Today was another great day in Dublin. Nate has come down with some illness, so I
was on my own today. The weather was
rainy, but hey, it’s Ireland, so that is to be expected. They say that it only rains twice a week in
Ireland: for three days the first time and for four days the second. But Dublin is one of those rare cities that rain
has no negative effect on. In fact, the
rain seemed to give Dublin a certain poetic element. Today I went by the statue of James Joyce, which
depicts him dressed in a coat and tails, top hat and cane. His spectacled face smiling with a big
grin. I am quite the fan of the statue
because it makes him look so very dapper.
After that I saw the Famine Memorial monument by the quay
and crossed over the River Liffey and went to Trinity College to view the Book
of Kells. It is an ancient illuminated
book of the bible, dating back to around 800 AD. It is believed to have originated on the
island of Iona, near Scotland, but it was brought to the Abbey of Kells in
County Meath, Ireland for safe keeping after Iona was attacked by Viking
raiders. Unfortunately, the actual book
was not on display, but I did see a facsimile and saw a neat exhibit on the
history of the manuscripts and how it was made.
After that, I walked up Grafton Street to St. Stephens
Green, a large park. This is where
Ireland’s beauty shown through. Even in
winter, the park was extraordinarily green.
I took some time to walk down the paths among the ponds, watching the
water fowl.
After that, I went to The National Museum of
Archeology. It had some very interesting
exhibits showcasing finds from Ireland’s Celtic prehistory through the middle
ages. It also displayed the bog men,
victims of human sacrifice that had been thrown into the peat bogs, which had
preserved them remarkably well. When
discovered by peat diggers, these bodies still had their facial hair and
internal organs relatively undamaged.
After that, I had lunch.
I then went to Dublinia, a museum dedicated to Dublin’s Viking origin. Founded as a camp for Viking raiders and
traders to winter their ships, it developed into an important Scandinavian
trading post. The name comes from a
large body of tidal water, called “Dubh Lin” or dark water in Irish Gaelic.
The exhibition was very well put together.
After that I wandered among the shops for a while before
going to the National Leprechaun Museum.
This museum was about Irish folklore, legends, and mythology. The guided tour took visitors through
creative and interactive exhibits, such as a “giant room” which puts them at
the scale of Leprechauns (1/3 the size of humans) among furniture built for
giants (humans are only 1/3 the size of the latter). The guide also told us about the important
differences between the typical representation of fairies and Irish faeries, or
sidhe (pronounced shee). In the words of our tour guide, Irish fairies
are “badass” and indistinguishable from humans in appearance, and live in an
underground parallel world. She also
told us one of the many stories of Cú
Chulainn, the greatest hero of Irish mythology.
After that, I happily walked through the legendary Dublin
rain. Tonight I plan on going to see
some live music.
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