The Bad Sisters Wrap Up Dublin & Head To The West

Sunday weather was a bit dodgy with intermittent rain and the crew was a bit under the weather after the Saturday night pub crawl so a later lie in was required.  We had a scheduled entrance for the Book of Kells at 1 which meant enough time for breakfast at Bewley’s Oriental Cafe and a stroll down Grafton Street to Trinity College. The Covid sign in the loo made me wonder if hand washing was not required pre-Covid.

Founded in 1592, Trinity College is Ireland’s oldest university one of the most places in Dublin.  The Book of Kells is housed there. The Book Of Kells is an illustrated manuscript of the 4 gospels dating back to the 800s. Written by monks in Latin and painstakingly illustrated in brilliant pigments, a new page of the manuscript is displayed each day.  There has been a lot more technology added to the tour since my first visit in the ‘90s.  The  Long Room (library) is an amazing space which normally houses over 200,000 books.  The library is currently undergoing a major restoration project so the majority of the books have been removed and are contained in over 30,000 containers.  The archiving task alone is remarkable. Also on display in the Long Room is one of the only remaining original Proclamations (the Irish Declaration of Independence) from the Easter Rising in 1916 and Brian Boru’s harp, Ireland’s oldest surviving harp.

Leaving Trinity College, we headed across the River Liffey to the Famine Sculptures.  The sculptures were commissioned in 1997 to honor the more than 1 million who died and the over 1,000,000 who emigrated, many to the United States. The sculptures are located on Customs House Quay in the Dockland’s area marking the spot where many of the Famine ships set sail.  The Irish Potato Famine occurred in the mid-1800’s when the potato crops were destroyed by the blight and British policy including evictions, exportation of other food crops and refusal to provide any aid.  The effects of the famine permanently changed Ireland.  

The clouds started to look ominous and it was clearly going to start raining, so Ida led the crew on a forced march down the River Liffey to the pedestrian Ha’Penny bridge knowing it was the fastest route to the pub zone.  We loaded in to the Ha’Pebby Bridge Pub just in time.  We waited out the rain with a few  Irish Coffees and what Ida refers to as a full housewife pour of wine. 

As we headed back through the Temple bar area, we noticed the Whiskey Reserve Bar was not crowded.  We had attempted entry on Saturday night but were unsuccessful so it seemed like a positive sign that there was a large open table.  The collection of Irish and Scotch whiskeys is impressive and the bartenders know how to make fabulous concoctions with them.  However, their ability to make a vodka martini was more of a challenge.