Ireland Day 4 Friday 31.3.23

It rained  all day in Dublin (brief lull for photo ) so no pictures to share🌧️ We had a very spicy noodle lunch at one of the eateries next to the Epic Irish Emigration Centre where we spent the whole afternoon immersed in this fascinating , highly interactive, well planned , spectacular visual treat of a museum which  answered  the question, what have the Irish ever given the world?  Answer  ' So much more than you could ever imagine,  and at such cost!'  Grateful for my Irish  ancestry and 40% Celtic DNA.

I suspect that if I put this in a similar register device in Belfast that 100s of Clarkes  would be registered , as it's a very common name in N Ireland. Unlikely to locate my paternal great- grandmother Sarah though, as  attempts  by diligent family members and friends to locate the elusive Sarah's  birth certificate have so far proved fruitless.

One for  Sean and Eleanor just back from Mexico city. Artist is Juan O Gorman  responsible for  the renowned  murals at Frida Kahlo and  Diego Rivera s co-joined  houses ( how civilised !) 

You are issued a passport at the entrance which you then  stamp at each  exhibition / display area. It costs 19€ each for  museum entry  but you can return indefinitely over the next 30 days. Big highlight for me, this museum

We went to see 'Gods creatures' at the Irish Film Institute at tea time  in the rather rowdy Temple Bar area of the city 

Excellent film with Emily Watson and Paul Mescal set in a small fishing  village in Donegal, where it perpetually rained  (this was comforting , considering the rain levels we have experienced since we arrived on Tuesday 😊)

A panicked rush afterwards in heavy rain through crowds of happy inebriates to  locate a bus stop much further away than we initially anticipated, and caught it for a damp ride home with 2/3 minutes to spare. Great navigating Andy!  

Ireland Day 3 Thursday 30.3.23 County Wicklow

 

This morning , we drove 30 miles southwest from the campsite in Dublin . Our first stop was a very smart sea side town called Bray. We walked along the sea front to the harbour. 

I counted 50 swans resting on the beach area 

Shingle  beach  at Bray with strong currents : two cold water swimmers were spotted in the most sheltered part of the  water 

Drawn to an out of season candy- stripe ice- cream hut

Happy to see patches of blue after 48 hours of rain and grey skies 

We drove on to the Wicklow National park (the largest park in Ireland) and parked in the Glendalough Hotel car park next to the visitor centre. The countryside  here is very picturesque ; Co. Wicklow is known as the garden county. 

We  accessed the start of the  walk alongside the lower lake via the ruins of an  ecclesiastical settlement . The path running alongside the lake is tarmacked. We reached the upper lake and crossed the causeway to pick up the route to an abandoned miners village at the far end of the second lake. 

A beautiful ramble of 10K alongside two lakes with wild goats grazing on the banks beside us.We drove home across moorland very similar to Scotland and arrived back at the campsite at 7 pm. A peaceful day. 

Entrance to the ruins of the settlement 

A tour bus  group in the ruins of the cathedral 

Idyllically peaceful grave yard 

The bell tower  used to call the monks to worship

Some very old gravestones 

Crossing a busy river to get to the walk 

Colourful hillside woods

Lakeside views

St Kevin's bed ( cave across the lake) 

This was the start of the miners route on the right side of the upper lake. The nearby estate was owned by the Guinness family ( the water for their Guinness factory is drawn from here) and has just been sold for 22 million euros .

There was a small crowd  of young people on the beach area taking selfies of each other as we passed. 

We reached the ruins of the miners settlement at the end of the upper lake 

Stepping stones leading to the tumbledown walls of the lead miners cottages, a bleak windswept spot. 

We made our way back towards the lower lake , spotting some wild goats en route 

We took a different route back the Visitors centre , on the other side of the lower lake , across the wetlands and along the boardwalk 

Across the river again   and back  to the start of the walk by the Glendalough visitors centre

Sad to leave this beautiful place 

Ireland Day 2 Wed 29 th March 2023 Dublin

Temple bar area  of Dublin  . James Joyce mural. Dropped off  near here by the  69 bus (2.60€ each , exact money needed 😲)  after a 40 min bus ride into the City centre from Camac Valley campsite

Temple bar streets in the pouring  rain.Shelteted in the cafe at the Irish Film Institute. Our light lunch was delicious 

  Booked a 1.00 pm slot at Trinity College to see the Four gospels  (according to Matthew, Mark,  Luke , John ) written by monks in 800 AD on Iona off the W Coast Scotland ; the  monks smuggled the Four Kells across to Meath in S Ireland after  Vikings  massacred 64  Ionian monks and the book was gifted to Trinity College in 1562 .Situated in the Fagel library .

The Long room library 

Long rows of male philosophers Greek British etc ,Two busts of women , Ada Lovelace and Augusta George 

Ada Lovelace 

The oldest harp in Ireland , with brass strings (used as the logo for Guinness! )

The Irish declaration of Independence read out  in  1916 , only 50 of these  posters  in existence , readers sentenced to death afterwards 

I love these spiral  wrought -iron staircases 

Books in the long room  are gradually and systematically  being decanted,vacuum sealed and renovated, they are about 25% through the library.

Jorge Luis Borges said  ' I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library '

'Spheres within  spheres' a sculpture in one of Trinity college's many spacious  quadrangles 

Rested for a while in the Rose garden in front of the museum.The sun came out and stayed out for most  of the afternoon 

We walked over the Liffey in search of refreshment,   near to the bus stop back to the campsite 

And found it in J Mahons craft  brewery

  

Stunningly beautiful stained glass decoration on the ground floor level ;  this pub has four floors , nightly live music  on the third floor, good food and brews its own Guinness ...

Caught the 5 pm  69 bus back to Camac Valley Campsite , and walked for an hour around the Corkagh 300 acre park situated next to the campsite , after dinner.

First day of Trip to Ireland Tuesday 28.3.23

 Left Shrewsbury at 9.15 am , heading for Holyhead , Anglesey  to catch our Stena Line ferry to Dublin at 2.45 pm. Pouring with rain all the way to Holyhead  and very windy as we drove past Mount Snowdon 

Winds of 5-7 force forecast , occasionally rough. Queued for an hour at the ferry terminal before boarding . The sea  was indeed  heaving on  leaving Anglesey and the swell was quite heavy for  the first two hours  of the journey , so I sought out  the greater stability  found at the rear of the ferry ( as advised by a friendly steward)

Intrepid sailor Andy , remained up front watching the bow dip, roll and rise with great relish, munching tuna sandwiches . As we approached Dublin, the sun came out and the sea became much calmer. I need a lot of persuasion and reassurance to get on a ferry now after the  horrendous crossing of the Bay of Biscay back  to Portsmouth, sometimes   in  a gale force 9 , 2 years ago . This crossing was totally  bearable though . We  are staying at the Camac Valley  motorhome campsite,  a 40  minute  bus ride outside of Dublin. 

Everything is  in kilometres and euros😊 Andy happy to still  be driving on the left though. Campsite a little noisy , as we are right by  the M50

The last time Andy and I were in Ireland we were both teenagers , Andy working  on the  cross channel ferry for  his step father ,  Captain George Davey  , and me with a boyfriend and Edgbaston  sailing club heading for Belfast  in 1968.