Thursday, Sep 17 Dublin, Ireland

Our tour started yesterday with dinner but today was the real thing.  We did a city walking tour with Connor, our tour guide.  We walked past many places we already visited but got to hear stories and saw other stuff from a locals perspective.   Connor would bow and wave at every Guinness delivery truck driver. 😆

There are two big church very close together, St. Patrick's and Christ Church (older).  When the churches were built (a long time ago), one was inside the city and the other outside.  Then the distillers got involved...my church is nicer than your church.  But thank heavens for beer (Arthur Guinness) and whiskey (George Roe) and their personal competition, otherwise the churches may have been razed.

We visited the Temple Bar area, name after Trinity College provost Sir Wm Temple.  Now it's very touristy.  It was a fun and interesting tour.

Break for lunch.  We ate in a different park because the seagulls were way too aggressive, we went to Merrion Square and visited with Oscar Wilde.

Next was a visit to EPIC, an emigration museum and the Jeanie Johnston replica ship which helped +2,000 people emigrate during the potato famine without any deaths.  This was a big deal because most of the emigration ships were called coffin ships because usually 1/3 of the people died enroute. 

In case you can't tell, the famine was a big deal!!!  The Famine, called Gorta Mor, the Great Hunger, was 1845 to 1852, the worst of it was 1847.  During this period a million people died and another million to a million and a half emigrated, 20-25% of the population.  We've heard it stated that Ireland has not yet regained that population or that it's just now regained it's population.  Either way it was terrible. 

same picture link as yesterday

https://www.flickr.com/gp/8663407@N07/nn1c85jLPp

Wed Sept 16 Dublin, Ireland

We started our day with a visit to Trinity College which houses the Book of Kells.  The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript of the 4 Gospels written in Latin.

We toured the campus with a 4th year student.  It was great fun to see all the students in their 1st week of school.  The clubs were setting up in Front Square (what i would call the quad) to enlist new members.  I love college campuses.  The buildings on either side of the Square are called Heaven (the chapel) and Hell (exam hall).

One of the standout buildings on campus is the Museum Building.  Most notable is all the different stones used in it's construction; some form of stone from all quarries of Ireland during the time of its construction.  Also the outside (granite) band is 654 unique plants & flowers. There's a sad history to this building in that it was undertaken during the potato famine.  Why was such a building being build at a time when such a social crisis  was happening.  A million people starved to death with another million to a million and a half who emigrated. 

We visited the Old Library and the Long Room which usually contains 200,000 books.  It is being renovated, so some of the books are in storage.  It's an amazing place.  Read more about on the Trinity College website (tcd.ie).  Then it's on to the Book of Kells.  

What's so special about the Book of Kells  (taken from Trinity College website)

The Book of Kells is over 1,200 years old and the colours still shine vibrantly on the page.

The pigments in the Book of Kells were made from natural minerals, which were harvested          locally by monks.

Some of the detail in the Book of Kells is so intricate that it is almost invisible to the naked           eye.

The illustrations throughout the manuscript are filled with layers of of symbolism.

The beauty of the lettering, portraits and Celtic knot motifs in the Book of Kells have inspired       people for centuries.

The Book of Kells survived a brutal Viking raid, where 68 monks were slaughtered.

Every medieval monastery held manuscript copies of sacred texts, but the Book of Kells is           one of only a tiny fraction that have survived.

You are able to view the Book via the Trinity College website, if you're interested.

Next we crossed the River Liffey to the GPO (General Post Office).  Very important spot in Ireland's Independence.  It was the sight of a failed rebellion but later sparked the country to come together.  It was and still is a post office, so I was able to buy stamps.  Hold on to your hat... E$3.95 a stamp!  That's over $5 to send a postcard 😮  There's also an exhibit on the rebellion in the basement,

We were going to fit in one more visit before dinner but Dublin Castle and Chester Beatty Library were both closed due to the EU Council meeting.  Time to get back to join our tour.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/8663407@N07/nn1c85jLPp

Tue Sept 15 Dublin, Ireland

We feel okay today.  We did work at shifting our time before we left, so that helped. 

We had b-fast at the hotel and we were off to see the sites.

We started at the National Museum of Ireland-Archeology.  This museum gets high marks and rightfully so.  It is free to visit and has amazing stuff.  Lots of gold stuff: necklaces, torc, bracelets, earrings etc.  (BTW a torc is like a necklace), prehistoric stuff like arrowheads and pottery.  They also have "bog bodies", 2,000 year old people found in bogs who were preserved, kind of mummified. They look like they're made of plastic.

We grabbed lunch nearby at a butcher shop's walk up window.  They offer one sandwich a day and it was yummy.  We ate it in St. Stephen's Green. Maybe we'll go back tomorrow.

We did a self-guided tour at St. Patrick's Cathedral.  Lots of info about the church and some of the statues that fill the church, not saints but sea captains and others.  One of those famous people is Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels.  The church was built around 1191, so it's been around a while. It started out Roman Catholic, but if you know your history and what Henry the VIII was up to, the church became Anglican in the mid-1500, which is what it is today.

Our last site for the day was about a half-hour walk to Kilmainham Gaol, an historic jail.  I thought it would be a tour like Alcatraz, but no.  There's much more information about the prison that reflected what was going on in Ireland.  Famine, political upheaval, unrest etc.  It was an excellent tour with a sad history.

Picture link is the same for all Dublin days.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/8663407@N07/nn1c85jLPp

Mon, Sept 14 Dublin, Ireland

Our flight was fine, we both did sleep some.  The food on Aer Lingus was not great. We took the Dublin Express bus to within a few blocks of our hotel.   Our flight was delayed so we arrive later than originally planned which enabled us to check into the hotel.  

We took our stuff to our room, washed our faces and headed out to a traditional pub dinner.  Our hotel is near St Patrick Cathedral & Park.  It was a nice day so we walked to St. Stephen's Green, a public park, which was the site of a 1916 thwarted uprising.  It's a lovely busy park now.

We walked north to the River Liffey which run through the city.  We walked along the river to Temple Bar (which is a tourist area which has a bar named Temple Bar).  Stopped at the Hard Rock to buy a pin.

Then back to the room.  We worked very hard at staying awake until 8:00 pm.

Picture link is for all days in Dublin.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/8663407@N07/nn1c85jLPp

Intro to Ireland & Northern Ireland

Ireland is made up of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which are two different countries on the same island.

• The island is 300-miles long and 150 miles wide, at the widest point.  No matter where you go you are never more than 75 miles from the sea.
• The sea is the Irish Sea, St. George's Channel, Atlantic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean.
• Ireland (island) is about the size of Maine.
• Rainfall is about 100 inches in a year.  We are anticipating ~60 degrees and rain.
• Ireland has a population of 5.28 million people.  Northern Ireland's population 1.93 million.
• The two countries had "Troubles" from about 1968 to 1998.  Growing up I can remember hearing the terrible stories happening in Belfast and soon I'll be visiting it!

We are on a AAA/Collette Tour.  Our group is comprised of 23 people.

Map & itinerary of Ireland tour

 

Itinerary

Fly the red-eye to Dublin Sun Sept 13

Dublin, Ireland   Mon Sept 14-Thu Sept 17
Belfast, N. Ireland  Fri Sept 18 & Sat Sept 19
Derry & Donegal  Sun Sept 20 & Mon Sept 21
Enniskillen, N. Ireland  Tue Sept 22
Galway, Ireland  Wed Sept 23 & 24
Cork, Ireland  Fri Sept 25 & 26
Kilkenny, Ireland  Sun Sept 27 & 28
Fly home Tue Sept 29

Friday, May 22 Norfolk, VA to Raleigh, NC

B-fast then we drove to Raleigh, 3 1/2 hours away to spend the night and fly home tomorrow.

North Carolina & Virginia

May 4 - 23, 2026

Mon, May 4        Fly to Raleigh, NC

Tue, May 5 & 6   Raleigh, NC

Thu, May 7        Winston-Salem, NC

Fri, May 8          Boone, NC

Sat, May 9 - 12  Asheville, NC

Wed, May 13      Charlotte, NC

Thu May 14 - 16    Wilmington, NC

Sun, May 17 & 18  Kill Devil Hills, NC

Tue, May 19 - 21    Norfolk/Virginia Beach, VA

Fri, May 22      Raleigh, NC

Sat, May 23     Fly home