Final Notes on Dublin

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On our bus tour Finola had pointed out both Saint Patrick’s church as well as Christ Church Cathedral.   The easiest one of those churches to get to on foot, once we left the bus, was Christ Church.  There was an admission price to tour it on our own, but that price was well worth the experience of seeing the main cathedral as well as exhibits and the crypt in the floor below.  The church is the oldest building in continuous use in Dublin.  Its story begins almost a thousand years ago when a Norse king built the first church on this site in about 1030. The Anglo-Normans rebuilt the church in the 12^th and 13^th centuries, and it was heavily restored in the 1870s.  The stained glass of the church is quite beautiful, they are based on medieval designs.   In the church’s guide of the building there is mention of a medieval grinning 13^th-century carved stone monkey sitting atop a pillar in the cathedral.   John found that quite humorous and once he learned about the monkey’s presence in the church, he was determined to find it. He finally had to ask a church staff member to point it out to us.

Also noted in the church’s brochure was that one of its choir’s most famous performances was in April 1742 when Christ Cathedral choir with Saint Patrick’s choir sang the first performance of Handel’s Messiah, Handel directed the choirs.   The performance was not in either churches, but at a Neal's Music Hall in Dublin, a building which is no longer standing.

The lower part of the church holds a crypt, the largest working one in Dublin.  The area has on display the heart of Saint Laurence O’Toole, patron saint of Dublin. It is encased in a decorative metal heart, in case you are wondering about those details.   Until April 3^rd there is also a special exhibit on the 150th anniversary of the Irish Disassociation Act which took place under order of Parliament in 1869.  It separated the Church of Ireland from the Church of England.  The act was a key move to get rid of the Protestant ascendancy which had dominated Ireland for several centuries.  Much more than that I could not tell you, it was a very thorough exhibit with more information than us Americans needed!

Unfortunately, the day we were at the cathedral I did not get any pictures, but I do have one picture of Saint Andrew’ church.

 This church disappeared in the mid 17^th century, and was rebuilt in 1665.

 

 The building above is the Leinster house, Dublin’s largest 18^th century mansion.  After the formation of the Irish Free State in 1922 the building was acquired by the newly formed government, and since has been home to the Irish Parliament

While walking around Saint Stephen’s Green I found a mall where I was able to purchase postcards and gifts for family back home.  It has several floors and many shops under its dome. Of note here is the green, orange, and balloons and one flag.  It was explained to us that the color green is for the Catholics of the country, orange for the Protestants and white is for peace.

On Saturday afternoon we took a train to a couple of villages outside of Dublin.  We could not leave until that afternoon for that trip because we first needed to take a cab to the airport to make arrangements for a flight home (there was no way we could get through to the airlines per phone because they were taking in a large number of calls, computers also were failing us).

The story of our trip to Howath will be my last posting for Ireland.