“I go off into Dublin and two days later I’m spotted walking by the Liffey with a whole bunch of new friends.” – Ronnie Wood (Rolling Stones)
Although we were staying on the west coast of Ireland we really wanted to visit Dublin and I was delighted to discover that the cost of a return rail ticket to the capital city was only €25 (£20) which was sort of surprising because I considered this to very good value compared to UK rail travel prices when most other things in Ireland seemed to me to be about 20% more expensive than in the UK.
It was an early start today so we missed breakfast at the Hotel Victoria and made our way to the railway station just a couple of hundred metres away to catch the seven-thirty Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) diesel powered 22000 class train service to Dublin which left exactly on time.
I have to say that the two hour journey wasn’t especially thrilling as we quickly left the dramatic scenery of the west coast behind us and travelled across the rather ordinary interior of the country with miles and miles of low lying land, livestock farms and the occasional stop at the various forgettable towns along the way and I was glad when we eventually arrived at our destination at Heuston station.
We only had a few hours in Dublin so we thought that maybe a good way to see the city was to take the city bus tour which left from just outside the station so we bought our tickets and climbed to the roofless top deck and as the bus set off rather wished that it was a little bit warmer as it drove towards the first stop at Phoenix Park (the largest public park in Europe by the way) and Dublin zoo and then back towards the city along the north bank of the river Liffey and then into O’Connell Street named after the nineteenth century Irish nationalist hero known as the liberator and not to be confused with Daniel O’Donnell the singer and TV presenter known as the imitator.
After an unnecessary change of bus when we told to get off but then got straight back on again we crossed the river to the more affluent south side of the city and drove around Trinity College, Georgian Merrion Square and the birthplace of Oscar Wilde and then left the bus to start a walking tour at St Stephen’s Green, a large area of serene parkland and an oasis of green in the centre of the city.
From St Stephens we walked back to Merrion Square to photograph the red brick Georgian town houses and the famous coloured doors. These are all wonderful (although a little plain) buildings that until the 1950s were largely residential but which are too expensive to buy and maintain for that purpose any more and are now all business headquarters and public buildings. Until 1972 the British Embassy was based here but following the Bloody Sunday riots in Northern Ireland an angry crowd marched on the place and burnt it to the ground.
In the grounds of the park at the centre of the square we found the jesters chair, a memorial to Father Ted actor Dermot Morgan and then a rather strange statue of Oscar Wilde lounging in a very unflattering pose on an uncomfortable looking granite rock which I didn’t care for a great deal. It seemed to me to be somewhat inappropriate, the poor man clinging on like a piece of lichen to a boulder with his legs wide apart showing his crotch which was what got him into a whole load of trouble in the first place! Dubliners have christened it the ‘fag on the Craig’.
Leaving Merrion Square we continued our walking tour into Trinity College, one of the seven ancient universities of Great Britain and Ireland (the others are Oxford, Cambridge, St Andrews, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh, which makes me wonder why the Scots have four ancient universities and are still daft enough to vote for independence).
Somewhere in the bowels of the splendid buildings surrounding a perfectly manicured green is the book of Kells which is one of the oldest and most important illuminated monastic manuscripts from the medieval dark ages and is regarded as Ireland’s finest national treasure. We would have liked to have seen it but there was a queue like an abandoned garden hose that was shuffling slowly forward as though people had their shoe laces tied together and we didn’t really care how important it was because we didn’t want to waste our precious time in Dublin standing in a line.
The sun was coming through now, it was approaching lunch time and everyone wanted a Guinness so we left the hallowed halls of Trinity College, pushed our way through the patient queue of people more determined than we were to see the book of Kells and made our way to Temple Bar.
Andrew I love the way your group ends the day. Like minded traveling. 🙂
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Is there another way?
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Thanks, Andrew, for giving us this tour. Americans all, my husband, daughter and I are relocating to Ireland for three years starting in August. He’ll be entering a PhD program in Cork and I’ll have plenty of time to explore the sites ..and the pubs. Grand preview!
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It was my first time in Ireland and it won’t be my last!
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I found the geography of Ireland fascinating. Really nice around the coastal perimeters and boring as hell in the middle.
I wouldn’t normally do this, but as it’s you… You have a classic literal talking about the doors and burning down the embassy by an angry crown. I have crazy visions of a livid crown dancing around and throwing petrol bombs at the embassy that represents it! You may wish to leave it and see if anyone else gets as much fun from it.
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The middle was boring I agree.
I am not sure what point you are making in the second paragraph? I am not making any sort of political statement just stating a fact. I am certain however that the Royal Family had nothing to do with burning down the Embassy!
I hope your ankle is getting better!
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Was it an angry crown or did you mean to write an angry crowd?
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I should have paid more attention to your post on proofreading!
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I don’t normally comment on blog post literals, sounds too picky, although I will point out faulty links as most people go back to correct them.
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Oh I see, you’ve changed it. Very humorous Andrew, too droll for words.
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bloody spell check!
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I love all the doors and the Temple Bar is a delight to see. I love color and Ireland seems to have that too. I wouldn’t mind going to Dublin.
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I think you would like it!
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😛
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Thank you for visiting ! 🙂
Regards,
Aliosa.
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I had the same sort of amount of time in Dublin, Andrew. I didn’t have the presence of mind to get on a bus tour. I walked miles! But I did see and was impressed by Trinity College. 🙂
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Wonderful place even if I didn’t see the book of Kells! Did you see it?
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No- same reason as you 😦 The library was wonderful, though.
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Lovely Post. Me and hubby have been thinking of visiting Dublin from an year now. While reading your post, just got myself a reminder of long due trip. Love the pictures of colourful doors. I might contact you in future to get details on must visit :):)
Love it.
xxx
Aanchal
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I think you would like it!
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I rather like that Oscar Wilde statue, with its unusual colours.
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The colours are good I agree but it is such a weird pose, he looks as though he is sliding down the side of the rock/base/plinth! I preferred the statue in St Stephen’s Green depicting the famine.
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Pingback: A to Z of Postcards – D is for Dublin (part 1) | Have Bag, Will Travel
It’s a very pleasant city, Dublin.
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It certainly is John but so are most places in Ireland. I need to go there again.
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Dublin has some lovely architecture
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It does but you have to get below the tourist surface crust.
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I haven’t visited for years though my OH was there recently. He was at a business meeting sadly without his baggage which Aer Lingus sent via Munich. As to be expected, after I had located it, it was delivered to his hotel just as he was about to return home.
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Same thing happened to Kim in Iceland. She had to suffer the indignity of wearing my underpants.
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My OH had to wash his overnight, every night.
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I love this Andrew: ‘ a queue like an abandoned garden hose’. And your views on state railways, but as to Scottish independence – well, I rather want independence myself from this lot …
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State run industries may not be so efficient but there are no shareholders to leach away profits and no Chief Executives on obscene salaries. Fifty years on we are suffering the consequences of Thatcher’s drive for privatisation.
Apologies for getting all political.
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Exactly. No apology necessary. I started it.
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Ha ha, was going to Like until got to the bit about daft Scots! We couldn’t do worse for ourselves than this lot. Out of the fire into the frying pan tonight.
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I don’t understand why England was so keen to leave the EU but get angry about Scottish Independence.
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Easy. One was “taking back control”. The other is giving up control!
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Exactly.
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