monastery was attacked by Vikings in 806AD. It is made up of the four gospels, written in Latin in elaborately decorated text on 185 calf skins. The Book was moved to Dublin in 1653 and finally came to Trinity College in 1661. In 1953, the book was rebound in 4 volumes, one for each gospel.
St Patrick's Cathedral
I love cathedrals and castles, so it is only natural that I should visit St Patrick's Cathedral. This place of worship was built near a well which St Patrick used to baptize converts to Christianity. It dates back to 1220, and the cathedral has survived wars, revolutions, and a reformation. For some strange reason, I always thought it was a Catholic Cathedral and it was only during this visit that I found out that it is Anglican. Two personalities are associated with this Cathedral, the first being Jonathan Swift, the author of Gulliver's Travels. He was Dean of the Cathedral from 1713 to 1745. Swift used the pulpit to speak out against social injustice and did a lot to help the less fortunate. He did more than write and talk. Swift left in his will a sum of £12,000 to start a psychiatric hospital and listed out rules to ensure patients were humanely treated. Another personality associated with the cathedral was Arthur Guinness's grandson, Benjamin Lee Guinness. The restoration of the cathedral in 1865 would not have been possible without his generous contribution of £150,000 (equivalent to about €30 million today).
His statue can be seen in the cathedral's grounds. As we were about to move to our next destination, the heavens opened up. It rained so heavily that we had to take shelter in the Cathedral and cancel our plans for the "walking tour of 1916 rebellion." As a consolation, I bought a CD of the music of the 1916 rebellion. They have also produced a movie to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the rebellion. I would love to watch this movie but I doubt if it will be shown in Malaysia. I also did not have time to visit the Leprechaun Museum. Despite all these problems, I still have very fond memories of this Irish trip.
I had a glimpse of the Bachelor's Inn, one of Dublin's oldest pubs, during my bus ride. All around the building, I could see quotes from the city's famous writers:
1. A man's errors are his portals of discovery -- James Joyce
2. To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all -- Oscar Wilde
Everywhere you go, you hear tales and jokes about the Irish people.
At the Liffey Bridge (more popularly known as the Ha'penny Bridge), for example, there is a story about two Irishmen who were told that they had to pay a half penny each as toll. One of them asked the toll keeper whether there was a charge for carrying goods across. When the keeper said "no", one Irishman jumped on the back of the other and was carried all the way. Two for the price of one, so to speak.
I definitely want to come back here to finish my Irish adventure.
Before I go, I want to share this Irish blessing with all of you:
May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His Hand. Goodbye or as they say in Irish Gaelic, Slan