Stu and Theresa Allen: Dublin Day 2

For our first full day in Dublin, we decided to do a tour. But it wasn't just any tour, it was a New Dublin tour. These are run through out Europe and the guides are starving students and work only for tips, so they are always really entertaining.

Dublin Castle was first founded as a major defensive work on the orders of King John of England in 1204.

The Chapel Royal was completed in 1814.

Stu in front of the Coach House in the Castle gardens.

This is the original place of the dubh linn, the dark pool. In ancient times the river Dodder made a pool here before flowing into the Liffey. Here the Vikings decided to settle. The Dodder today is a memory and has long been confined to a subterranean canal (or sewer). The lines in the grass symbolize the serpents that were in the pool.

The glass eyes on the serpents heads are used as reflectors for the castle helo pad.

Christ Church Cathedral or The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, commonly known as Christ Church, in Dublin is the elder of the city's two medieval cathedrals, the other being St. Patrick's Cathedral.

The Penal laws were enstated to displace Catholicism as the majority religion in Ireland. The main intended effect of the Penal Laws was to ease the conversion or dispossession of the landed Catholic population. In 1641 Catholics had owned 60% of land in Ireland and by 1776 Catholic land ownership in Ireland stood at only 5%. So for Catholics in Ireland it was a kind of reverse prohibition. If you were out with the family on a Sunday morning all dressed up, and you were stopped by the police, you would have to convince them that you were taking your 5 year old out for his morning pint.

When the Penal laws were in place you would have to enter the church through a secret door in the Adam and Eve Pub in front of the church.

The Church of the Immaculate Conception (The Adam and Eve Church)

We stopped about half way through the tour for a "pint break"... They Czech Inn, but they don't Czech out!

The Temple Bar section, with lots of restaurants and of course pubs.

Before the Ha'penny Bridge was built in 1866 there were seven ferries, operated by a William Walsh, across the Liffey. The ferries were in a bad condition and Walsh was informed that he had to either fix them or build a bridge. Walsh chose the latter option and was granted the right to extract a ha'penny toll from anyone crossing it for 100 years. Initially the toll charge was based, not on the cost of construction, but to match the charges levied by the ferries it replaced.

What?? Where are they going to go? I'm sure there are a lot of people in the US that would like to know.

Trinity College Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", and is the only constituent college of the University of Dublin.

Trinity is Ireland's oldest university.

Theobald Wolfe Tone, commonly known as Wolfe Tone, was a leading figure in the United Irishmen Irish independence movement and is regarded as the father of Irish republicanism. He died from a wound that he received after being sentenced to death for his part in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 — whether self-inflicted or otherwise remains under debate — at any rate, it deprived him of the chance to appeal his death sentence.

Apparently, grabbing his crotch will ensure good luck with Irish men…I wonder how this guy did!

A statue entitled “Famine”

The Great Famine, was a period of mass starvation, disease and emigration in Ireland between 1845 and 1852 during which the island's population dropped by 20–25 percent. Approximately one million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland's shores. The proximate cause of famine was a potato disease commonly known as potato blight. Although blight ravaged potato crops throughout Europe during the 1840s, the impact and human cost in Ireland—where a third of the population was entirely dependent on the potato for food—was exacerbated by a host of political, social and economic factors which remain the subject of historical debate.

St Stephen's Green Park

These "butt boxes" were all over the place. We didn't see that many people smoking, but then the price of a pack would (should) make anyone quit. We saw a pack for €8.50! That's over $10 for ONE pack!!

We stopped for lunch after the tour, and were we ever ready for a break! Over 4 hours of walking, but what a great tour! The pub we went to, had tables where you can pour your own pint! Too cool!