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Friday 14 March 2008 After rising above the drizzly clouds of London we flew briefly in sunshine before ducking under the clouds in preparation for landing in Dublin. As we descended the rolling green hills of Ireland came into view. It was a strange feeling for Barbara. She had never been to Ireland before but somehow arriving there felt like coming home ... but not quite? Her family left this country half a century ago to seek a new life in Australia. Barbara had not only come to Ireland to enjoy its lovely countryside and party for St Paddy’s Day but also to learn about her roots and to meet the extended family she had only recently learned about. The prospect of this discovery was quite touching for her. Barbara was nervous but very excited. Michael felt honoured to be accompanying her on this adventure.
We landed at Dublin airport and were instantly snaffled by sales reps trying to convince us to sample new ranges of spirits available. We politely accepted and enjoyed the tastings. After the lovely refreshments we found a local DublinBus outside the airport to catch to the city centre. The signs at the bus stop
said ‘no large luggage’ to be taken on the local buses, only the more expensive airport buses but no one seemed to pay attention to these conditions.
The bus dropped us on O’Connell Street in the city centre and we walked to the nearby bus station to store our luggage for a few hours until Barbara’s cousin Anne-Marie finished work. On the way to the bus station we found out that unfortunately prejudice is not only the basis for politics but also marketing and humour (photo). It took us about 45 minutes to get our luggage organised because we had to line up to get appropriate change for the lockers and then the lockers didn’t work so we had to wait until someone felt like responding to our requests for assistance. Eventually we locked up or bags and set out to explore the city.
We walked along the south bank of the Liffy and observed the buildings and streets along the river to be well decorated for the coming festivities (photo). We were quite peckish so we directed our wanderings towards Dublin’s famous fish and chip shop. Unfortunately it had started raining by the time we found it
and they only served takeaway, so we declined and went next door to the Lord Edward Pub. There we enjoyed tasty fresh fish and chips, some of the best we’ve ever tasted. Michael also enjoyed a pint of Guinness as an appropriate initiation to Ireland (photo). The locals were very friendly and a couple of old timers immediately started chatting with us upon our arrival.
With out appetites and tastebuds very satisfied and the rain easing we continued our wanderings through tiny winding streets in the south of the city. The archaeology exhibit at the National Museum was of particular interest.
Eventually it was time to collect our luggage and meet Anne-Marie so we walked back along the north bank of the Liffy to the bus station, pausing briefly for the Potato Famine Memorial (photo). We struggled with the broken lockers again and then raced back to Grafton Street mall where we met Anne-Marie and headed back to her house. There we chatted with Anne-Marie and her husband Mark, dined and crashed in exhaustion.
Saturday 15 March 2008 Anne-Marie and Mark had some errands to run so they dropped us off at the Guinness Brewery (photo)
in the morning where we happily amused ourselves for a number of hours. It was a self-guided tour but there were many interesting intermissions along the way including beer tastings, food tastings - the Guinness bread with smoked salmon and cream cheese was particularly enjoyable - and presentations. We saw the 9000 year lease that Guinness hold for the land on which the brewery stands (photo) and the original safe in which emergency yeast supplies were kept (photo). Michael amused himself by impersonating advertising characters (photo) and learning how to pour his pint properly (photo). After another couple of pints at the Gravity Bar with 360 degree views of the city and enjoying some of the St Paddy’s festival entertainment we decided we probably had drank enough for the day so we ventured out in search of other sights.
Of course it had began pouring with rain so we tried to seek shelter in the Collins Barracks Museum but the attendant told us that there was no modern history exhibit, only an exhibition of ancient jewellery - boring! The only other attraction nearby to keep us out of the rain was the Jameson Distillery. Due to the weather we
briskly decided maybe we hadn’t had enough to drink yet and rushed inside. Unfortunately there was a VERY long wait until the next available tour - about 2 hours or more - so we found that fate was telling us we’d had enough to drink and headed back to Anne-Marie’s. By this time it was POURING with rain. We got soaked to the bone on the way to the bus stop and shivered all the way back to the house via Tesco where we stopped to collect groceries to cook for dinner. We should have accepted Anne-Marie’s kind offer of a brolly in the morning.
We warmed up over a delicious dinner of Aussie pork chops with Michael’s special marinade and indulged in some Baileys and ice cream for dessert (photo). We spent the rest of the evening flicking through family photos and learning about each other and our families.
Sunday 16 March 2008 Michael woke at a very uncivilized 3am to join Mark and Anne-Marie in watching the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Australia, quite disorienting as every other time he'd watched the race it was the middle of the afternoon. Barbara was sane and slept
in. Michael had a nap after the race and then we set out on a walking tour of Dublin run by the tourism office. Our guide (photo) was charismatic and entertaining but also had a very in-depth understanding of the history of Dublin and was able to answer many questions. He told us about medieval Dublin, the potato famine, the evolution of religion in Ireland, the politics and the people. He showed us around Trinity College, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Castle, Temple Bar and many other interesting sights (photo).
After the tour we made a second attempt at touring the Jameson Distillery and this time we were successful (photo), well, sort of. We booked a tour but had to wait about 2 hours before it began so we caught a tram back to O’Connell Street to grab some lunch and visit the Post Office. The post office is a significant landmark in Dublin because it is where the Easter Uprising of 1916 was focused and where the Republic of Ireland was first declared (photo).
Back at the Jameson Distillery (photo) we joined our tour which was unfortunately very frequently interrupted by a French tour group whose guide wanted
to translate everything our guide said and then take lots of questions from her group. Ideally they should have had a separate group because it was very distracting and meant that the tour was rushed because of their delays. Nevertheless at the end of the tour there was still plenty of time for sampling. Michael has his whiskey on the rocks and Barbara, who isn’t usually a whiskey drinker, enjoyed hers with Cranberry - apparently the proper Dublin way to drink it (photo).
When we were nicely jolly from our tastings we started heading back to Anne-Marie’s. On the way we spotted a very strange resident (photo) and got caught in crowds by the Liffy after a football match (photos). We continued across the Liffy and caught our DublinBus - which looks a little like a London Bus only its blue (photo).
Much to our pleasant surprise Anne-Marie had invited some family over for dinner. Barbara almost fell over when Anne-Marie said Uncle Ian would be visiting. Barbara’s family hadn’t heard from him in half a century. Barbara’s father was very fond of his cousin and was sad to have lost touch and was trying to find him
- and here he was! He and his wife Deana visited that evening and wished us a happy St Patrick’s Day with a special cake for the occasion (photo). It was a very heart-warming experience to be able to meet them and Barbara gave them some contact details of her family in the hope that Ian and Deana way want to contact them. Ian was also very helpful in providing information about Barbara’s great grandfather and they showed us great photos of my dad’s cousins when they were young. It was sad to say goodbye at the end of the night but Barbara was very grateful for the experience to meet them albeit briefly. Cheers Anne-Marie!
Monday 17 March 2008 Early in the morning Mark was very kind to drive all of us out to Glasnevin cemetery where Ian had advised us the previous day that Barbara’s great grandfather was buried. Glasnevin is a very special cemetery because it is very historically significant. It is the resting place of many of the founders of the republic including Michael Collins (photo). It was a strange feeling for Michael to see a grave of someone with the same name as
him so he kept a very respectful distance. We found Barbara’s great grandfather’s plot with some additional navigation assistance from Ian (photo). Barbara was in a bit of a state when we found it because the plot was in a bit of a state. We tidied it up a bit and gave Barbara some time to spend with him.
When we had paid our respects, Mark and Anne-Marie took us into the city for the St Patrick’s Day parade. We dressed for the occasion with Barbara going as far as painting her face (photo). The parade was late to start, but that’s just Ireland. Once it did, it was fantastic. We found a vantage point at the south end of O’Connell’s Bridge. There were acrobats, inflatable monsters, stilted clowns, marching bands, decorative floats and of course St Patrick himself - on a motorcycle!? (photo)
When the festivities were complete we walked to the outskirts of the city to meet Anne-Marie and Mark at the Nancy Hands pub (photo) for a celebratory beer. It was much better to be out of the city centre because by the end of the parade it was starting to get very boozy and
rowdy.
Tuesday 18 March 2008 It was to be another morning at the cemetery but this time Dean’s Grange to the south east of the city where Barbara’s grandfather was buried (photo). The prior day had been tough but she had been prepared for this one. She knew that the grave would be quite bare. We spent some time there while Barbara paid her respects to her grandfather.
When we were done, Mark and Anne-Marie took us to nearby Blackrock where we caught the train (photo) up north to Rush & Lusk. On the train from Blackrock a local man picked our accents as Aussie. He asked which city we were from and we replied Sydney. He said he had a cousin in Sydney but that she was moving to Perth and asked if that was nearby. We replied ‘yes, only about 4500km’. We don’t think he realised how big Australia is. He was quite shocked. We needed to change at Connolly central station but were rather confused that in true Irish fashion our connecting train came from the same platform, headed in the opposite direction but still had a northern destination!!??? - we had further need
for cultural adjustment to understand this one.
When our train arrived at Rush & Lusk - they’re twin towns - we found that, not-so-intelligently, the bus to Rush which only comes hourly departs 3 minutes before the train arrives. Grunt! Not really knowing what to do with ourselves, we caught a bus to Lusk instead and grabbed a quick lunch there and set about exploring the small town centre. The town centre basically consisted of a pub, a church, a minimart and a bus stop so this didn’t take very long. Lusk was quite pretty and appeared to be well deserving of a ‘tidy town’ award (photo). We visited the church (photo) and the adjoining Lusk Round Tower (photo), both of which were closed, then we rushed back for the bus to Rush.
The bus took us past a small cemetery which contained what looked like ruins of an interestingly shaped church (photo) and into the lovely little village of Lusk with its quaint thatch-roofed cottages (photo). We strolled along the main street which led down to the north beach (photo). It was low tide so the sand was a bit gunked up with seaweed - but nonetheless
THERE WAS SAND! The water was cold so we didn’t swim. We just rested, took in the views and the fresh air and enjoyed visiting a place where Barbara’s family used to holiday (photos). When it started getting a bit cold outside we sought shelter and refreshment inside the Harbour Bar next to the beach (photo).
We also spotted another Michael Collins Pub (photo) but didn’t have time for a drink there because by then, we had accidentally missed our bus back to the station. Barbara had read the timetable incorrectly so we hailed a friendly off-duty taxi to take us there.
We made it to the station (photo) in plenty of time for our train. We caught the train back to Dublin city and went to meet Anne-Marie and Barbara’s father’s cousin Mary at Wynns Hotel (photo). The hotel was lovely as was the company. We chatted and looked at photographs and then it was time to head off.
After dinner we received a visit from Mary’s sister Aileen (photo). We enjoyed the pleasant opportunity to meet her. In addition, she and her sister had been very helpful with enlightening us about some more of Barbara’s
family history. We also took great pleasure in showing them some more recent photographs of the family in Australia.
Wednesday 19 March 2008 Late in the morning we caught a train south to Bray. We hadn’t expected to have the opportunity to go there but due to timing of our upcoming tour of Northern Ireland we would be spending an extra couple of days in Dublin. Accordingly Deana had kindly invited us to visit for the day.
The train ride heading south was quite scenic especially the rugged coastline just before Bray (photo). Deana met us at the station (photo) and walked us down to the beach (photos). The beach was quite pebbly so Michael had some fun skimming pebbles across the water (photos) while Barbara and Deana chatted and admired the views of the nearby mountains.
Deana then took us back to their house for lunch where we met their son Alex and friend Mark. Alex kindly drove all of us into the nearby Wicklow Mountains where we visited the waterfalls (photos) and then continued driving through the countryside (photos) to the Powerscourt Estate (photo). At the estate we enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea on
the terrace overlooking the gardens and the mountains (photo).
Afterwards, we headed back to Bray and up the mountain to admire the views of the town and coastline (photo).
Back at the house, Ian arrived home as did their other son Ian (photo) and Alex’s girlfriend who blushed shyly and giggled when she met Michael Collins. It was very nice to have the opportunity to meet with Barbara’s Uncle Ian again and all of his family. Unfortunately time was getting on, it was a long trip back to Dublin and Deana was convinced we’d need another feeding soon so we bid everyone a fond farewell and headed back to Dublin.
Thursday 20 March 2008 It was to be our last full day in Dublin. Accordingly we headed out early to visit the Collins Barracks museum complex again. We were convinced that the modern history museum was there and Anne-Marie had even visited it on a prior occasion. So we ignored the man at the information counter, who had advised that there was only an exhibit on jewellery and furniture, and went straight inside. Well, what do you know - he was wrong! There was definitely a
museum in there. Michael played with the Sea Stallion Viking ship in the forecourt (photo) and then we went inside and viewed the exhibitions on Ireland’s history of conflict and formation of the Republic.
Lunch of Irish lamb stew and baked cod (photo) at the Brazen Head Inn was delicious and extra special given that it is the oldest pub in Ireland, dating back to 1198AD.
After lunch we strolled through the Temple Bar district (photo) known for ... you’ll never guess... BARS! Michael did a round of beer tastings at the Porterhouse Brewery (photos).
Later that night we attended a performance of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet at the Abbey Theatre (photos). It was not only a fantastic performance, but it was an extra special experience for Barbara because of her ancestors who had been part of the Theatre Company. A fantastic way to complete our tour of Dublin!
Of course, the weather had held nicely all week after we accepted Anne-Marie’s umbrella after our first soaking. But as soon as we returned it that evening, the sky opened up and it poured all night long. We thanked Anne-Marie graciously for the use of her ‘magic
umbrella’ that allowed Dublin to show us its most beautiful moderately cloudy weather all week long.
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