Descending on Dublin.

On the 21st of July we finally left The UK and flew from Birmingham Airport to Dublin Airport on Ryan Air.

Our flight.

Last time we used Ryan Air was to fly from Berlin to Krakow last year and we were very unimpressed. This time, however, everything about the journey went right. We got excellent passenger assistance at Birmingham Airport. Our Ryan Air flight departed and arrived on time, so we were in Dublin less than an hour after leaving Birmingham. There was even a little victory tune as soon as we hit the ground and an announcement that we were on one of the many Ryan Air flights to arrive and depart on time. We had no difficulty getting Peter's wheelchair on the flight, and because we had prearranged this, it was taken for free and was there waiting for us when we got off. So this time ten out of ten for Ryan Air.

We got excellent passenger assistance when we arrived in Dublin Airport. We were taken right to the Dublin Express bus stop where we bought two return tickets to Aston Quay. On the journey we got talking to a man from Birmingham who had also travelled to Dublin in a wheelchair using passenger assistance. He told us his mother was originally from Cork and that he planned to be in Dublin for a week, including making a visit to the seaside.

At Aston Quay I was a bit confused about which way to go, as I am totally rubbish at understanding maps. We were staying for three nights in The Blooms Hotel in the Temple Bar Area. In fact the hotel was only a couple of minutes walk away from the bus stop, but I took us too far and ended up giving Peter a tour of the Temple Bar area while trying to find our hotel.

Blooms Hotel takes its name from the James Joyce novel 'Ulysses' and the hotel is covered with brightly coloured paintings of the main characters in the novel.

Leopold Bloom, Buck Mulligan, Blazes Boylan.

Leopold Bloom, Buck Mulligan.

Molly Bloom.

We checked in and the receptionist was very helpful and kind. He escorted us to our room, because I had Peter in a wheelchair and luggage to manage. The room was comfortable and clean. It had a walk-in shower, a safe and a kettle. The bed was very comfortable. I found out that the kettle, which was kind of weird and built into a tray, took forever to boil, so I went down to reception and told them this and they brought us another faster kettle.

Our room.

After a reviving cup of coffee, I went out in the drizzle to do a bit of sightseeing. Peter didn't want to come with me and chose to rest until dinner time. I began with another quick wander around The Temple Bar area.

The Temple Bar area takes its name from British diplomat, Sir William Temple, who built a huge house with expansive gardens here in the early 1600s. However by the eighteenth century this area had sunk into decline and was largely filled with rowdy bars and brothels. In the 1990's a private company came up with a proposal to tear down most of the historic buildings in Temple Bar and build a bus station there instead. While this proposal was being considered, the historic buildings were leased out at very low rents and many artists and other creative types flocked into the area. The bus station proposal was rejected and money was spent on revitalizing this area instead. Nowadays Temple Bar is Dublin's nightlife and cultural centre. It is filled with bars and restaurants. Many of these, however, are very expensive and the area appeals more to tourists than to locals.

Of the many many bars here, tourists are particularly attracted to a pub called Temple Bar; I think largely because of its name and a mistaken belief that it must have given its name to the area. This historic bar dates from 1840 and is constantly surrounded by people taking photos. It's supposed to have a huge selection of whiskies, beers and sandwiches. I didn't go inside, but found this pub quite photogenic from the outside.

The Temple Bar.

The Temple Bar.

The Temple Bar.

There were lots of other bars, restaurants, arty farty shops and theatres here. This area was incredibly lively at night.

The Old Mill Restaurant.

Outside a restaurant.

The Whiskey Reserve.

Nine Crows Vintage Clothes Shop.

The former Church of Saints Michael and John.

There was also lots of beautiful street art all around this area.

Street art.

Street art.

Street art.

Street art.

Street art.

Street art.

Street art.

Next, I decided to go away from the River Liffey and explore Dame Street on the southern edge of Temple Bar. I passed some interesting buildings on route including Dublin City Hall and Dublin Castle.

Dublin City Hall.

Dublin Castle and Newcomen bank.

Allied Irish Bank.

"Millennium Child" sculpture by John Behan.

I walked along Dame Street as far as Christ Church Cathedral.

Christ Church Cathedral is the oldest cathedral in Dublin and dates back to around 1030 when it was founded during the reign of the Viking King Sitric Silkenbeard. Then in the twelfth century it was rebuilt in stone when the Norman potentate, Strongbow, was in power. Parts of the cathedral fell down in the sixteenth century and it wasn't rebuilt into its current form until the nineteenth century. It might have been nice to have a look inside, but entrance cost around twelve Euros. Considering it is a religious building,and you should be able to go inside to pray, I wasn't impressed by this and didn't go inside at all. However the building with its tower and footbridge was attractive from the outside. There was a statue of a down and out called 'Homeless Jesus' on the bench in front of the cathedral.

Christchurch Cathedral.

Christchurch Cathedral.

Cathedral and footbridge.

Footbridge.

'Homeless Jesus' sculpture by Canadian artist Timothy Schmalz.

I knew that if I changed direction and went further away from the river, I would come to Saint Patrick's Cathedral, so I did that next. There was an attractive park next to this cathedral. I photographed the cathedral building from there and didn't even look at how much it was to go inside, but looking it up online now it seems to be around eleven Euros.

Saint Patrick's Cathedral.

Saint Patrick's Cathedral.

According to legend this cathedral is built on the site of an ancient well, which was used by Saint Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland, to baptise people. The cathedral itself dates back to around 1220.

There's an interesting story connected to the cathedral. In 1492 two families, the Butlers and the FitzGeralds became embroiled in a bitter feud. Tempers were close to boiling point, so the Butler Family, fearing for their lives, fled and sought sanctuary inside the Chapter House of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. When they had calmed down a bit, the FitzGerald family came to the cathedral and tried to get the Butlers to come out and agree to a truce. Fearing that they would be killed, the Butlers refused to move, so Gerald, the head of the Fitzgerald family, cut a hole in the Chapter House door and stuck his arm through it. The Butlers seeing that Gerald was willing to risk the damage they may do to his arm, shook hands with him and the dispute was over. This incident is said to be the origin of the phrase “to chance your arm.”

From here I decided to walk to Saint Stephen's Green. The area I walked through was mainly residential and not very touristy. Saint Stephen's Green is a park with a lot of statues and an interesting history. It takes its name from a hospital for lepers which used to be nearby and which was dedicated to Saint Stephen.

Map of Saint Stephen's Green.

Map of Saint Stephen's Green.

Until 1663 Saint Stephen's Green was a marshy common on the outskirts of Dublin. Locals brought their animals here to graze. Then Dublin Corporation decided to fence off the common and build houses around it. For many years access to the common was only available to those who lived around it. Then in 1877 Sir A.E. Guinness, a member of the Guinness brewing family, managed to get the park opened up to the general public once more and paid to have it redesigned more or less to the way it is today. There's a statue of Sir A.E. Guinness in the park.

Sir Arthur Edward Guinness.

Saint Stephen's Green played a part in The Easter Risings of 1916 and although I am not an expert in Irish history, I'll attempt to explain The Easter Rising and why it occurred. Apologies if I get anything wrong. Irish history is certainly complex.

The Act of Union in 1801 joined the whole of Ireland to Britain, creating the country The United Kingdom of Britain and Ireland. However, not everyone in Ireland was happy about this. Many people, especially those belonging to the majority Catholic population, wanted Ireland to be an independent country. This led to several uprisings against British rule, especially during times of great hardship, such as during famines or periods of mass emigration.

The Easter Rising of 1916 took place at a time when Britain was fighting in the First World War. The Irish hoped that the British would be too caught up in the war to put down the rebellion. In fact the leaders of the rebellion, working on the principle the enemy of my enemy is my friend, had met up with members of the German government and were promised a consignment of arms from them to help fight against the British.

In my opinion The Easter Rising was almost certainly doomed to failure right from the start for a number of reasons. One, the Protestants in the north of the country were completely against independence and wanted to stay part of The United Kingdom. Two, even among the Catholic majority there was no consensus about independence. Some people wanted total independence; others wanted to stay part of The United Kingdom but have improved powers and rights. There was also no consensus about the timing of the rebellion. Three, the leaders of the rebellion were paranoid that the British would find out about it in advance, so kept almost all information about it top secret. This resulted in those taking part in the rebellion having limited knowledge about what was actually going on. In addition to all of this, the British knew about the arms that were being sent to Ireland, because they had intercepted encrypted messages about them and they blew up the ship that was bringing them from Germany. Finally, the British greatly outnumbered the Irish population and were able to send huge numbers of reinforcements to quell any uprisings that may occur.

However, although the British did manage to quell the rebellion, they suffered many casualties, a lot more than was suffered by the Irish. This made the British furious and resulted in them committing several atrocities. One such incident was known as the North King Street Massacre in which sixteen civilian men and boys were falsely accused of taking part in the rebellion and were brutally murdered by British soldiers. The leaders of the rebellion were taken to Kilmainham Jail and shot, which also shocked a lot of people.

While these acts of revenge were meant to cow the Irish and stop them from rebelling, they had the exact opposite effect. They simply led to more and more Catholics sympathising with the rebels and being willing to fight for independence. Southern Ireland eventually became independent from Britain in 1922, though the Protestant north did not.

So what exactly happened on Saint Stephen's Green? Well, around two hundred to two hundred and fifty Irish fighters blocked off roads around the green and dug trenches in the park to fight the British soldiers. They expected the British to approach them at ground level from the nearby British barracks. Instead of doing this, the British took over the Shelbourne Hotel which overlooked the park. From this vantage point they could shoot the Irish soldiers waiting in the trenches below. This forced the Irish soldiers who weren't gunned down to retreat to The Royal College of Surgeons on the west side of the park.

The only pleasant part of this story is that apparently at one point in the fighting both sides agreed to halt hostilities to allow a groundsman to feed the ducks on the ponds of Saint Stephen's Green!!

Nowadays there are still ducks in the ponds on Saint Stephen's Green and a bridge called O'Connell Bridge which stretches across the middle of the ponds.

Bridge.

Pond.

Pond.

Duck.

There are also lots of flower beds. These were looking a bit flooded as there had been torrential rain overnight and much of the morning. We had managed to just miss this. The flooded flower beds were covered with seagulls.

Flooded flower beds.

Flooded flower beds.

Flooded flower beds.

As you walk around Saint Stephen's Green, you are of course surrounded by greenery, but I was surprised to see that some trees were already looking autumnal.

Saint Stephen's Green.

Saint Stephen's Green.

Autumnal tree.

There are many monuments in Saint Stephen's Park such as a Fusiliers Arch, which commemorates the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who died in the Second Boer War.

The Fusiliers Arch.

Another monument is the Three Fates Fountain, which was a gift from the German people to thank the Irish for taking in German children as refugees during World War II.

The Three Fates.

Then there's the W. B. Yeats memorial garden with a sculpture by Henry Moore.

W.B. Yeats Memorial.

Another bust depicts the famous Irish writer, James Joyce. I've never actually read anything by him. Perhaps I should.

James Joyce.

There's a memorial to the Fenian leader (apparently that's an organisation and not an insult) Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, who continued to fight for Irish independence after being exiled to The United States.

Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa Memorial.

A bronze statue depicts Theobald Wolfe Tone, the leader of the 1798 rebellion.

Wolfe Tone.

Just behind this, there's a memorial to the Great Famine of 1845–1850 by Edward Delaney.

Memorial to The Great Famine.

Memorial to The Great Famine.

There's a bust of Countess Constance Markievicz. She was one of the fighters here during The Easter Rising. Markievicz was an Irish revolutionary nationalist politician, suffragist and socialist. She was also the first woman elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Countess Constance Markievicz.

There's a statue of Robert Emmet, an Irish Republican, orator and rebel leader.

Robert Emmet.

I also found a memorial bust of war poet, Thomas Kettle and of another poet called James Clarence Mangan.

Thomas Kettle, Irish poet.

James Clarence Mangan, Irish poet.

Oh and speaking of poets, there's also a bust of Bengal Renaissance poet Rabindranath Tagore.

Rabindranath Tagore.

Finally there's a gardener's cottage, bandstand and ornate shelter.

The Gardener's Cottage.

Flowers.

Bandstand.

Shelter.

When I had finished wandering around Saint Stephen's Green, I headed back towards the hotel. I saw the mansion house, which has been home to the Lord Mayor of Dublin since 1715. Next to the mansion there was a very fancy looking restaurant called The Fire Steakhouse. I also passed by Hodges Figgis Book Shop, the Lady Grattan Drinking Fountain and a hairdressers I liked the look of for some reason. My friend Pat had strongly recommended the book shop, but I didn't have time to go in. Hodges Figgis dates back to 1768, making it the oldest book shop in Ireland. The Lady Grattan Fountain was presented to the people of Dublin by Lady Laura Grattan, daughter-in-law of politician and patriot, Henry Grattan, (I found his statue next day) at a time when running water was supplied to only a small number of houses in the city.

The Mansion House.

Fire Steakhouse Restaurant.

Hodges Figgis Bookshop.

Lady Grattan drinking fountain.

The Salon.

Back at the hotel, we had vouchers for a free drink in The Vat House, which was the hotel pub, so we went there and had a lovely meal. I had a delicious Irish stew and Peter had a cheese board. There was a live band playing. The atmosphere was really pleasant and we had a very enjoyable evening. I liked that every table had hats to try on. I do love a good hat.

The Vat House Bar.

Live band.

Life is better in a hat.

What a handsome young man!

Looking very dapper.

My Irish stew.

Peter's cheeseboard.

After dinner, I had a quick walk around the Temple Bar area again to see what it was like at night. It was extremely crowded. Most of the bars had live music on. The atmosphere was good or at least it was in the early evening before people got too drunk.

The Oliver St John Gogarty.

The Oliver St John Gogarty.

The Auld Dubliner.

Irish pub.

Irish pub.

Enjoy an Irish coffee.

Guinness black cannot be turned white.

Some buildings were very nicely lit up and colourful.

Night-time buildings.

Night-time street.

Building in Temple Bar.

The famous Temple Bar Pub was absolutely covered everywhere in tiny lights. Again it was surrounded by people taking pictures.

The Temple Bar at night.

The Temple Bar at night.

I walked down to the river and admired The Ha'penny Bridge. Before this was built there were seven ferries which crossed the River Liffey. These were operated by a man called William Walsh and were in very poor condition and Walsh was told to either repair them or build a bridge across the river. Walsh chose to build a bridge. It was constructed in Shropshire, England and was delivered to Ireland in parts, then reconstructed across the Liffey in 1816. Walsh had the right to charge a ha'penny toll from anyone crossing it for the next hundred years. This toll was finally dropped in 1919.

Halfpenny Bridge.

I walked along to The O'Connell Bridge. This has a busy road chocabloc with traffic crossing it and leads to O'Connell Street on the other side of the river.

O'Connell Bridge.

I noticed a very noisy seagull on the fence by the water and stopped to photograph it.

Seagull by the Liffey.

On my way back home I stumbled upon Icon Alley which contained street art depicting famous Irish people. I didn't recognize everyone there, but I knew some of the musicians such as Sinead O'Connor, Bob Geldof and Thin Lizzy.

Icon Alley.

Sinead O'Connor.

Shane MacGowan.

Thin Lizzy.

Bob Geldof.

I also loved the images of Father Ted, as I find this show really funny.

Father Ted.

Father Ted.

There were also lots of images of famous Irish writers and a list of their works, plus famous quotes from them. These included: Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett and Sean O'Casey.

Oscar Wilde.

George Bernard Shaw.

Samuel Beckett.

Sean O'Casey.

Back home I could hear the music from a bar in our room, but I didn't find it annoying, instead I found it quite pleasant to listen to and it didn't go on too late. We both slept well.