Dublin was a trading center established by the Vikings and later built up by the local people and of course, since it was close to England, the Normans and then the British. It’s an interesting town with almost as many pubs‘s restaurants in some areas. It’s a good place to spend three or four days and there was a lot to see. If you were interested in the history the Irish people are very proud of it is not only their ancient heritage but also how they gained their freedom from England.
Kilmainham Goal
this is the jail where they kept people to be punished and also temporarily housed before they shipped them to some other place in the world. This is also the place where the major organizers of the Easter rising in 1916 were executed by the British. Make sure to book this in advance on their website. In the off-season you have to book a few days in advance. During the tourist season it could be very crowded.
The courtroom where you start your tour and where judgments were made upon prisonersThis is the symbol of Ireland. Eire is the name of the country and it means “the land“. The English, be because they did not understand what the name meant, they added “land” to the name and therefore became Ireland.Here we go on the tour through the prison Walking through the narrow passages next to the cells The chapel were prisoners are allowed a service. There was one famous prisoner who got married the day he died here in this chapel. You can see there were very thick walls The inside of one of the cells This was a later addition to the old jail. This is the section where the Easter rising organizers were imprisoned. His history is in another photo blog. He was executed for participation in the Easter risingSimon was a rebel who was captured in 1921She was not executed but let out within months Thomas was executed also The execution of the organizers of the 1916 rebellion Eamon was not executed because he was also a US citizen. He was let out and went to the US to get support and then came back and eventually became the president of Ireland for many years.The outside of the New Edition This is the wall against which the prisoners were executedThe Hydra represents the five most heinous crimes
Trinity College
Trinity College is the main premium university in Ireland The main entrance to the university I arrived just at the graduation ceremonies The book of Kells is an ancient fifth century Bible which was rescued and preserved in the city of Kells and later moved to Trinity CollegeThe Bible is highly decoratedYou see the symbolism of the whirling circles with three items inside exactly the same as the Japanese symbol which I found very interesting in 1985 and I find it everywhere in ancient Irish art You can see here the old language which shows some letters carved on the left of the edge and some on the right and some going over the edge. They all represent different letter letters This is the library where every published book is kept. It has been added onto over the ages One of the original declarations of the Republic in 1916A very old map Showing IrelandThe different political districts in IrelandThis is called the Brian Boru harp but it was made almost 500 years after he died. This is from the 16th century And the oldest one found to date.
Sandycove and James Joyce
The author of Ulysses and Finnegan‘s Wake, James Joyce, was often staying in Dublin but he loved SandyCove. The tower he stayed in is one of his memorial spots and a very interesting place to visit. It’s just outside Dublin so a very easy trip.
The church in the town Saint Joseph’s Parish Beautiful stained glass window A memorial to James Joyce
Sandycove and James Joyce
You see the many smoke stacks from just one building. It represents the cooking ovens and the fireplaces in each of the roomsYou can see the tower in the distance on the right This is where James Joyce stayed for a while and the characters he met here are very much reflected in his book “Ulysses“.
The Dingle peninsula is a really amazing place and if you have time don’t miss it. It is so beautiful and it has so many interesting places to stop and see and learn. The town of Dingle itself is quite touristy but it’s fun to walk around this Port town. I stayed in the Base which is a hotel and it was much more than sufficient. To see music in the evening I went to the dingle pub and a nice thing was the local flavor of the tunes and the amount amount of fiddle music. It was really a great experience.
Tralee
St. John’s parish
the rose of Tralee it’s about a couple who fell in love, the woman far below the gentleman’s station in life and so of course the families wanted them separated so the gentleman’s family sent him off to war. The woman died before he could get back and she was his rose.
The rose of TraleeThis must be the place to go if you want to understand more about drinking.
this town doesn’t seem to be very busy and not very touristy but it’s a cute little town and maybe because it’s not so busy it would be an easy place to find accommodation and it definitely is worth stopping by during the day at least.
on to the Peninsula
the fairy Circle is actually a small circle inside a larger circle which you can walk around. It has not been extensively excavated and it’s on private land so in that respect it’s kind of interesting, left pretty much the way people found it hundreds of years ago. For a nominal fee you can enter the area and they give you some food that you can give to the sheep, the donkeys, the pigs and any other animals that happen by. The land is owned by a family of farmers. The father is 87 years old and has a heart problem so he doesn’t manage the entrance fee collection. Instead the granddaughter is there and she had her very young baby with her at the time. Have a chat with her. She is a very nice and interesting person. This is a fun place to go with the kids.
Sheep everywhere and interested in foodThey even have donkeys but you’re not so interested in you touching them The food that is dropped on the ground of course can be picked up by the birdsYou can see the small fairy circle just on the left why are you are standing on the larger circleFrom the top of the larger circle you can see the whole area enclosed in the large circle itself. In the center is the small smaller circle This site was closed at the time. I am pretty sure it’s on private land and the land owners were just not down at the booth to collect the fare at that time This is one of the cottages from a distance I didn’t go to this attraction since it only accepted cash and I didn’t have any Small money with meA nice view on the coast This is one of the forts and there is an entrance here to a space down below which requires stooping down and a flashlight This is the fort from the top Older buildings with new roofs Of course this one was just left to fall apart. People often take the stones from these older buildings Ocean view You can see the brown hills in the back and you wonder why they’re brown since there is so much rain, three days rain and one day sunshine. I was told by a tour bus driver that it must be a different kind of vegetation since it does turn green around June and JulyThis was obviously some ancient structure These islands are just off the coast and are not now inhabited. This historical museum was established to preserve the history, writings, culture, music and the language.The old writing I recognize these right away. They are sheep shears for cutting the wool off of the sheep. My grandfather had a pair of these and I use them to trim the grass edge at home every Saturday This is one of the old boats upside down built from a wooden frame and a canvas hull which made it very light at maneuverable and enabled the people on the islands to get to the mainland quickly or to go out and fish quickly and then get back quickly before the weather turned bad which can happen very suddenly.The flag of Ireland An old monastic structure This is one of the amazing places in Ireland, a Christian religious church made completely out of stone which remained intact for so many hundreds of years.This is the church The surrounding area Inside the church ceilingIt is out in the middle of farms I think they knew that I was a secret agent Music in the evening at the Dingle pubDick Mack’s pub was recommended to me since it is partly owned by a very famous musician of traditional Irish musicThey very kindly replaced the “chips“, french fries, with a saladA photo of the original owner of the dingle pub. The fellow on the right is a Brosnan, but probably not related to Pierce BrosnanI was a teenager when I got my first album of Chieftain’s music. About 10 years ago I saw them live in Arizona.
Donnegal is an interesting place for those who want to study or involve yourself with the Irish language. It is here that Patrick Pearse set up his cottage and spent his time with the people he loved to be with, the people who spoke the native language. It’s a very beautiful place that has such a varied scenery and landscape. There are many ancient sites to visit and the place just rings with history and legends and music. I was told that the English, when they wanted to keep control of part of Ireland. They decided Donnegal was something they could give back since it was a lot of land that was not very useful for agriculture. But there is also a lot of greenery here so you won’t be dissatisfied. You will hear Irish spoken from time to time.
inishmore
Beautiful rivers in this area How would you like to live on the Riverside A Celtic Cross with a tombstone in Irish. The letters are also adapted
Dungloe
There are so many beautiful beaches in IrelandWas I following this truck in order to get my daily share of ice cream? Some beautiful geology The ocean sides seem to be just so much fun and I understand the surfing is good This is the Donnegal flag A local church A built-in lawnmower This is an old tomb left as it is Nice fresh water
donegal Castle
In downtown Donnegal you will find the castle These are the two major families that occupied the castleOf course the old books were written in Irish, not English
continuing on the journey
Killybegs is just west of GalwayIn Kilcar I saw a fairy. People don’t say leprechaun in Ireland. They talk about fairies.I guess somebody from the US either came back or made a good contribution to the church A Goodwin tomb One of my favorites in multiple flavors The cemetery was the most organized I had seen. Here are the names of the people buried here and the location of the grave The EU, Ireland and Donnegal flags This place looks like an extension of Cornell College I should’ve had my haircut here Well, we know who owns the shop At the bottom you will notice some loyalty program called squid
Cavan
I wonder if Hugh is one of my relativesDrumlane AbbeyI was amazed to find a Tibetan Buddhist retreat in the middle of the countryside on the way to see a monument. This goat didn’t fare well. Mullaghgarve mass rockBut it was a nice view from the pathway An old knickknack museum near CavanAn old phone booth This photo was taken from my bed-and-breakfast room
Donnegal
This is a nice old restaurant Meanwhile, back at the castle Does this look like a comfortable accommodation?
Killybegs
Saint Mary’s Church The inside of St. Mary’s A very nice seafood soup Walking around I just thought this was a nice photo
I think every tourist to Ireland has heard of Guinness. They are one of the most successful beer brands in the world. They have a long history of creating a unique range of stouts which revolve around certain taste ideas. There is not only one Guinness flavor. If you’ve never been to a brewery I highly recommend visiting the storehouse tour. If you’ve been to several breweries I’m not sure how different this one will be. I have only visited maybe five different beer breweries in the world but I did not find this experience to be tremendously different than the others. But if you’re excited about Guinness then do the storehouse experience. You can also in addition or separately book the experimental beer tasting at the open gate brewery on Saint James Street. That is definitely a place you must go if you’re interested in Guinness, the company and the different flavors they have invented over these several hundred years.
Proof I was here. This is the gate to the storehouse experience which is the history and the information about the products. You have to go around this walkway here and at the end turn left to get to the entrance. It is not on Saint James Street even though the open gate brewery is. At the top you can see the round Guinness tasting room and pub which is a nice place to view the whole city. The entrance to the storehouse. They are self guided tours but you book a time to go in, get an initial presentation and explanation of the storehouse and then you walk around by yourself. The initial charter for the company The specific grain use for the brewThis fellow was very interestingly decked outNitrogen helps with the flavorShowing how they used to stack up the barrels for transportThe entrance to the tasting room A very fishy cyclist A view looking over Trinity CollegeYou can see Saint Patrick’s memorial Saint Patrick’s Monument it’s just off of Saint James StreetOutside the brewery you can get a horse carriage They are lined up to take you on a tour around Dublin This is the open gate pub which you really must visitThese are a list of the experimental beers they create and are not yet marketed. You pick three of them for the triple tasting experienceThey were all amazingly delicious I had tried the West Indies Porter before and it was interesting and OK You can see the mountains from which the water is drawn These are two beers which are brewed in Belgium
after World War II there were no functioning breweries in Belgium so Guinness went there to set up a brewery and it now makes two different types of beer in Belgium which are not exported around the world.
This one is a very thick and a little bit sweet flavor with a tang. It is an extremely delicious beer and one you must try but I warn you, this beer is twice the price of a regular GuinnessThis special export is also very delicious and very different from the standard Guinness. It has a wide range of flavors
