.: A day with history in Dublin

We ended our trip with a few days in Ireland with very good friends of John's

Liam and Elaine Murphy live in Kildare and had been inviting us to come for years, so we decided it was time

John and Liam met when they lived in Johannesburg

and the two of them did some mad rallying with Volvo in their late 20s - the stories are epic!

John had been given a choice of where to go to, as Lynne had been several times to Dublin and Ireland

His choice was a historic monastery in the country or a visit to Dublin

He chose Dublin as he said "its unlikely we will ever get here again" but who knows... The Irish are very hospitable

So we caught the train

Lamp, post, crow and lichen - Ireland is very green and rather damp

Liam

St Brigid's Cathedral in Kildare and its Round Tower viewed from the station

At the train station

Ireland has something good other countries need to copy

All local public transport travel for pensioners is free and each one can take a companion for the day!

Local train arriving

Liam and Elaine, our very generous hosts

The Guinness brewery, opposite the railway station in Dublin

Henry Street getting into the Christmas spirit

A shopping arcade, at the rear of the historic General Post Office

The Spire of Dublin, alternatively titled the Monument of Light (Irish: An Túr Solais),

is a 120 metre tall stainless steel, pin-like monument, located on the site of the former Nelson's Pillar

on O'Connell Street, the main thoroughfare of Dublin

The General Post Office (Irish: Ard-Oifig an Phoist) is the former headquarters of An Post — the Irish Post Office

It remains its registered office and the principal post office of Dublin

and is situated in the centre of O'Connell Street, the city's main thoroughfare

It is one of Ireland's most famous buildings,

not least because it served as the headquarters of the leaders of the Easter Rising against British rule in Ireland

It was the last great Georgian public building to be erected in the capital

O'Connell Street is wide and spacious with trams and buses

A bronze replica of The Proclamation of the Republic (Irish: Forógra na Poblachta),

also known as the 1916 Proclamation or the Easter Proclamation during the Easter Rising in Ireland,

which began on 24th April 1916

The interior of the General Post Office

Cuchulainn

Busy streets, we are headed for the University

Good to see the SA flag on this legendary pub

Memorial to Daniel O’Connell (1775—1847) in O'Connell Street

He was a lawyer who became the first great 19th Century Irish nationalist leader

and, like all statued politicians, a resting place for pigeons

The River Liffey from the O'Connell Bridge

The first Parliament of Southern Ireland building, the premises of the Bank of Ireland

Another view of the same building

Some more historic buildings, simply because John liked the conical roof

The entrance to Trinity College, Dublin's University

The modern Trinity College Library

The Book of Kells in the Old Library is an illuminated medieval religious manuscript

Written in Latin, it contains the four Gospels of the New Testament

and would have been crafted by the Celtic monks in the Columban monastery on Iona, in circa 800

Nowadays, you do a tour of the rooms and get to see replicas of some the pages with explanations

You can also do a free tour with headphones

An enlargement of the text above

About Oghams system of writing

Incredible detail and true art

The created Alphabet

And some of the decorated words in the script

Some are a bit strange and difficult to work out...

The Long Room in the Old Library

The library is ancient and the books are being catalogued, restored and renovated to preserve them

One of the many busts in the Long Room - William Shakespeare

The vaulted ceiling

The animated globe, apparently showing the current weather round the world

The Proclamation of the Republic (Irish: Forógra na Poblachta),

also known as the 1916 Proclamation or the Easter Proclamation,

was a document issued by the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army during the April 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland

The Old Library is an invaluable depository of old books

The Brian Boru harp, the oldest surviving Irish harp, is the model for the insignia of Ireland.

Traditionally, but mistakenly, linked with Brian Boru, high king of Ireland who was killed in 1014 at the Battle of Clontarf

(now in the suburbs of Dublin), it probably dates from the later middle ages.

Made from willow and oak, with 29 brass strings (originally 30),

its elaborate designs, silver neck mount and embedded crystal suggest that it belonged to a master musician,

such as would have played for the noble households of Gaelic Ireland and Scotland.

It was restored and re-strung in 1961.

Coming to light in Limerick in the eighteenth century,

it was presented to Trinity College Dublin by William Burton Conyngham (1733-96)

One of the busts of eminent women, all have recently been added to the room

Rosalind Elsie Franklin (1920-58)

Since her early death at the age of 37, Rosalind Franklin has become mythologised as the victim of male prejudice,

the unsung heroine who took the crucial X-ray photograph enabling James Watson and Francis Crick

to build their double helix model of DNA, and was unjustly deprived of a Nobel Prize

She would neither have recognised nor endorsed this description

Franklin regarded herself first and foremost not as a woman, but as a scientist,

and her DNA research occupied a relatively brief period in her successful career working on a variety of topics

In particular, on top of her famous investigations into DNA,

she also made foundational contributions to modern understandings of coal, graphite and viruses

Another part of the university

Elaine Murphy coming out of the museum shop

Variegated plane leaves showing autumn colours

Off to see more of Dublin

Environmental protestors outside the Dáil Éireann (Parliament)

We were happy to offer them some moral support

Dáil Éireann (Assembly of Ireland) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas (Irish legislature),

which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann

The Prime Minister's Irish title is Taoiseach

Entrance to The National Museum of Ireland

The Gold Collection

The collection of prehistoric goldwork ranges in date between 2200 BC and 500 BC

Most are pieces of jewellery but the precise function of some is unknown

During the Early Bronze Age the principal gold products were made from sheet gold,

and include sundiscs and the crescentic gold collars called lunulae

Used to close a cloak

Impressive neck adornments

The remains of a Viking boat from about AD 800

The Ardagh Chalice

This silver chalice, found at Reerasta, Ardagh, Co. Limerick is one of the greatest treasures of the early Irish Church

It is part of a hoard of objects found in the 19th century by a young man digging for potatoes near Ardagh, Co. Limerick

It was used for dispensing Eucharistic wine during the celebration of Mass

The form of the chalice recalls late Roman tableware, but the method of construction is Irish

The Tara Brooch is an Irish Celtic brooch, dated to the late 7th or early 8th century
It is of the pseudo-penannular type (with a fully closed head or hoop), and made from bronze, silver and gold
Its head consists of an intricately decorated circular ring, and overall, its front and reverse sides are equally decorated
Each holds around 50 inserted cast panels packed with filigree
The brooch was constructed from numerous individually made pieces
All of the borders and its terminals contain multiple panels
holding multi-coloured studs, interlace patterns, filigree, and Celtic spirals
The brooch is widely considered the most complex and ornate of its kind
and would have been commissioned as a fastener for the cloak of a high-ranking cleric
or as ceremonial insignia of high office for a High King of Ireland

Entrance to The National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology

High fashion

When we could walk no more, and we did about 5 miles, it was time for a late lunch at The Duke
on historic Duke street, it takes its title from the little street named after the 2nd Duke of Grafton
and has been providing liquid refreshment and sustenance to the people of Dublin since 1822