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“The most important things to do in the world are to get something to eat, something to drink, and somebody to love you”- Brendan Behan
I was lucky enough to be able to celebrate my birthday today with a Guinness, fresh from the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin!
We started the day with a very nice breakfast in O’Neill’s. Susan had a full Irish breakfast (egg, back bacon, sausage and white pudding), and I had a vegetarian breakfast (egg, tomatoes, and beans) plus toast. There was also cereals, fruit, yogurt, juice, and soda bread. I really liked the soda bread and look forward to enjoying it during the rest of our time in Ireland. And we had coffee of course, though I may try tea next time as I’ve heard the Irish tea is nice and strong.
We headed out to Trinity College, where we had a timed entry to see the Book of Kells at 11 am. We went early, and had lots of time to do the walking tour first. The walking tours are led by Trinity college students, and we enjoyed our guide and the tour a lot. Trinity College, built between 1712 and 1732, banned
Catholic students until, officially, 1793, but in reality Catholics didn’t attend until the mid 20th C. Apparently the Catholic church excommunicated Catholics students until 1970. Since 1972 Trinity College has been open to all denominations, and is now quite multicultural. You enter Trinity through the main gate (Regent House entrance), which is off College Street (our street, Pearse Street, turns into College Street as it goes around Trinity College). The main square is called Parliament Square, which is surrounded by the Campinale (the bell tower), built in the mid 1800s, the dining hall (dating back to the 18th C) and the Examination Hall, built in 1785. The oldest building is the Rubrics Building, named for the red bricks it is comprised of, which dates back to around 1700. It is now a residence for professors, and oddly enough, the only showers in the building are not accessible from the rooms. The residents have to leave the building, and enter an outside door to access the showers. Not very convenient, especially on a chllly winter day!
The Book of Kells are located in the Long Room of the Old Library, built between 1712 and 1732. The room is quite beautiful,
with book lined wooden shelves on both sides, on two levels. The Book of Kells display is in quite a small area, crowded with visitors. I’m not sure if they limit the number of visitors, but if they don’t then they should, because it is so crowded it’s difficult to get around and read all the exhibits. I think the flow of visitors could be better regulated. There are only two pages from the Book of Kells on display, which I knew beforehand so I wasn’t disappointed. The Book of Kells are an illuminated manuscript written in Latin, comprised of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They were created by monks around 800, and are very beautiful.
We stopped for a cappuccino at the Perch Cafe in the Arts and Social Science building, where I had planned visiting the Douglas Hyde gallery (contemporary art) but it was closed for the installation of new exhibits. So we checked out the Science Gallery instead (meh), exited the College on Pearse Street, and popped into a nearby cafe called Bread, and shared a really nice vegetarian sandwich. We set off again, heading over the Liffey River, crossing over the Moss
Street bridge, to check out our pick up location for tomorrow morning (we start a 3 day tour of Southwest Ireland tomorrow). It was just a short walk from O’Neills, and we spotted our B&B where we’ll be staying when we come back to Dublin after our tour. We walked around the Docklands area, past the Customs House, and alongside the river for a bit, where the striking sculptures of the Famine Memorial are located. We may visit the Irish Emigration Museum which we passed, when we return to Dublin.
We wandered back over the Liffey River to O’Neills, for a quick bathroom break, then found a taxi to take us to the Guinness Storehouse, where we had a timed entry for 3:30 pm. We had a lovely taxi driver who recommended we visit Kilmainham Gaol (we checked later online and they are sold out for the time we are in Dublin so it will have to wait for a future trip). We wandered around several floors of the Storehouse, learning about the Guinness beer making method, and visited the tasting room where we had a very small taster of Guinness, then it was time for our 4:30 Beer
Club tour and tasting, which was very enjoyable. It was nicer having a guide explain everything rather than reading all the displays. The Storehouse is comprised of 7 floors, and is self-guided with lots of different displays on each floor, topped by the Gravity Bar on the 7th floor. The tour ended with a private tasting, where we tasted three different beers made by Guinness, the Hop House 13 lager, the West Indies Porter, and the Foreign Extra Stout. I enjoyed the Porter and the lager. We got a complimentary pint with our entry, and with our Beer Club tour, so we headed first to the Academy Bar, where we learned how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness. Guinness may look heavy, but it actually tastes quite light, and is fairly low in alcohol (4 point something percent). It is nice and creamy and I like it very much. By this time is was about 6:45 pm, and the Gravity Bar closed at 7, so we zipped upstairs for our second pint. I opted for the lager this time, and Susan had another Guinness. The Gravity Bar has an excellent view of Dublin, and we lucked into a table
Our guide and statue of Provost George Salmon
Who reluctantly allowed women into Trinity College in 1904for two (it was quite busy even at that time). After enjoying our pints we headed down to the gift shop where we picked up a few things, including some Guinness memorabilia for one of Susan’s sisters, who is a big fan of Guinness. I got a t-shirt with a vintage Guinness advertisement “a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle”. Hah!
Our guide had recommended a restaurant fairly nearby, and we were starving by this time so we took a taxi there, but when we got to the restaurant there were no tables open, and the bar area only had a limited menu (nothing vegetarian). It turned out it was a steak house. Oh well. So we walked through the Temple Bar area, and ended up back at the pub at O’Neills, where we shared an excellent fish chowder, followed by the fish pie for me (yumm) and the Irish stew and mash for Susan. We both had Hop House 13 Lager with the meal, so today was a fairly high beer intake day! What a fun and action packed birthday I had today in Dublin.
It’s midnight now, so I will finish, as
we have to be up early tomorrow for the beginning of our tour. See you in Galway!
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Faye
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Dublin:Did Someone Say Beer?
Lots of interesting facts. What a lot of different brews!