Day Three
On third day in Ireland was spent exploring the tremulous political history of Northern Ireland.
We began the day with a tour of the protestant areas of Derry while walking along the Walls of the City. Unfortunately, our tour guide wasn’t necessarily the best, so that made it hard to connect to what he was telling us. He made several cracks about “women do this” or “women do that” and even once expressed his shock that “lady architects” had been used for a certain project. Needless to say, I wasn’t impressed.
After we finished the Walled City tour, we took a lunch break and a small group of us went in search for for authentic fish and chips.
We found it!
Don’t let the looks on their faces confuse you. The food was absolutely delicious. We ate our Fish and Chips while staring at the sight of Bloody Sunday. It was so surreal to be sitting so close to such important Irish history.
After lunch, we began our tour of the Bogside (Catholic area of Dublin). Our guide was a former member of the IRA who spent seven years in prison. Needless to say, he was extremely moving. He led us through the murals of “Free Derry” and explained their history. Below are just a few:
Hearing Eugene (our guide) tell us the story about watching British soldiers shoot and kill an 11-year-old boy for throwing a rock at their car were extremely heart breaking. But, I know the other side of that history as well. The IRA bombings killed numerous people, as well. I don’t believe it is up to me to classify either side of violence as unjustified or justified, so I will just say it is tragic that any lives were loss over politics.
Our day was mostly free for us to do whatever we’d like after the tour. We stayed in the City Centre for several hours to shop and then went back to our hotel. I spent most of the evening talking with our guide Kathy about life in London (where she is from) and the various tours she has given. She was an absolutely fantastic person and we are so lucky she was guiding us through our time.
Day Four
The next day we left Derry and began our trip to Dublin. On the way, we stopped at the Ulster Folk Museum which focused on Irish immigration to America. The museum also featured a re-created version of colonial Boston. I’m not typically a big fan of museums, and we were at this one a little early in the morning, but it was interesting to see the take on immigration because we had read and heard so much about it before the trip.
After the museum, we continued driving and stopped at a scenic outlook known as “The Hill of Tara.”
Legend has it that 17th Century Kings had to touch the rock on the left and hear it roar three times before they could properly become kings.
Nowadays, the area is just used as a scenic outlook and picnic place for locals.
Once we arrived in Dublin, our tour guide dropped us in the City Centre (also well known for the Temple Bar District) and we got a chance to get our bearings. We popped into a local pub and had a drink while the Irish watched soccer.
After dinner in Dublin, our group went back out to the Temple Bar District and spent the evening at O’Neil’s pub. It was an extremely fun place filled with locals, not tourists, which was a welcome change from a lot of the other places we’d visited.
Day Five
On Sunday, we toured Kilmainham Jail which was the home to many political prisoners during times of uprising in Irish history. Numerous prisoners were executed there by public hanging and even firing squad. While the architecture was beautiful, it was also kind of haunting.
More famously, the jail has been used to in several movies including In the Name of the Father and The Italian Job. It was also the set of the U2 Video “The Celebration.”
After we visited the jail, we took a guided tour through the city of Dublin. One of the highlights for me was a stop in Phoenix Park. Because the weather was so ideal while we were there (it never rained once!), all of the locals were out in the park enjoying the day. People were grilling, playing soccer, laying out, and just generally being shirtless.
Our tour ended at the Trinity college library where the Book of Kels is housed.
Day Six
Our last official stop in Dublin was the Malahide Castle. The castle itself was beautiful, of course, but the real story happened outside.
After the tour, we were given some time to wander the grounds. One of the professors that went on the trip and I noticed that the gate to the garden was open, so we went in. It was absolutely beautiful, and giant, so before we had barely cracked the surface, we headed back to the gate so we could make the bus. Problem was, the gate was locked. We continued to look for other gates to make our escaped, but quickly realized we were trapped. It wasn’t until we climbed up to the Castle Cafe window and alerted the cafe staff that we were stuck, that we were able to get a guard to let us out. Apparently, no one is supposed to be back there and a work man just accidently left the gate open. Needless to say, we help the bus up for about 20 minutes. Sorry!
After we finally escaped from the garden, we were given our last bit of free time, which most people used to explore the Guinness Brewery. I have to say, it wasn’t as great as the St. Louis Budweiser Brewery. The Guinness Brewery is more like a museum, but it does have a fantastic view on the seventh floor.
For our last night in Dublin, a large group went to to see the Merry Ploughboys, an authentic Irish band. What fun! During intermission, they featured traditional Irish folk dancing. Several people from our group even got to dance on stage with the group.
With Two Members of the Band
And with that, we were back to the hotel for a couple hours of sleep and off to the airport early the next morning. My experience was absolutely unbelievable and I can’t wait to start planning my next cross-atlantic travels!
All of my photos can be see here and here.
