Dublin

What can one say about the Irish? They are a varied lot of people, but one thing I found quite common among them is their love of freedom. We learned so much on our short visit, it will be hard to consolidate it here. When we arrived, we asked the immigration official if he had any suggestions, and after he had asked us the purpose and length of our stay, he said we should plan to come back because we couldn't possibly get enough of it in the three days we had planned. Then our taxi driver on the way to airport as we were departing said we'd only been here long enough to see the trailer...not the whole movie. They were both very right. To top things off, we enjoyed what the locals described as the best weather of the entire year the three days we were there. It is usually cold and damp in Dublin, but we enjoyed sunshine and smiles all around.

We rented a nice apartment about three blocks from the center of town right next door to an ancient cathedral. We took the Hop-on, Hop-off bus tour the first day to get a good idea of the layout of the city and the major attractions. We bought food at a grocer about a block from the apartment and had breakfast in the apartment. We have found that we can eat pretty cheaply if we don't go to restaurants more than once a day, so we usually eat breakfast in the apartment, have lunch while were out looking at things (lunch is usually cheaper than dinner for the same items in the same restaurant for some reason, but that works very well for us), and then we'll have supper at home. Since we are renting apartments almost everywhere we go, there is always a kitchen available. This also helps us control our diets a little.

Dublin is a vibrant city, and the sidewalks are packed with people most of the day. Perhaps it was more crowded than usual because of the brilliant weather we were having..I don't know. We went by the oldest university in Ireland, Trinity College which has a massive campus near the center of town. It educated such notables as Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, Viscount Melbourne (who was the Duke of Wellington who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo and became the only Prime Minister of England of Irish descent), Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and Vladimir Nabokov, among a long list of others. The Irish have had many famous poets and authors and many of them have called Dublin their home. There are bookshops everywhere, and that is a great testament to the literacy and enthusiasm the Irish have for literature.

The highlight of our visit was Kilmainham Gaol (Jail). The Irish have a long and troubled history. They were invaded and conquered by the Vikings in the 700's. (It seems that the Vikings were kicking everybody's behind in those days, as they had settlements throughout Europe. One can still see the viking bloodlines in the people walking the streets. In fact Dublin was originally named by the Vikings who took over a small settlement there in the 700's and used the Gaelic words Duv Lin, meaning black pool, to describe the confluence of two rivers that join at the settlement.

Then the English came and conquered them in the 12th century. The "castle" in the center of Dublin was built by King John of England (of Robin Hood fame). It's not really a castle, as it was never used as a defensive fort, but it did establish the center of government for the "foreign invader". The English stayed so long, that some of the Irish got used to them, and in fact, the English pattern was to find the wealthy members of a conquered society, and marry their Lords and Ladies to the sons and daughters, forging alliances where ever they went. This is the central issue in Irish history and politics even today. The English brought with them..much later..but still, the Protestant church, the Anglicans or the Church of England. When they did so, they made everyone who was Catholic, which was most of the "common folk", second class citizens. They were not allowed to own property or to vote in elections or have any voice in their government. In fact our taxi driver said they were treated much like we treated our black slaves in the US. And, much like the bigotry that still exists in our country (yes, it does), they still feel like second class citizens.

Their flag itself describes the hope they have..the green representing those who are happy with English rule and everything that goes with that, and the orange representing those who yearn for independence and self rule, and the white representing peaceful coexistence between the two opposing viewpoints. Kilmainham Goal was the site of one of hundreds of uprisings that took place over the years. It did not start out as a big deal. Some upstarts got together and armed themselves. There were about 1500 men who tried to take over Dublin. They succeeded for a few days, but the English ruling class brought 20 times the men they had and quickly stamped out the rebellion. Several of the upstarts were sent to Kilmainham, and awaited their execution for treason against the crown. One of the men was in love, and he was allowed to marry his love in the prison chapel. Notwithstanding this, he was executed by firing squad the following day. Another man who was badly wounded in the battles was brought from the hospital and executed after having been carried to the jail in an ambulance. He was so weak he was unable to stand for the firing squad so they shot him while he sat in a wheelchair.

The Irish are very emotional people, and even though they had not supported the uprising in any great numbers, as the story of the brutality of the English in executing the bridegroom and the invalid spread, public sympathy for their cause began to swell. Others picked up the torch and used guerrilla tactics, until finally the English who were getting tired of the cost of "dealing with the Irish" offered to allow independence to all but the northern provinces. There were many who thought that was not right, and wanted to fight on, but the leaders of the time were tired of the fighting also, and decided to accept their offer. That is why there is a Northern Ireland and an Ireland. Of course there are still many in the north who yearn for self rule and independence, and so the fighting continues..not so much right now, but wait and see if it doesn't start up again.

Here is a slideshow of our brief, but wonderful trip to Dublin: