Dublin and Belfast

Leaving Cork and the Kinsale Coast, we took one last look at the beautiful town of Kinsale.

We made our way up the M8 to Cahir and to the Cahir Castle. We had come to learn what type of road to expect based upon the numbering system. 'M' roads were motorways - divided highways and we loved them. Sure easy to drive on the correct side of the road when everyone's going the same way.   The 'N' and 'A' roads were national roads and were the next step down. By the time you got to an 'R', the width of the road was iffy. Finally, at the bottom were 'L' roads, the local roads that were mostly one lane roads with two-way traffic. We tried to avoid these.  

Also, I want to commend the Irish for their driving skills. No one actually drove in the right lane. It was for passing and as soon as you passed, you merged into back into the left lane. But the Irish do suffer from the same problem that Americans do. I'm convinced that the best thing to ever happen to drivers, which is also the worst thing, is the invention of disk brakes. It's the best thing because cars can stop so much faster. It's the worst thing because it gives a false sense of security and encourages drivers to follow way too closely. The Irish have mastered driving too close as well as the Americans. I thought about making a poster for my back window that said "Caution: American Driver on Board." I'm sure they would understand.

We made a stop at another castle in Cahir. The Cahir Castle is probably one of the best preserved castles in Ireland. Ingeniously built on an island in the middle of the river so that the river could provide one more barrier to attackers. 

Upon leaving Cahir, we made our way to the Dublin Airport and happily returned our rental car. The word of this day is Relieved. Relieved not to have experienced any damage more significant than a flat tire. Relieved to not be driving any more. Relieved to be out of a small car. But a hint of sadness that the road trip part of the journey was over.

We got to our hotel and went next door to a restaurant for dinner. Believe it or not, there was a trad band playing in the dining room and an individual playing in the bar. Music is everywhere and we were in heaven. Murray's Public House was our home for music at the end of the evening for the duration of our stay in Dublin. The building to the right was our hotel.

The next morning, Saturday, we began exploring Dublin. We made an unscheduled stop at the The Temple Bar at noon. There was a musician playing and everyone was in sing-a-long mode and the Guinness was flowing. It's Saturday and we joined them. We love the way the Irish get into their music. They all sing-a-long. They seem to know the words to every song. 

We then made our way to the Jameson Distillery. This was one of the better tours we did on the trip. It was guided by informative guides and included a tasting at the end. The tour was great, but a unique chandelier in the tasting room really caught our eye. It's made out of Jameson bottles.

That night we went to see Mary Black and she put on a great performance. Everyone had told us that the years had not been good to her voice. By the end of the show, we decided for ourselves that any degradation in her voice was minimal and we both believed that she put on a terrific performance. You know that feeling when you walk out of a concert and you're reliving all the music. Your head is going from one song to the next. You feel like you've just seen something special. That's how we felt. Here's a picture of Mary singing with her daughter who is also an accomplished musician. 

This is a picture of the venue with tables on the floor. We were fortunate enough to have gotten tickets on the 4th row. Tickets were around $40 each which is a reasonable concert.

After her show we headed back to our hotel. As I mentioned in another post, a wonderful couple named John and Mary gave us a ride back to the hotel and it was fun having conversations about our favorite Irish musicians. As Dr. Seuss says, 'Oh, the places you'll go."

On Sunday morning, we got up and quickly realized that our morning tickets to the Book of Kells were for the day before. We hopped a bus over to Trinity College and presented the tickets and explained the situation. The young man taking tickets told us to go on in. Susanne found herself mesmerized by the Book of Kells, and even more so by the Long Room of the library itself. They were in the process of removing every book from the shelf, cleaning the books by a special vacuuming and humidification process, and then cataloging and indexing their contents and restoring them to the shelves. Even though there were very few books on the shelf, it was obvious that this was a very special library. Purportedly, they had a copy of every book ever printed in Ireland.  

The Long Room at the library is enormous. Even though the shelves are mostly empty, it's still pretty impressive.

Also in the library has one of the oldest known harps in existence. 

Being the custodian of the Book of Kells is both a privilege and a serious obligation. The Book of Kells is just one manuscript containing the four gospels of the new testament. They were written by hand around 800 AD with drawings and paintings to illustrate the chapters. It's hard to describe, but hopefully the pictures will give you a sense of the nature of the book.

This is an example of a hand painted page from the Book of Kells. 

A copy of the full Book of Kells is online at 

https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/concern/works/hm50tr726?locale=en

Unfortunately we had to leave the library earlier than we wanted to due to a scheduled tour at the Guinness Brewery. We were a little disappointed in the brewery tour. It was self-guided and designed to handle large volumes of people. We honestly did not think it was worth the money and time we spent on the tour. But we both confess that they make outstanding stout.

We tried to go back to the Trinity College Library bookstore but they were in the process of closing and wouldn't let us back in. So we called it an evening and went to an early dinner. Guess where?

On Monday morning we met our tour bus at  6:45 AM and setoff for Northern Ireland. The word of the day is Giant. Our first stop was the Giant's Causeway. The Causeway is a geological phenomenon that consist of columns of rock that were formed 60 million years ago. An intense volcanic eruption blasted through the upper layer of chalk forming a flat plateau. As it cooled, it cracked into columns. 

But the Irish myth version that it was created by Finn McCool is much more fun. I usually don't put links into the blog, but this story is so fun, but a little long. And better told by an Irishman. I urge you to check it out at: 

https://www.historicmysteries.com/finn-mccool/

Not far from the Giant's Causeway, is an area called Dark Hedges. It was created about 150 years ago by a plantation owner planting about 150 beech trees that have grown to over hang the entrance to their house. It was used as a scene in the Game of Thrones. We're looking at it in early November after the leaves have started to fall. It takes a little imagination to see it full of leaves this time of year but I can imaging the 'dark hedges' created by the fully grown beech trees. 

And this was the house.

The two of us spent a couple of hours walking around in downtown Belfast. As we walked around, we thought of the bombings that occurred during the Troubles. We know that some occurred here near City Hall in the building shown below. 

Belfast is also the home to the Titanic Museum. We didn't make a visit, but Belfast is where the Titanic was built. There is a large museum dedicated to the Titanic and its history. Shaped like a ship.

                                                

 

As our day in Belfast draws to a close, the words to end the day are peace, change and harmony. We are hoping for continued peace in Belfast, for an acceptance of the changes causing all of the tensions in the region, and for a sense of harmony in Northern Ireland. These significant cultural shifts are happening amidst a region that has already been tested by The Troubles. 

As we ride the coach back to Dublin, we realize that our journey in Ireland is coming to a close. 

Why did we go? We got drawn into this trip sooner than we'd expected because we love music. Listening to Christy and Mary on YouTube took us to another place where we wanted to be. We've always loved the balladeers. They tell stories and our life is about stories. We all have our own and love to tell them, but we can also love and learn from other's stories. The Irish are particularly good at telling stories and they're ever so happy to share them with anyone who will listen. We were there to listen and it delivered. They don't do this for the money. They do it for the pleasure they get when they make an audience happy. The music provides a common bond between everyone who is listening. So they tell their stories, in music or in parable, and we're glued to them by listening. It, simply, just doesn't get any better than this. 

Whenever we get home, invariably someone will ask what was our favorite experience. There's no answer to that question because there were so many experiences. All are good experiences accompanied by a few challenges. The strongest highlights of all of our trips are the people we meet along the way. Our conversations give us a chance to learn, but only if we just listen and observe. Another reason to stay in the moment. As we have discovered in other travels, the things we share in common are much greater than our differences and are meant to be shared.

We enjoyed the pub culture. Pubs are where the Irish gather to socialize and to share stories with their friends. There were all sorts of conversations in pubs. As story telling machines, we humans are meant to share the space created by a pub. 

Our trip home will be a long day of about 26 hours. So we'll say goodbye here. Thanks for joining us.