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A visit to Dublin, Ireland

Writer's picture: therockettmantherockettman

Ireland is a bit of an enigma.  To begin with, there are two of them – one that is part of the European Union and another that is part of the United Kingdom.  Even someone as well-traveled as me is challenged to get my head around which is which.  The Republic of Ireland, which has Dublin as its capital, became the Irish Free State in 1922, and formally left the British Commonwealth in 1949.  It is a member of the European Union and has the Euro as its currency.

 

The Republic of Ireland is also the only county in the world to use a musical instrument as its national symbol – the harp.  The irony is that the “O’Neill” harp was trademarked by Guinness long before Ireland became independent.  So, the Republic uses an inverted image of the harp to avoid infringing on the Guinness trademark.  How’s that for conjuring up useless facts?

tasting at the Guinness Storehouse
tasting at the Guinness Storehouse

You would think that this irony, taken together with the fact that Dublin is a relatively young European capital city, might manifest some level of low self-esteem.  But Dublin is not suffering from any sort of inferiority complex – it is vibrant and fun-loving and wears this sentiment on its proverbial ‘sleeve’.  Dublin embraces its heritage and invites everyone to experience it!


Dublin as a tourism destination


This was evidenced by the innovative approaches to designing the city's signature tourist attractions, from the Guinness Storehouse to the Jameson Distillery Bow Street and the Book of Kells Experience at Trinity College.  I cannot remember the last time that I was so entertained by a collection of uniquely interactive visitor attractions, and these were world-class.

in Temple Bar neighborhood with Sandeman's walking tour
in Temple Bar neighborhood with Sandeman's walking tour

Walking tour of Dublin


When researching your visit to Dublin, a good start is to review the Visit Dublin site, which is one of the most comprehensive tourism promotion sites I have ever used.  We began our visit with a Sandeman’s walking tour of Dublin, which was a nice overview of some of the important sites in the historic district, including Dublin Castle and the Temple Bar district.  We then tackled the tandem of cathedrals – Christ Church and St. Patrick’s.  It is not often that you find a major city with two cathedrals, but in Dublin the former is dedicated to the local diocese and the latter represents the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland.

St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin
St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin

Visiting the Cathedrals of Dublin


I recommend visiting both for different reasons.  Christ Church Cathedral is low-key and has some interesting treasures, among them a towering organ, interesting stained-glass windows, the heart of St. Laurence O’Toole and a copy of the Magna Carta.  St. Patrick’s Cathedral is more highbrow in its approach, with an excellently curated audio tour.  The highlight of which for me was the story of Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels, who also was Dean of the Cathedral and famously gave rambling church sermons of up to four hours.

the Long Room in the Library of Trinity College in Dublin
the Long Room in the Library of Trinity College in Dublin

Best tourism attractions in Dublin


But the highlight of our Dublin experience was a trio of three attractions that overwhelmed the senses in different ways.  The Book of Kells Experience on the campus of Trinity College is a thoughtful immersion into a rare religious manuscript authored by Celtic monks based on the four gospels of the New Testament.  It leverages a downloadable app for the first part of the tour that covers the manuscript, its history and the iconic Old Library, followed by an immersive visual experience focused on the contents of the library.

tasting at the Jameson Distillery Bow Street
tasting at the Jameson Distillery Bow Street

The Jameson Distillery Bow Street tour is an old-fashioned guided tour of the history of the Jameson brand, accentuated by some great visuals and a revealing comparative tasting of three of Jameson’s Irish whiskeys.  The grand dame of tours is that of the Guinness Storehouse, which for me elevated the brand of my favorite stout even more than before.  Having said that, I found this tour to be a bit too much like a Disney attraction with the accompanying crowds.

 

Despite the apologetic overtures of our Sandeman’s guide regarding Irish cuisine, we had a lot of fun exploring the country’s gastronomy.  An Irish breakfast is quite the undertaking, and we indulged in a few.  A properly poured Guinness obviously accompanied most meals and the smoked salmon was as authentic as any I have ever sampled.

 

Sláinte!

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1 Comment


Outstanding piece so well written! Irish I was there to join you.


Brad

#1008

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