Category: Dublin

Brú na Bóinne

After uploading my blog post yesterday, we decided to go out for dinner and some music. We walked down over the Ha’penny Bridge:

And through Merchant’s Arch:

And into Temple Bar, where we had a nice meal with some nice live music at The Old Storehouse. We arrived at just the right time, because we got what seemed to be the last table in the place, very near the music, and by the time we left, there was a line-up down the stairs and out the door.

Today, our last full day in Ireland, was our Newgrange tour. We’d really been looking forward to this, and it turned out even better than I had hoped.

First stop was the Hill of Tara. I know I’ve posted a fair number of pictures of the hill on previous trips, but here’s some more.

I’ve been to Tara a few times, but this is the only time we were allowed close enough to the Mound of Hostages to get a look inside, even if we couldn’t go in.

After that, it was down to the Brú na Bóinne visitor centre for our Newgrange visit. Again, I’ve posted a lot of pictures of Newgrange before, but I was there, so I took some more. I did get an actual clear, peopleless shot of the entry and the entry stone for the first time.

So, the best thing about the tour?

WE GOT TO SEE KNOWTH AS WELL AS NEWGRANGE!

Knowth is another passage tomb nearby that I’ve wanted to see since I first heard about it. It’s bigger than Newgrange, and has had less reconstruction done on it. It is also a cluster of mounds, with a large central mound and nineteen satellite mounds. And it’s got a LOT more decorated kerb stones.

So, I was super-excited and took a lot of pictures. Here’s some of them.

So. That was an awesome tour for our final day.

Tomorrow, we fly home. I’m not looking forward to the long travel day, but I am looking forward to being home. This has been a great trip, but I’m tired, and I miss my own bed.

Slán leat, Ireland!

Dublin Collection

So, we’ve been in Dublin the past couple of days, but I haven’t blogged. This has been because I’ve been tired, or out late, or my iPad didn’t charge properly. Anyway, because of this, my mom called me this morning from Canada to make sure I wasn’t dead.

Not dead yet, Mom.

And to prevent rumours of my demise, I figure I better post some stuff about my time in Dublin.

O’Connell Street, looking past the Spire at the GPO.

Here are some pictures from Christchurch Cathedral:

St. Audoen’s Church, the oldest continuously operating parish church in Dublin. These are the ruins beside the working church. If you look carefully, you may spot a wild Penny in the left foreground.

Dublin’s Garden of Remebrance.

Some pictures from the National Museum of Archaeology:

After spending this morning at the museum, we wandered down to Grafton Street for a little bit of shopping and lunch, and then headed over to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, stopping along the way for some Murphy’s Ice Cream.

I didn’t take many pictures at St. Patricks, because I already had a bunch from previous visits. But here are a couple.

Now, we’re resting up in our room. The concierge here gave us directions to a place that does live music earlier in the evening, so we’re probably going to walk over there for dinner in a little while.

And tomorrow – our last full day in Ireland – we’re off to Newgrange and the Hill of Tara.