Dublin

The home of Molly Malone, Temple Bar, Grafton Street and the biggest clock in Europe (its huge!), Dublin has been featured more times than anyone believed.

Flag of the Republic of Ireland.

Capital city of the Republic of Ireland, Dublin is a hive of activity all year around. From energising walks in St Stephen's Park and a social drink in Temple Bar to the events hosted in St Patrick's Cathedral. Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer - the excitement and passion of the city's ambience never fades.

I, myself, visited Dublin four years ago as a weekend break with my mum, Friday to Sunday. As is stereotypical of Britain and Ireland, the weather was freezing and overcast, which meant I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked. But when my mum revisited the city a year ago with my younger brother and my dad, she had a better experience. Sorry mum!

Me in front of St Patricks Cathedral
making the trip miserable for myself and
my mum. My Cerebral Palsy is hidden
by the right sleeve of the jacket
I'm wearing. As I also explained
in my Norway Post, it doesn't do well
in cold temperatures. 

My dad visited Dublin quite a few times when he was working over in Belfast when I was younger so he knew a lot more about the place than everyone else in the family. Lucky sod. I think I would've enjoyed it a lot more if I was able to see the city in Spring or even early Autumn. He always made it sound so fascinating and the stories he returned home with were what I looked forward to when he walked through the front door.

And though I would've liked to visit the Guinness factory and Temple Bar (I don't know why, but all I could think was the song Temple Bar by Nathan Carter), during my own visit, it just wasn't possible in the time we had. My mum and dad got to do that instead, but then they did organise the trip so they had longer to visit everything they wished to see.

Statue of Molly Malone - which
inspired the folk song everyone
in Ireland knows with no introduction.

Statute of Molly Malone? I can hear you thinking, it's just a story, she didn't exist. She might not have existed in real life, but the presence of that woman is everywhere. The Dubliner's wrote a song about her and over the years everyone has either heard the song or vaguely knows it. You can't miss her or her song. Yes, the title of the song's switches between 'Molly Malone' and 'Cockles and Mussels' but like I said you can't miss it. Remember it now.

It took me years to remember the person and the song. 11 to be exact. I first heard the song in Year 1 on a tape recorder under the title 'Cockles and Mussels' and then it came up with 'Dubliners - Molly Malone live' up on my Youtube recommended list. OK. It wasn't the most strangest video that had come up but it sure puts the story into perspective when listening to real life Irish folk bands singing it.

Temple Bar, just as intriguing, just as abstract. Between Nathan Carter's pop version and Billy Tracey's realistic and darker version, there is forever the burning question of which one portrays the real Temple Bar. Carter's is more well known to those who don't live in Ireland via the platform of Youtube, but the place could be a mix of the two versions. Nevertheless, when my parents visited the bar itself, they agreed on one thing - how expensive it was.

Temple Bar - apparantly three times
more expensive than the Bars on
Grafton Street. 

Guinness Factory, always a plus. The home of one of the nation's beverages and I stupidly thought it was forever filled by drunks looking for their next fix like a druggie going through withdrawal. I could not be more wrong. The Guinness Factory is not just about the drink but about its history and how said history links into the history of British Isles.

Free Guinness Pints given out at
the Guinness Factory. Mum enjoyed her
second trip to Dublin much more with Dad
and younger brother as she go to see
a lot more as they went in the October
Half Term rather than the last
weekend of November.

St Stephen's Gate looks like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris but attached to a Park, not in the middle of a busy street - all big and imposing, and looks like it should be Roman. Put them side by side and you would not be able to tell the difference in terms of size, structure and feel of imposing. I'm not dissing l'Arc de Triomphe (sorry - no matter how much time passes since I formally took them, my French lessons in correct pronunciation have stuck), but the two structures do look scarily alike.

St Stephen's Gate

But's its the massive clock in the centre of St Stephen's Green Shopping Centre that has the awe factor. I know I said its huge, but that's a massive understatement. How they got the clock to hang there is a mystery you can try to work out but it might make your head spin, so don't. It holds the title below and you can see why.

The Largest Clock in Europe, located in
St Stephen's Mall.

Millennium Bridge is so cool. When it gets dark, it lights up in an array of bright colours. I'm not kidding, its a spectacle you have to see for yourself. Plus, the ever present statues of the Irish Famine right next to it, can really bring a new outlook on how lucky Ireland and Great Britain have been in the intervening years. The statues and bridge really do make people think 'history is everywhere.'

Famine Statues located next to the
Millenium Bridge.

The Book of Kells and Trinity College Dublin - is there anything else more exciting to an ancient history buff? The exquisite detail and patterns are very much stereotypical of how we think of Celtic writing but the Book of Kells isn't just about the drawing. It's about the long lost, long gone times where people worked hand to mouth, working as a community to save their people and embedded in the Irish people's DNA. Most of us tend to think along the lines of Boudicca and the Iceni tribe revolting against the Romans, and of sprawling patterns and designs when the word Celtic crops up, but the Book of Kells proves that way of thinking wrong. Both the Book of Kells and Trinity College are must sees if you visit Dublin.

The Book of Kells Sign at Trinity College
Dublin. As a general rule, pictures could
not be taken inside the exhibition so this's
the only picture I have.  

Everything is right there for you to enjoy so go on. Visit and enjoy. You may be pleasantly surprised by what you discover.