History was made in Dublin this weekend. For the first time in over 120 years the general population was allowed to drink alcohol on Good Friday and boy oh boy were they happy about it. People were celebrating and dancing in the late afternoon. Dublin is an amazing city! I loved wandering through the streets. Grafton Street was just as iconic as people say it is. Temple Bar was even more so. As I learned Temple Bar is actually a bar located on a street that runs parallel to the River Liffey (hearing the word Liffey with the Irish accent was my favorite part). Today the block that the pub takes up is known as Temple Bar. People dance and sing to traditional Irish music smoke cigarettes and cigars outside and chat with their friends. Dispirited it being a holy weekend people were still drinking and carrying on outside.
Since we thought that the city was going to be closed down went friends and I took a trip out to the Cliffs of Moher. What a view. The cliffs are even more impressive in person than in pictures. Once you stand on top of them and look to your left and right and notice how large they are it is amazing. People walking along the edge puts them in perspective, they look like ants. I was surprised to learn that the cliffs are home to many species of birds. Apparently it is a good home for birds to lay their eggs despite the 450 meter drop…
While we in Dublin on a holy weekend we decided it maybe important to visit a church. I am also an Art History major with a “peeking” interest in Medieval history. Dublin has a very impressive Medieval history and the Gothic Church’s help to prove that. We visited it Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and while there we took a tour. Saint Patrick is the patron saint of the city. He was a Christian who was taken and forced to be a Shepard. He later received a message from god telling him to go to Dublin and convert everyone from Pagans to Christians. The cathedral dedicated to him was beautiful. A very impressive piece of Gothic Architecture. Buried in the Church is Johnathan Swift, the author of Gullivers Travels. They have flags displayed in the mans chapel which symbolize those who are gone and their legacies who are remembered. I thought this was very touching because even though the flags aren’t perfect they hang them as a reminder for the soldiers.
Dublin is also Home to one of the oldest illuminated manuscripts it is known as the Boom of Kells. The book itself is beautiful illustrated by the monks of that time and it is currently located at Trinity College Dublin. As an art history major I appreciated viewing the book and getting to look at the pages themselves to see how the monks hand wrote the book.
All and all Dublin is definitely one of my favorite cities I have been to, despite the rain and grey clouds! I want to go back and tour through more the cities famous church’s and walk through some more of their Medieval streets!