Saturday, 5 July 2003

Another day devoted to sight-seeing in Dublin and surrounds. The plan this time was to head out of Dublin on a little adventure and to get some history. Having done that, I had arranged to meet up with Phil Joyce to do some more sight-seeing together.

The little adventure was to catch the train out to Malahide (a town 9 miles north of Dublin) and to vist the Malahide Castle, as well as look around the country-side on the way out there and the town while there. The journey started at Pearse Street station (immediately behind Goldsmith Hall, where I was staying) and a 25-min wait (the problem of using transport without a timetable!). The station is a combination of recently updated fixtures and traffic ways housed in a shell that needs further repair. It is one of four main railway stations in Dublin which probably explains both extremes. The journey through Dublin is relatively slow – the train does not travel very fast or very far between stops – and there was a lengthy wait while tracks were cleared, or whatever mysteries occupy railwaymen occured; oh, and we changed drivers too! One benefit of this stopped period was capturing photos of the suburban Dublin near Connolly Station. The two photos show the backyards and then the streets of a row of terraces typical of inner suburban Dublin.

The countryside scenery is still a mystery to me, unfortunately, because the train tracks run in a ditch, or between embankments, that is topped with trees and bushes (and the ubiquitous ivy) so you cannot see much if anything beyond the train. However, I did arrive safely at Malahide and discovered that it was a very quaint place. The main street is lined on both sides with charming little cottage-style businesses, all brightly coloured and with lots of window boxes and other knick-nacks to add colour and interest. Not too cluttered with street signs either, so after asking at a florist I was soon on my way to Malahide Castle.

After about 10 minutes walking through pretty and apparently historical countryside I turned a corner following signs and walked into a wood – a real ‘English’ wood (yeah, I know, it is an Irish wood, but I didn’t have a concept of an Irish wood). The walk continued during which I came to understand why everything looks so green in Ireland – it’s all covered in ivy! A further 5 minutes of walking on a well-made path (or road, really) found me in a coach park behind the castle. I wondered at the time if I had come the long way, but I later discovered that it was actually the short way. Finally, I rounded another corner, and there was the castle.

The photo shows the castle from slightly off-centre, as that’s how I first saw it, and I think it looks more impressive that way. I arrived in time to attach myself to a tour that had just started and wandered through the castle listening to the pre-recorded guide talk. It was a fascinating place some of it sort of typically dark and castle-like, other bits like a Victorian (actually probably Elizabethan or Jackobean) town house. The banquet hall was just fabulous –exactly like you expect one to appear.

Unfortunately, they do not allow photographs in the castle, so I bought a little program that had some pictures of the interior for ‘posterity’. After a coffee and a muffin – I had by this time despaired of getting a good coffee in Ireland – I went out the back door of the castle to check out the Craft Courtyard looking for leprechauns. I was surprised by the wildlife twice in five minutes: first, a squirrel, which I’d never seen “in the wild”, and then a peacock, which I walked right by before realising it was showing its display at me. Getting the picture of the peacock turned out to be something of a drama as that was when my batteries ran out and I had to change them with the spares I had carried for two days in case of just such an eventuality. But once the camera was charged, the bird got all camera shy! Patience won the day.

In the transition between one wildlife experience and the other I passed by the Malahide Abbey and graveyard. Another ‘classic’ example of the architecture I always expected around a castle. (The picture did not turn out as well as I thought when I took it.)

The Craft Courtyard proved to be fruitless – no leprechauns there – so I headed back into Malahide to see more of the town itself. As I said, Malalhide is a charming little town with obvious history (its heritage garden speaks of settlement in the area around 800AD) but it also has a newer conteporary element to it. One part particularly, centred on the marina, is quite modern and reminded me of Maloolabah as much as anything – although not as warm, and with no beach, but you get the idea. This newer and somewhat yuppie feel to the place is translated into the types of shops that line the street heading to the marina.

I photographed this amazing turtle in the window of a shop as I walked to the marina. The housing shown on the left of the first marina photo is all quite new and feels a bit like a part of Brisbane that Kate and I visited last year (name escapes me for the moment). The marina is well-stocked with craft and is in the mouth of a river that debouches to the Irish Sea (between Ireland and Wales).

That pretty much finished my visit to Malahide. I had lunch at a theme restaurant (some Chicago gangster theme!) and then wended my way back to Dublin on the train. I did look at the little heritage garden that is set up off the railway platform to help pass the time, but it just couldn’t hold my interest. I was feeling the time pressure to get back to Dublin to meet up with Phil Joyce for the second-half of a full sight-seeing day.

Phil and I met at “Front Gate&#rdquo; – literally the front gate of Trinity College – and headed off on our joint sight-seeing adventure. The initial goal we set was to complete some necessary shopping for loved ones back-home. We wandered into several stores over a short period—Phil was specifically looking for a Claddagh ring or some other jewellry, Tim was looking for inspiration – until we finally settled on some jewellry from Kilkenny, a large ‘craft’ store promoting Irish work. Having achieved the necessary boost to the Irish economy we set off on our sight-seeing tour.

First stop was The Dial (pronounced dahl), the seat of the Irish Parliament and formerly Lienster House. This impressive building, exended to accommodate various parliamentary requirements over time is flanked by the National Library and the National Gallery. (I took more pictures from the other side the next day.) We had the conference reception at the ‘infamous’ Buswell’s Hotel opposite this building; it is a known haunt of politicians (TDs in Ireland, in contrast to MPs) and was convenient for the Minister of Information (who is also the Government Whip) to quickly cross the road, share her thoughts with us, and then return to keep order in the house until the close of business on the last sitting day before summer recess. Phil and I walked on then to St Stephen’s Green, a very impressive enclosed park in southern central Dublin.

St Stephen’s Green was first built as the front yard for a square of expensive Georgian terrace houses (shown at right) occupied by some of the very well-to-do of Dublin. Eventually, through the weight of public opinion, the garden was opened to visitors, and finally opened as a public park. It represents a beautiful green haven in the middle of Georgian Dublin.

The Green is largely cultivated green spaces with paths, fountains and trees, and when we visited on Saturday afternoon was well-inhabited by families picnicing and relaxing. Given that so much of Dublin is concrete and brick, the Green is certainly a patch of relief; its popularity is no surprise.

Phil and I then walked off to Dublin Castle. I had been past this a few days before, but this time we went in and looked around. Dublin Castle is really a collection of buildings that were occupied by various ranking officials in the very earliest times of Dublin (when it was still a walled city) and not a castle as such. Having said that, it did have a large tower complex at one end of its cathedral/church and a walled courtyard overlooked by battlements. Unfortunately, the one weekend that the operating organisation chose to close the apartments that can be toured was the one weeked that we showed up! The remainder of the castle is still used as offices and cultural facilities and consequently, do not provide tours. So our adventure involved wandering around the complex taking photos and wondering what was on the inside.

Our little soiree took us around the rear of the Castle where we found the old Coach House and its impressive garden. The brick lines in the grass mark out a “classic” Celtic design, although its meaning is unknown to Phil and me. A lovely contemplative kind of place though. While we were enjoying this idyllic setting a further reminder that we were actually in the Irish summer was the beautiful display of flowers in a small garden just off the Celtic Lawn. I could not identify the plant (no surprise really) but it was a spectacular display. It was important to remember that it was summer as we had hardly needed the jumpers we were wearing (!) and the absence of the sun for days at a time (even though there were officially 17 hours of sunlight) made it difficult for this Aussie to remember the season easily.

From Dublin Castle Phil and I took a taxi out to the Guiness Storehouse, the big tourist attraction at the Guiness brewery. The display element of the brewery was pretty ordinary – both Phil and I were over hearing about brewing/distilling by this time – and we only had a relatively short time for the tour because of our (relatively) late arrival there. One highlight of this tour was footage of a cooper making a cask using entirely hand tools and ‘by eye’ judgement. Truly a fascinating skill! But the real highlight of the tour was the Gravity Bar at the very top of the storehouse, and among the tallest structures in Dublin. As well as enjoying a free Guiness in the place that it is made, we were treated to a spectacular view over Dublin city. One thing that this view proved beyond doubt is that Dublin’s skyline is remarkably flat.

The pictures below are a kind of panoramic view looking North, starting in the West over Phoenix Park and moving across to the East and Dublin Bay – essentially across the spine of the centre of Dublin. The second set traverses from the East to the Southwest.

After our refreshing Guiness, Phil and I jumped back into a taxi and headed back to Trinity College. From there, we headed over the Carlisle bridge and up O’Connell street past the GPO, looking for the Anna Livia statue – it was the only major bronze statue in Dublin that Phil had not seen and photographed, and he wasn’t going to miss out. As we passed the GPO, Phil pointed out the gun shot damage on the building that I had not noticed previously. The GPO was where the 1916 “up-rising” started (I believe).

We eventually discovered where the Anna Livia statue had been, but it was removed some years ago (during upgrades to O’Connell Street, apparently) and so was no longer somewhere to visit. While we were hunting around for her though, Phil took me past the James Joyce statue. Dublin (and possibly Ireland more broadly) takes a lot of trouble to make statues (bronze or stone) of its various heroes, leaders and other notorious people. There are statues and tributes to people everywhere. It’s a nice connection to their history that Australia does not have.

And then across the square from these two monuments to Ireland’s history, and the disused building in the other photo, is the Garden of Remembrance. This is a lovely memorial park dedicated to those who have fallen in various conflicts. It was beautiful sunny weather while I was there so I took a few photos (below), but I didn’t get to contemplate it for too long as there were three tour groups moving through it and several Dubliners having their lunch there. It is good to see the place being visited but hard to imagine any contemplative reflection taking place.

After a passing fair dinner at a restaurant called 101 Talbot (strangely, on Talbot Street) – a connection to the Talbots who owned Malahide Castle where I had been earlier in the day– Phil was convinced by me to take in a movie rather than do more sight-seeing. The movie promised different, but more enjoyable sights, as I suggested Charlie’s Angels II: Full Throttle. Suffice to say that it was very disappointing, benefiting only in that the sights came to me, rather than requiring more walking, which was becoming actually painful to me because of blisters on the souls of my feet.

After the disappointing movie, we walked back to Trinity College and I said farewell to Phil as he was leaving early the next day bound for England. Sight-seeing with someone else is always more fun as you get to comment on things as they unfold, rather than later when you have to try to re-create the feel of the place as well as what happened. It was great having Phil for company through the sight-seeing we did together.