Five Feet, Nine Inches Above Ground

Wednesday August 14 2024

Rising early wasn’t a problem and I was ambling around the courtyard of the Castle well before the 9:30 time advertised for the opening. My hope was to sign up for a guided tour . I was in luck, there was one available at 10. The Castle has literally been the seat of justice for centuries: the place where justice or lack of it was dispensed, taxes levied and collected, and the upper echelons of society were entertained. It remains the seat of government for the Republic of Ireland Our guide was a chap with curly red hair, a great sense of humour, the ability to speak Irish but he is from Belgium. I think the Irish are rubbing off on him!

Our tour began with a brief introduction in the courtyard and then we headed underground. Remember my comment about underground rivers and subsidence? We were headed into an underground chamber that came about after a section of the building subsided in the early 1980s. The solution was to remove the section and dig down to remove the crumbling foundation. In the process, a viking wall and foundation of the original town were found and, of course, the archeologists took over. Eventually, everything was reconstructed over and around the Viking find and we were on our way to see it. By the way, it wasn’t the section of building where the tax department lives that subsided.

From below ground level, we came back to the surface and headed for the state apartments and former chapel. Our guide explained that most of the gothic -looking tower was actually Victorian reconstruction.The chapel, also of Victorian origin, has been decommissioned. Sadly, the organ is only the elegant facade, the pipes, wind chests and console were dismantled and given to other parishes.

During the British regime, the State apartments were at the centre of high society where balls such as the debutantes ball and concerts were held. After the Republic took over, a lot of the furniture disappeared but the artwork was preserved. Today, the furnishings have been restored with period pieces.

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral (Church of Ireland) is within easy walking distance of the Castle and that was my next stop. Yes, Dublin is blessed to have two cathedrals although Christ Church is the oldest of the them. Somehow, over the centuries, they have managed not to destroy each other!

And now for some literature – very old literature! Marsh’s Library is Dublin’s first public library founded in 1707 by Archbishop Narcissus Marsh. He was an academic and book collector who believed in the utility of education and learning. I highly recommend visiting their website : https://marshlibrary.ie. The current exhibition is entitled Gutenberg’s Cradle: Incunables at Marsh’s Library. Incunables is the word used by librarians and academics to refer to books published during the two generations between Johannes Guttenberg’s invention of printing with moveable type in the mid 1450s and the start of the sixteenth century. As most of you know, i am a book lover. This was a heavenly book experience! The oldest books in Ireland.

The library has it’s own small garden, of course, and that was my next stop.

And on to my next literary stop: Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI).

On the way, I noticed the rather interesting pillared portico next to the home with the blue door. I had stumbled upon the entrance to the Church of Our Lady Seat of Wisdom also known as Newman University Church. Now a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, Cardinal John Henry Newman.

Now, for the Museum:

And then it was time for lunch in The Commons the original student dining halls of University College Newman House. I chose the patio!

And that lead to Iveagh Gardens

The scent of the roses was intoxicating. Each rose bush had its own distinctive scent. The lavender was in full bloom and somewhere in my luggage there might be a drying flower. And then it was on with my explorations of Newman House next to the Museum.

At this point in the day, I decided to head across St. Stephen’s Green toward my hotel. On the way, there were some wonderful street musicians and i managed to trip over a Carmelite Church founded in 1792.

After a brief stop at the hotel and dinner, I decided to visit Trinity College and see what was happening there.

And then it was time for a drink and a drag show at Dublin’s first and iconic lgbtq+ bar, the “George”.