Dublin (Ireland) - Things To Do
Dublin (Ireland) - Things To Do
[City],[Country]: Dublin, Ireland
1. Dublin Castle
Phone: +353 1 677.71.29
Website: Dublin Castle
Email: info@dublincastle.ie
The 12th century castle was a royal residence back in the day of kings and queens. It was also the seat of the British rulers. Then it became the site for presidential inaugurations and government offices in modern time Ireland.
For periods in between, it has served as Parliament, Courts of Justice, and a military garrison. People were shot and killed on its ground; the Irish Crown Jewels were stolen from its office and were never recovered.
In short, there was something for everyone there, and anybody who was somebody -- whether on the side of the law or not -- had found his/her name associated with the Castle somehow.
Behind the castle is a fantastic garden which has a sort of stained glass snake like fountain. There is also a memorial to Veronica Guerin who was assinated in 1996, due to her extensive investigation into Dublin's crimeworld.
The georgian courtyard shows the scales of justice appearing to have her back to the city perhaps to say Justice is for the rulers of the country only.
2. Christ Church Cathedral
Phone: +353 1 677.80.99
Directions: On the corner of Winetavern Street and Christchurch Place.
Website: http://www.cccdub.ie/
First constructed in XI century and restored in the XIX century, Christchurch is known officially as The Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity.
Christ Church Cathedral is the oldest and most recognized landmark in Dublin. There is an admission to the cathedral and even a donation is requested of visitors who come to pray only
They have a gift shop inside that sells religious items and books on the churches history. The bells ring on Sunday 10.00 and 14.30 and I feel sorry for the folks at Jury's Inn right across the road because I hear their pretty loud.
The church is open from 9:45 to 4:30 every day, and on Sundays, no groups are allowed until after 12:45.
The unusual item in this cathedral is a glass case holding a mumified cat & a rat, the cat was chasing the rat in around 1860's & got stuck in an organ pipe. When they were discovered the cat & rat were in a perfect mumified state
3. Monuments / Statues
Molly Malone
Molly Malone was a fishmonger who pushed her wheelbarrow from the Liberties to Grafton Street, along the way crying out "Cockles and Mussels".
Molly Malone was a prostitute who plied her trade in the Trinity College area (thus the statue's nickname "The Tart with the Cart").
Molly Malone was the pseudonym of Charles II's mistress.
There are many myths about Molly Malone; some are somewhat believable while others sound very bizarre indeed. Whoever Molly was, her statue has been a part of Dublin's charm since 1988, and it was not just because of her low cut dress. Look into her eyes, see the sadness in them, and know that it does not matter who she really was, but it is enough that she was a beautiful woman who once lived here and who has become forever a part of this beautiful city of legends and myths.
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde is probably the only playwright, poet, and writer whose works make more money every year a century after his death (I wonder if his estate receives any royalty from the movie and theatre industries who have never stopped using his creations).
In Archbishop Ryan Park on Merrion Square, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde is shown languidly reclining on a rock with a sneer on his face, his left knee up, his right leg out, and one foot turning over awkwardly. The two stone tablets in front of the rock are engraved with some of his famous quotes and across the street was the house in which he spent part of his childhood.
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce had a love/hate relationship with the city of his birth and childhood. The literary circuit of Dublin in the early 1900s rejected him over and over again, and he could not wait to get out of the city. In fact, he was much more revered abroad than in his hometown. Still, what did he do when he was away? He thought about Dublin, he wrote about Dublin, he built his works around Dublin, and he talked obsessively about Dublin, "I want to give a picture of Dublin so complete that if the city one day suddenly disappeared from the earth it could be reconstructed out of my book."
The statue of James Joyce with his exaggerate saunter and big hat is now a part of the city that was more than once antipathetic to his works.
Note: There is a statue in St. Stephen's Green depicting a more somber James Joyce in his later years.
4. Kilmainham Jail
Phone: 353 1453 5984
Directions: Near Heuston Station
Website: Kilmainham Jail
This is one place you MUST visit when you are in Dublin. Take a number 79 bus out of the city to Kilmainham - it takes about 10 minutes. This jail held the leaders of the Easter Uprising of 1916 and they were executed here.
There is a guided tour which lasts about an hour and costs 5 Euro. It is given in English but the talk is VERY fast, and of a detailed political nature. I had difficulty following it as the tour guide had a very pronounced accent and I wondered how much a non-English speaker would actually understand.
The building is exceptionally cold and dark in places, especially the old wing, and you can get a feel of how life must have been for prisoners held there. 200-150 years ago, imprisonable offences ranged from murder, larceny, and rape to the stealing of bread, turnips and a coat. Children as young as 6 or 7 were held here in the same cells as adults. It was grim. Many are buried under the slabs in the "exercise" yard. Many were transported to the colonies where, after they had completed their sentences, they were free and had much better lives than those that remained.
During the famine years life in prison was marginally better than life outside - often minor offences were committed purely to get the miscreant into jail where at least they were guaranteed a roof and a small amount of food each day.
The new wing has been used in the films The Italian Job with Michael Caine and also The Name of the Father with Daniel Day Lewis.
5. St Patrick's Cathedral
Phone: +353-1-453 9472
Website: St. Patricks Cathedral
Admission: Euro 4.50
Opening Hours:
Monday - Saturday 9am - 6pm
sunday closed between 11am & 1pm, 3pm - 4.15pm
Saint Patrick on his journey through Ireland is said to have passed through Dublin. In a well close to where the cathedral now stands, he is reputed to have baptised converts from paganism to Christianity. To commemorate his visit, a small wooden church was built on this site, one of the four Celtic parish churches in Dublin
Dublin's well-known cathedral is certainly worth a visit. It dates back to medieval times and is so full of momentos, that you almost forget you're in a cathedral rather than a museum!
You might need a bit of time to take it all in, but I thought it a great experience!
A very pretty cathedral.
The entrance is around the corner, on the small street on the left. After looking around, go into the park on in front of the church , and leave by the gate over by the small redbrick house.
[City],[Country]: Dublin, Ireland
1. Dublin Castle
Phone: +353 1 677.71.29
Website: Dublin Castle
Email: info@dublincastle.ie
The 12th century castle was a royal residence back in the day of kings and queens. It was also the seat of the British rulers. Then it became the site for presidential inaugurations and government offices in modern time Ireland.
For periods in between, it has served as Parliament, Courts of Justice, and a military garrison. People were shot and killed on its ground; the Irish Crown Jewels were stolen from its office and were never recovered.
In short, there was something for everyone there, and anybody who was somebody -- whether on the side of the law or not -- had found his/her name associated with the Castle somehow.
Behind the castle is a fantastic garden which has a sort of stained glass snake like fountain. There is also a memorial to Veronica Guerin who was assinated in 1996, due to her extensive investigation into Dublin's crimeworld.
The georgian courtyard shows the scales of justice appearing to have her back to the city perhaps to say Justice is for the rulers of the country only.
2. Christ Church Cathedral
Phone: +353 1 677.80.99
Directions: On the corner of Winetavern Street and Christchurch Place.
Website: http://www.cccdub.ie/
First constructed in XI century and restored in the XIX century, Christchurch is known officially as The Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity.
Christ Church Cathedral is the oldest and most recognized landmark in Dublin. There is an admission to the cathedral and even a donation is requested of visitors who come to pray only
They have a gift shop inside that sells religious items and books on the churches history. The bells ring on Sunday 10.00 and 14.30 and I feel sorry for the folks at Jury's Inn right across the road because I hear their pretty loud.
The church is open from 9:45 to 4:30 every day, and on Sundays, no groups are allowed until after 12:45.
The unusual item in this cathedral is a glass case holding a mumified cat & a rat, the cat was chasing the rat in around 1860's & got stuck in an organ pipe. When they were discovered the cat & rat were in a perfect mumified state
3. Monuments / Statues
Molly Malone
Molly Malone was a fishmonger who pushed her wheelbarrow from the Liberties to Grafton Street, along the way crying out "Cockles and Mussels".
Molly Malone was a prostitute who plied her trade in the Trinity College area (thus the statue's nickname "The Tart with the Cart").
Molly Malone was the pseudonym of Charles II's mistress.
There are many myths about Molly Malone; some are somewhat believable while others sound very bizarre indeed. Whoever Molly was, her statue has been a part of Dublin's charm since 1988, and it was not just because of her low cut dress. Look into her eyes, see the sadness in them, and know that it does not matter who she really was, but it is enough that she was a beautiful woman who once lived here and who has become forever a part of this beautiful city of legends and myths.
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde is probably the only playwright, poet, and writer whose works make more money every year a century after his death (I wonder if his estate receives any royalty from the movie and theatre industries who have never stopped using his creations).
In Archbishop Ryan Park on Merrion Square, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde is shown languidly reclining on a rock with a sneer on his face, his left knee up, his right leg out, and one foot turning over awkwardly. The two stone tablets in front of the rock are engraved with some of his famous quotes and across the street was the house in which he spent part of his childhood.
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce had a love/hate relationship with the city of his birth and childhood. The literary circuit of Dublin in the early 1900s rejected him over and over again, and he could not wait to get out of the city. In fact, he was much more revered abroad than in his hometown. Still, what did he do when he was away? He thought about Dublin, he wrote about Dublin, he built his works around Dublin, and he talked obsessively about Dublin, "I want to give a picture of Dublin so complete that if the city one day suddenly disappeared from the earth it could be reconstructed out of my book."
The statue of James Joyce with his exaggerate saunter and big hat is now a part of the city that was more than once antipathetic to his works.
Note: There is a statue in St. Stephen's Green depicting a more somber James Joyce in his later years.
4. Kilmainham Jail
Phone: 353 1453 5984
Directions: Near Heuston Station
Website: Kilmainham Jail
This is one place you MUST visit when you are in Dublin. Take a number 79 bus out of the city to Kilmainham - it takes about 10 minutes. This jail held the leaders of the Easter Uprising of 1916 and they were executed here.
There is a guided tour which lasts about an hour and costs 5 Euro. It is given in English but the talk is VERY fast, and of a detailed political nature. I had difficulty following it as the tour guide had a very pronounced accent and I wondered how much a non-English speaker would actually understand.
The building is exceptionally cold and dark in places, especially the old wing, and you can get a feel of how life must have been for prisoners held there. 200-150 years ago, imprisonable offences ranged from murder, larceny, and rape to the stealing of bread, turnips and a coat. Children as young as 6 or 7 were held here in the same cells as adults. It was grim. Many are buried under the slabs in the "exercise" yard. Many were transported to the colonies where, after they had completed their sentences, they were free and had much better lives than those that remained.
During the famine years life in prison was marginally better than life outside - often minor offences were committed purely to get the miscreant into jail where at least they were guaranteed a roof and a small amount of food each day.
The new wing has been used in the films The Italian Job with Michael Caine and also The Name of the Father with Daniel Day Lewis.
5. St Patrick's Cathedral
Phone: +353-1-453 9472
Website: St. Patricks Cathedral
Admission: Euro 4.50
Opening Hours:
Monday - Saturday 9am - 6pm
sunday closed between 11am & 1pm, 3pm - 4.15pm
Saint Patrick on his journey through Ireland is said to have passed through Dublin. In a well close to where the cathedral now stands, he is reputed to have baptised converts from paganism to Christianity. To commemorate his visit, a small wooden church was built on this site, one of the four Celtic parish churches in Dublin
Dublin's well-known cathedral is certainly worth a visit. It dates back to medieval times and is so full of momentos, that you almost forget you're in a cathedral rather than a museum!
You might need a bit of time to take it all in, but I thought it a great experience!
A very pretty cathedral.
The entrance is around the corner, on the small street on the left. After looking around, go into the park on in front of the church , and leave by the gate over by the small redbrick house.
Related Articles:
-
If you're in a section of San Clemente bordering a wildland area, you might want to check with... Read Full Story » -
A major pilgrim centre for Christians, Church of Our Lady of Ransom is one of the oldest... Read Full Story » -
The Indian stopover will come at the end of the second leg of the race from Cape Town, South... Read Full Story » -
Kochi, Jun 16 (PTI) The 'Queen of Arabian Sea' and home to one of the most ancient natural... Read Full Story » -
Kochi, Jun 16 (PTI) The ‘Queen of Arabian Sea’ and home to one of the most ancient natural... Read Full Story »
Comments
