It's hard to justify a museum or tour inside of something (e.g. a castle) when the weather is beautiful.
Dublin is, as we were told, a very walkable city (assuming you stay rather central). So, on this very sunny morning/early afternoon we did a lot of walking around Dublin proper,
Here's a nice breakdown of the different neighborhoods/villages of Dublin. We did a lot of walking in the Liberties :
``The Liberties is an area in central Dublin,Ireland. The name derives from manorial jurisdictions dating from the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in the 12th century. They were town lands united to the city, but still preserving their own jurisdiction (hence "liberties")...The modern Liberties area lies...between the river Liffey to the north, St. Patrick's Cathedral to the east, Warrenmount to the south and St. James's Hospital to the west....In return for the support of the ruler of the liberty...privileges were granted to the rulers of the liberties at various times and by various kings of England. For example, these allowed the liberty of St. Sepulchre to have its own courts of justice...(where it was allowed to try all crimes except "forestalling, rape, treasure-trove and arson"), free customs, freedom from certain taxes and services, impose their own fines, have their own coroners, rights of salvage, maintain their own fairs and markets, regulate weights and measures, etc...These rights and privileges ended in 1840."(source: wikipedia page on the Liberties)
and also in the area of the Dublin Castle.
The castle itself has seen a lot of phases of use -- there are remnants of Norman-era fortifications and such on the other side (I read a little plaque).
The tower to the right is the only Norman-era (~1230) chunk left. All the way to the left would've been something, but it burned down, I think.
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| Dublin Castle, from the back! |
What you can't tell from that angle is that the lines in the grass are actually a brick-laid celtic knot. A few tours came through while we were walking around, and I overheard bits and pieces.
Apparently the "driving the snakes out of Ireland" part of the St. Patrick myth is supposed to symbolize getting rid of paganism/pagans. Also, St. Patrick was probably Welsh originally.
Here's a map of Norma-era Dublin Castle (thanks wikimedia commons). The black dashed lines are where the garden is now -- it was underwater then:
There were a list of pubs I was interest in trying out, particularly "Ireland's Oldest Pub", the Brazen Head, former haunt of Vikings. They are very proud that James Joyce mentioned them (in Ulysses):
My own thoughts on the place: very very small inside, stocky wooden tables, solid food and beer."Corley, at the first go-off, was inclined to suspect it was something to do with Stephen being fired out of his digs for bringing a bloody tart off the street. There was a dosshouse in Marlborough street, Mrs Maloney's, but it was only a tanner touch and full of undesirables but M'Conachie told him you got a decent enough do in the Brazen Head over in Winetavern street..."
Sadly full of a large group of Americans. One had this accent where everything she says sounds snide. Another could've been from the suburbs of Chicago (that terrible nasal "a"). Based on the pink water bottle with a uni logo on it, I think that all went to U Arizona.
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| Oldest pub in Ireland! Consequently, old Viking haunt |
With a few more hours of afternoon left, we decided to hop a DART train (commuter rail, round trip ticket for about 6 euros) for Dalkey, as Damien (driver on Co. Wicklow tour) had said that he thought all of us could find something we'd like in Dalkey.
I had an overly-artistic map of Dalkey from the Tourist office (the one on Suffolk street, in the Church), which was enough to get us moving towards a hike. We headed from the DART station towards Killiney (Dalkey?) hill (ish).
Dalkey: view along coast:
While walking, we were a little concerned about rain, but more concerned about dark (being late afternoon). So, we opted for the closer hill (``Telegraph Hill") rather than go all the way to the Obelisk. It was a rocky, cliff-like area.
There was one main reasonable way down, by stairs along the "cliff-face"
We got back to the DART station before it was dark, and headed back in to Dublin proper.
When we got back, we went to O'Neill's for dinner and beer. Damien (tour guide from Co. Wicklow tour) had pointed out all of the awards outside --- good food, best carvery, etc -- outside and said they got those awards every year, must be doing things right. Between that and my friend Andrew's endorsement, it was definitely on the list of pubs to visit.
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| the booth next to where we sat |
I was resolved to try out some local beers (hard to do a lot of places, where your choices are Guinness, cider, or maybe Smithwicks).
Good way to make your barkeep smile -- ask for advice, and if he gives you two beers to try, try them and then ask for a pint of each (O'Hara's red and Crean's Lager, both local(ish)).
The food was delicious -- ``carvery", which is what it sounds like. That is, they have various slabs of meat, gravies, sides, and you order by weight (for the meat) and by portion for the sides. We got turkey and a bit of everything and split it.
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| Stairwell at O'Neill's |
There was live ``traditional irish music", but upstairs, amongst the smokers. It was, however, piped through the rest of the place, which was nice. I decided I was getting tired of the song "Galway Girl" -- it was at least the third or fourth time I'd heard it (on our tour, in Farringtons, blasting from the doorways of kitschy tourist shops...). In case you'd like an earworm, this is the song I mean.
(Note: the "Salthill Prom" == the Salthill (town near Galway) Promenade, which is ~ a boardwalk by the ocean).
(Note: the "Salthill Prom" == the Salthill (town near Galway) Promenade, which is ~ a boardwalk by the ocean).
Next: Howth & the Archaeological Museum!
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