22 June 2024 Dublin Walking Tour

 22 June 2024              Dublin Walking Tour

We started our day with a visit to the Irish Whiskey Museum, which is located just across the street from Trinity College.  The Museum combines several of Ireland’s best traits – history and booze.  We took the Whiskey Blending Experience (a 1 ½ hour tour) where we learned how whiskey was made and then did a tasting of four different whiskeys.  We had a great guide who explained how monks brought over to Ireland the first ingredients that were used to begin making Irish whiskey – perfume that the Moors in Spain had made.  Even though it was perfume, the monks were so intrigued by the taste that they used the same methods and barley to make the whiskey.  Over the years it has been perfected until we have the Irish Whiskey of today – which is nearly always distilled three times to make the best whiskey.  At the end of the tour, we tasted three whiskeys, each one a little different from the others.  Both Bill and I liked the second one best – Powers Red Label.  However, we did not taste any Jameson, so we will reserve our judgment until Monday when we take the Jameson Tasting Tour.  We ended the tour by enjoying an Irish Coffee in the museum’s bar.

Bill Sampling the Whiskey

The Whiskeys we Sampled

Famine Memorial

From the Museum it was a short hike to the memorial of the Great Famine of 1845-1850, where about 1 million people died and a million more emigrated to other countries like America.  Caused by a potato disease known as the potato blight, no other event in Irish history has had such a profound effect on its people.  Although potato blight was the initial cause of the famine, the famine itself was compounded by a host of political, social and economic factors, that even today are the subject of much debate.  The sculpture was presented to the city in 1997.  It is a very moving and somber piece, containing statues of emaciated men and women, followed by a starving dog, trudging along the river, their faces etched in sadness and despair.  Today it is one of the most photographed pieces of art in Ireland.

Just past the memorial, docked along the Liffey River, is a replica of the Famine Ship “Jeanie Johnston.”  The Jeanie Johnston was a 3-masted tall ship that was built in Quebec in 1847 with an original purpose of being a cargo ship.  However, when the potato famine hit Ireland with its devasting results, the mission of the ship was changed.   From 1848 to 1855, the ship made 16 Atlantic crossings, carrying over 2500 Irish emigrants to North America without a single casualty.  This was due in great part to the captain and the ship’s doctor who made the health and safety of their passengers their top priority.  On the ship’s return trip from North America, it carried lumber for use in Ireland.  On its last trip back from Canda in 1858, it became waterlogged and sank, but not before all 16 of its crew were rescued by a passing ship after clinging to the top of the masts for nine days.  Unfortunately, there is a lot of construction where the ship is docked, so we did not go aboard to see the ship.

Jeannie Johnston Replica

Old Custom House

Retracing our steps back along the Liffey River we came to the Custom House.  It is an 18^th century neoclassical building that today houses the Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage Visitor Center. During the Irish War of Independence, the Custom House was then the headquarters of the Local Government Board for Ireland (an agency of the British administration). On 25 May 1921, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) occupied and then burned the building. Although considered a propaganda coup for the Republicans, it was a military disaster for the IRA, as the British quickly sent in forces to attack the IRA, succeeding in killing 5 and capturing another 80 IRA members.  In addition to destroying the building itself, centuries of local government records were incinerated.  Today the building has been restored as it was, although the dome is much darker as Irish Ardbraccan limestone was used instead of the Portland stone used in the original building.

We then walked back toward Trinity College (Google Maps makes it seem like a long walk, but it was only about 3 short blocks).  There we found a pub and had a lunch of Irish Cottage Pie (or Shepherds Pie as we call it).  As we were leaving to walk back to our hotel, there was a large march protesting for women’s rights.  We seem attracted to protest marches.  When in Warsaw last year, we lost a whole day of sightseeing because of their "Million People" March.

Women's March

Crowds Around Temple Bar

From our hotel, we walked down Fleet Street (boy was it crowded with pub goers!) to Christ Church Cathedral.  The oldest Cathedral in Dublin, Christ Church has a unique situation – it is the seat of both the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Ireland and the Anglican Church of Ireland.  However, the Archbishop uses St. Mary’s Church instead of Christ Church.  The church’s history dates back to 1038, when Norse King Sitric Silkenbeard built a wooden cathedral overlooking the Viking settlement in what is today Wood Quay.  In 1171 the church was expanded and rebuilt with stone and between 1871-1878 it underwent a huge restoration.  Today only the transepts, the crypt, and a few other places date back to medieval times.  The belfry, which also provides amazing views of the city, houses 19 bells.  The interior has beautiful stonework and pointed arches supported by intricately chiseled columns.  The crypt was built in 1172 and houses the oldest secular carvings and statues in the country as well as the oldest copy of the Magna Carta.  The crypt also contains 17^th century candelabras, a tabernacle, stocks which were used to punish offenders, and perhaps the most unusual items – a mummified cat and rat that had been found behind the organ.  The crypt is not only the oldest surviving structure in Dublin, but it is the largest in Ireland.  As we had a reservation for the Dublina Museum we did not have a chance to go inside.

Christ Church Cathedral

Dublina Museum is located in the former synod hall of Christ Church Cathedral.  This interactive museum depicts the formative period of the history of the city from the Vikings who raided, then settled and were finally defeated here to medieval Dublin with its the dissolution of the Catholic churches and monasteries, the rebuilding of Dublin, and the era of knights and nobles.  There are four exhibitions in the Museum – Viking Dublin, Medieval Dublin, History Hunters, and St. Michael’s Tower. In the Viking Dublin we learned what it was like on a Viking warship and the weapons and skills needed to be a Viking warrior.  We also saw a  Viking burial and house  and learned they used moss as toilet paper (now there is an answer to a trival question).  Part of the exhibit deals with the Battle for Clontarf in 1014 between the High King of Ireland Brian Boru and the Vikings which resulted in a defeat for the Vikings.

The Medieval Exhibit about life 700 years ago included a medieval street where everything from textiles to meat pies were sold.  It also included information of the crimes and punishments of that era and the diseases and remedies that were prevalent then, especially the black plague that killed many residents of Dublin.

This is one of the best museums we have seen and really gave us a deeper understanding of the role the Vikings played in not only Dublin’s history, but the history of Ireland.  If you are ever in Ireland, you should plan a visit to this museum.  It is located right next to Christ Church Cathedral.

Viking Burial

Viking Tent

Viking Tent

Moss as Toilet Paper

Sitric, King of Dublin, first king to
mint his own coins

Life Expectancy in Medieval Dublin

Black Plague in Dublin

Selling Meat Pies in Medieval Dublin

We then walked back to our hotel along the Liffey River and after a short rest, had dinner at the Inn’s little restaurant (with the crowds waiting to get into one of the 666 pubs it would have been Tuesday before we got a seat).  Sitting next to us was a couple from Denver and on our Whiskey Tour was a couple from Freehold, NJ and a woman from the bourbon area of Kentucky.  Small world!