Saint Stephen's Green

As I wrote before, on our third day in Ireland (fittingly March 13) we boarded a bus to Galway only to learn a few minutes later that the whole tour was canceled.  Globus Tours, the company responsible for our tour, assured us that they would begin securing airline tickets for our return home.  John, Michael, and I headed out on foot to further explore Dublin.  Fortunately for us, out of all the days we were there, that was the best day weather-wise for being outside.

Seems the city was a bit ahead of us with spring, and this was a perfect place to be with all the trees and flowers blooming!   Saint Stephens park,Victorian in character, is located in central Dublin.  It has statuary of renown persons of Ireland which provide good lessons in that country's history.  It also has a small lake complete with swans, bandstand and arboretum, as well as numerous flower displays which look like they have been well cared for.  We did not cover the entire park.

Located in this green is also a memorial to William Yates as well as to Oscar Wilde.  The park was a favorite haunt of Yates, unfortunately his memorial was currently removed for refurbishing.  On our way to the Oscar Wilde statue my attention was suddenly drawn to the playground.  Since becoming a grandmother,  I check out every playground I encounter.  This one was interesting to say the least.  Around the play area here were two small whimsical signs, one noting that this is “your garden now” and the other announced “ how happy are we here”.  The signs looked very old and weathered.  I was next taken aback by a strange figure lying in the ground.  Most of him was buried except for his head, hands and feet.  His eyes were winking at me.   I would have loved to have my grandchildren with me at that moment to see their reaction to him!

Just a few feet from the playground we came to the figure of Oscar Wilde reclining on a rock.

Signs near him had some quotes written by him as: “I drink to keep my soul and body apart”

Speaking of drinking, we did just that!  After walking through a portion of the park we were tired and thirsty.  Our guide had pointed out to us earlier that day the Shelbourne Hotel, the “Grand Dame” of Dublin since 1824.  Over the years it has always greeted its guests at the door by a man wearing a black top hat.  We decided that we had to check it out, and walked in as though we had a room there. Then we stopped and our questioning looks to each other gave us away.  Fortunately a kind lady greeted us and escorted us to the watering area, or bar.   We ordered drinks, quite oblivious to their cost.  The amaretto sour drink I had, pictured below, cost fifteen euros.  I am sure it was the most expensive drink I ever sipped!  It was yummy, and I enjoyed every swallow.  And what pleasure we had sitting in such a luxurious place with crystal chandeliers shining above us and lovely paintings on the wall.  It was a good way to end our day which had started on such a sour note!

I have a couple more postings of Ireland yet to share, but I will be taking a break for a few days.

Our Bus Tour of Dublin

On our aborted tour of Ireland we did have a half day on a tour bus.  At noon we were dropped off to get lunch on our own, shop or see more historic sites and return to the bus.

Pictured above is a side entrance of Trinity College.  Founded in 1592 it is the oldest university in Western Europe.  Famous alumni include author Jonathan Swift, writer and dramatist Oscar Wilde, physicist Nobel Prize winner Ernest Walton, and Nobel Laureate in Literature Samuel Beckett- to name a few.

This picture is of the front of the college.  The statue on the left is that of Edmund Burke 18^th century Irish statesman.  Figure on the right is that of philosopher and political thinker of Georgian Age (author and poet), Burke’s friend Oliver Goldsmith.  We were able to tour the campus that one afternoon and then the gates closed.  Word had it that 3 post graduate students had the virus, students were sent home.

Finola, our guide, suggested the Bank restaurant for lunch, and we were glad that we followed her suggestion- excellent food and a bit of a museum.  The building began as a bank in 1891.  In the picture above you may notice its Victorian trimming as well as marble posts.The historical bank has a replica of the Book of Kells as well as a wall of busts of the men executed for their part in the 1916 Easter uprising.  That was very sobering to read their biographies- all fairly young men in their 40s and respected people of their communities- scholars, barristers, politicians and and a poet. 

In regards to that uprising, our bus tour took us to the Garden of Remembrance.  It is a memorial to men who lost their lives “in the cause of Irish freedom”.  This had to do with the up-risings of 1798,1813-1818,1867,1916 and 1919-1921.  The statue has the figures of four children arising out of swans.  That was in reference to an old Irish legend of children who were turned into swans and later  liberated. Queen Elizabeth laid a wreath at this memorial in 2011.

And I am again ending this on a lighter note.  We completed our afternoon at the Guinness Storehouse.  We toured it on our own and saw the story which happened 250 years ago when the brewery started producing its famous dark beer.  The building is designed in the shape of a giant pint of Guinness.   Speaking of that drink, we received a free glass of it at the highest level of the building, the Gravity Bar.  While sipping our beers we could look out wide large windows and see  the city of Dublin and beyond to the countryside, ocean and mountains.  What a great view!   We also watched as the skies become dark, clouds roll in and rain come down. By the time we were ready to walk back to our hotel it was sunny again;  except for one day that was our weather pattern while we were in Ireland.

O'Connell Street

This street is the main artery of Dublin’s northside.  Mike had arrived in Dublin a day before John and was eager to show us some of the sites he had discovered. This street, one of the widest in the city, was the first one to which he guided us.  Daniel O’Connell was a politician who lived from 1775 to 1847.  He campaigned for Catholic emancipation and repeal of the Acts of Union which combined Great Britain and Ireland.  His statue on O’Connell street is titled “The Liberator”.  The winged figures by his side represent his bravery, patriotism, fidelity, and eloquence.  We passed by this statue on our tour bus on another day and our guide pointed out bullet holes on the winged figures they hit this landmark in the 1916 rebellion.

 

Another important figure for Ireland is that of the well-known Irish author James Joyce.  There is a James

There is a Joyce Centre in Dublin, which we did not visit.  However, during our tour of Dublin, Finola our guide pointed out  various sites pertaining to the fictional characters of Leopold and Molly Bloom featured in Joyce's book "Ulysses".
Pictured at the bottom of this posting is the "Dublin Spire", a 398 foot stainless steel post in the background of that photo.  It is also called “Monument of Light”, and is one of the newer landmarks on this street. There were big plans for this monument, including a revolving platform at the top- but funds ran out.  It has a variety of nicknames as “the stiletto in the ghetto” ," the pike in the dike” or “nail in the pale”.  Have to be a Dubliner to understand them!

 

There are a couple other monuments on O’Connell but I would rather finish this with some bit of humor.  However, it is necessary to move to another part of Dublin, to the Molly Malone statue.  Do you know the Irish song of Molly and how she was a fishmonger selling cockles and mussels?  Had another business at night.  Here she is with her fish cart.  Her breasts are a bit shiny from well, I can only imagine that some visitors to dear Molly have enjoyed giving her a bit of a rub!

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