WHAT BENNIE'S BEEN DOING: Weeks 5-6 (Scotland/England, Ireland, France!)
Part 5: Dublin, Kildare & Western Ireland
NOTE: This is an updated post....
Because of a delay getting out of Edinburgh, we didn't arrive in Dublin until mid-afternoon Friday, September 28. It was too early for dinner and too late for lunch and we hadn't eaten since breakfast, so we settled for a classic Irish snack to tide us over: Potato Skins and...
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| Authentic Guinness Draught! |
Then, because of the weary legs/feet from all the walking we did and stairs we climbed up and down over the last few days in Edinburgh, we opted for dinner at the hotel and a rousing round of washing our clothes in the tub for our evening entertainment ;)
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| Bennie's Suds & Duds! |
We only had a few days, but we got in as much Irish lore as possible...
Highlights included:
1) Tour of Irish Rock and Roll Museum in Dublin where David even got to sit down at the drum kit and jam with a few other guys in our tour group ;) This destination was not part of our itinerary, but we happily stumbled across it when walking through the Temple Bar area of Dublin near our hotel.
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Check out the Drum Planters!
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| David drumming with total strangers from our tour group! |
2) Lots of delicious Irish Fare: traditional Irish stew, shepherd's pie, soda bread, fresh seafood chowder...and, of course, a pint or two of Guinness.
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| Traditional Irish Stew |
3) A fantastic day trip to County Kildare, the birthplace of Ireland's second patron Saint, Brigid... And, incidentally, a sister city to Lexington due to our similarities in the thoroughbred horse industry. Like Lexington, Kildare is sitting on top of a limestone plate, allowing extra calcium enrichment of water and grass to strengthen horse bones. However, Brigid was our main focus.
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| Kildare Train Station |
We arrived early enough on Sunday to attend worship at two different congregations, one Catholic, and the other Protestant.
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| Saint Brigid's Parish Church (Catholic) |
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| Saint Brigid's Cathedral (Protestant) |
So, truthfully, we didn't exactly plan to attend two different churches, but it worked out that way because the only times listed online for the Cathedral were afternoon tours... no worship times mentioned anywhere. So, we attended St. Brigid's Parish Church at 10:30 and briefly visited with the priest after. Then, we walked on over to the Cathedral to view Saint Brigid's Fire Temple and Round Tower on the Cathedral grounds while waiting for the tours to begin. But, when we arrived, we saw a sign with worship times and several cars parked outside...
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| 11:30 Worship start meant they were still meeting when we arrived! |
So, we went inside and found a small congregation just getting ready to take communion! We sat through the end of worship and enjoyed a brief visit with the priests after. They said they had not yet put their worship times online but our experience proved why they needed to get that done.
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| They park like TPCC Folks! |
We also had the opportunity to talk briefly with a couple of church members, Jimmy & Sandra. We told them about Lexington being a sister city to Kildare and gave them the Lexington blue horse stickers that Grace gave me to share with folks we met. Sandra had been involved in the horse industry, so she was just thrilled with the horse sticker and Jimmy said his granddaughter would love it :)
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| Bennie with Cathedral Church Member, Jimmy |
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| David with Cathedral Church Member, Sandra |
4) When we got back to Dublin that afternoon, we went to Trinity College for our 3:00 tour to view the Book of Kells (illuminated manuscripts of the gospels dating to the 800's). However, the folks helping us find our tour group somehow sent us to a historical walking tour of Dublin instead. Because the walking tour began in the same area where they keep the Book of Kells, we didn't realize it was the wrong tour until too late!
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| Quad at Trinity College, Dublin |
That said, we weren't disappointed at all because the historical walking tour guide was amazing! We learned about the Viking connection to Dublin as well as the complicated relationship with the British crown that has led to both an independent Ireland as well as an Ireland in the north that is still part of the United Kingdom. And, yes, religion is a huge factor in all of it... so I was happy to see the good folks of Christ Church Cathedral reaching out to make amends with their Pagan Viking forbears. Now, we only need the Protestants and Catholics to do the same!
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Notice of a historic Viking service of Choral Evensong
at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin! |
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| Christ Church Cathedral ( Church of Ireland) |
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| Christ Church Cathedral, Side View |
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| Dublin Castle |
5) On Monday, October 1, we took a day tour to the West of Ireland where we visited St. John's castle in Limerick as well as the phenomenal Cliffs of Moher in County Clare... Or, as those of you who have seen "The Princess Bride" know them better as, "The Cliffs of Insanity" ;) It was a very long day of travel... 12 hours total! But, we also got to drive through the incredibly green Irish countryside and enjoy some time with other travelers.
