Dublin, Ireland

Advertisement for Guinness, St James Brewery 

This weekend we excitedly bused up to the capital city, Dublin, to celebrate John's birthday! It was an early start on Saturday morning as we quickly walked to the Kilkenny bus station in the eery darkness. Fortunately the constant patter of rain was holding off but as we raced across the slippery footpaths we were accompanied by the cold damp Irish morning air which pushed us to move our feet a little faster.

On the short bus trip north we slept with our heads at skew angles against the window, it was warm and we fell under the power of the bus' gravitational vortex, catching up on a few lost hours of sleep. The sun had only just risen but was hidden by the low grey clouds when we arrived into the old viking city. In the early morning, Dublin's streets were still damp and clambering off the bus the ever present drizzle of rain welcomed us. Our breath created white fog in the chilly air and while we waited for the GPS to kick in we looked around us at the tall, tired and dark stone buildings. 

Dublin's oldest pub, The Brazen Head

Street art, Dublin

Dublin holds its own, you can sense its past has been shaped through turmoil, created strong and steady. The city name comes from old Irish Dublind, meaning black/dark pool and referred to the dark tidal pool that washed from the ocean into the River Liffey. The river helped define the city once by social standing and class.

O'Connel Bridge, Dublin

Interesting buildings

Dublin is a mix of modern and old juxtaposed against one another. There are worn and weathered orange bricked community blocks falling apart under their own weight neighboured by modern sky scraping glass apartment blocks. Between fancy Michelin star restaurants sit gated moss-covered gothic stone churches.

With a burst of enthusiasm we set forth on our way into the cold and grey city eager to explore. First stop: the Guinness Storehouse at St Jame's Gate brewery!

View from Guinness Sky deck

East view over Dublin

North view from the Guinness Sky deck

Every day, every where

The world famous seven-storied Guinness factory, the home of Guinness, beckoned us and with our online tickets pre-purchased we waddled over the puddles to St James! When old Arthur Guinness began brewing in 1759 he was so confident in his product that he signed on for a 9000 year lease at the St James location. Yes 9,000 years with an annual rent payment of 45£.

Starting with ales which were very popular he actually only began selling the dark stuff in 1778. Through war, famines and revolutions that rocked Ireland the company stayed strong and by the 1930s Guinness was the seventh largest company in the world.

The factory, open to tourists like us, encompasses a museum and history experience and this is where we spent the first four hours of our time in Dublin.

Entrance to the tasting rooms

In we go!

The pour begins

Letting it stand a little

Inside there was so much to do and see, from the old marketing propaganda (based of course on hearty market research rather than science) to tasting rooms, photo booths, interactive displays and even a Guinness pouring academy. We gave everything a try and quickly before we knew it over four hours had past!

and she goes swimming...

That's the way

Guinness store house sky deck

Wobbling out into the old cobble streets later in the afternoon we paraded down the damp dark alleys towards the blackish River Liffey and sought out our hostel, in one of Dublin's recently revamped areas and behind the Jameson Distillery. After checking in we took a rest on our bunks but ended up crashing out for several hours! The beds were so comfortable!

Blackhall walk (our hostel on the left)

Hippocamps on Gratten Bridge, Dublin

Mid afternoon (when the sun was already setting) we forced our eyes open, jacketed up against the sub zero temperatures and wandered towards the city centre. The sun was well hidden behind the thick grey clouds and the spicy wood smell of household smoke wafted through the air mixing with a sweet smell of barley that was flying over the river from the Guinness storehouse. As the sky darkened and the small raindrops fell we followed the river towards the centre.

Walking alongside the river

Along Thomas Street West

Temple Bar area

Chosen by the English for its top notch location, Dublin expanded rapidly after the Norman Invasion. It became the second largest city in the British Empire in the 17th century, having to find more space quickly, parts of the growing city was reclaimed from the tidal river and swamp land. 

Temple Bar by day

Like the night owls we are not, we dashed in the light rain to Temple bar, one of Dublin city's oldest neighbourhoods made from a literal 'sand bar'. Temple bar was happening! Punters alike stood out in the drizzle having a smoke, others moved quickly into the colourful pubs where live music flooded out of the doors and the area was generally buzzing with the early Saturday evening partygoers.

The following morning one of us enjoyed a sleep in and the other poor soul was down and almost out with an onset of the flu, not a fun way to celebrate a birthday. But he hung in there and we ventured off to dose up on Panadol and hot strong coffee. 

Early morning river

The dark deep Liffey river

Following breakfast we had a number of sights to tick off the list and slowly we walked to the city centre. Pretty grimly we edged along the city river in a fuzzy eyed, hats down kind of way. At least on this sickly Sunday morning the sun was shining and church bells merrily filled the cold air with their happy chimes.

Part of the Christ Church exterior

Doors on Christchurch Cathedral

Lonely alleys

Dark and damp pathways

First up after passing by the Christ Church Cathedral was the old Dublin castle in the heart of historic Dublin! Built in 1204 under the orders of King John of England, the Castle was designed as a defensive Norman fortification to protect the city and more importantly the king's treasure. At the time it was built over the foundations of a viking stronghold, which was made of stone, and had been the centre of the viking activities since 930.

Horse stables behind the Castle

Remnants of the Dublin Castle

The vikings who had fought for centuries against the Irish stood little chance against the English and were quickly defeated by the Normans who claimed Dublin as their own. The new Norman Castle served as the seat of the English, then later the British government of Ireland, the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. As we arrived, four tour groups were making their way around the main courtyard with the guides explaining the castle history and its likeliness to Game of Thrones- intrigued we jumped from one group to the other. Compared with some of the other castles we have seen, there wasn't much left of the medieval origins and we decided not to go see the recently refurbished state rooms.

Trinity College Campus

Entrance to the university

Next up was the grand Trinity College founded in 1592. As Ireland's oldest university, the school is famed for its historic significance but, being a Sunday, we couldn't get inside so rather we walked around the campus admiring the big buildings. Not far down the road was St Stephens Green, our next destination, the beautiful inner city park opened to the public in 1880. By now though we were pretty cold and so we quickly circled around the main pond watching the families feeding the ducks and headed off for a birthday lunch. 

Dublin's coat of arms

St Stephens Green

The Quays Bar, Dublin

The Snug Bar, Dublin

After some delicious tex-mex we walked up alongside the river to the harbour passing a memorial dedicated to the people who lived during the Great Hunger or also known as the Irish potato famine. We felt so grateful for the lunch we had just eaten and sadness for the one million people died between 1845-1852 when a potato disease whipped out almost all of the country's food supply. Although the disease was widespread across Europe the Irish were far more

potato dependent for ethnic, religious, political, social and economic reasons (like land acquisition). 

Memorial to the Great Famine

Checking out the street art

Warming up inside a shopping mall

Churches down the road

Around Grafton Road shopping area

Whiskey everywhere! 

As we walked through different neighbourhoods later in the afternoon looking for a chippy (fish and chip shop) we realised it really must rain a lot in Dublin.

Everyone was warm and tucked up into their houses with the streets outside being dark and cold. That evening we explored quietly around the city's main shopping street taking in the Christmas lights and nosing about in the tacky tourist shops to warm up. 

We had previously planned to continue on to west Ireland to hunt our own little leprechaun but with one solider down and out we headed back to Kilkenny instead to rest and recover.

Tot siens, 

John and Kara