Ireland-The Emerald Isle: Day 5 Monday, May 24

Saraigheann eagnacht gach saibhreas

"Wisdom excels all riches"

Did you Know: J, K, Q, V, W, X, Y, and Z are not used in the Irish alphabet, which only has 18 letters!

Did you Know: Ireland has the hightest per-capita rate of tea consumption in the world; drinking tea is such a part of daily life that every pub is required, by law, to provide it. YET, we have not been able to get a glass of iced tea anywhere!!!!

Just in case I have not mentioned it, I am deeply in LOVE with this beautiful Emerald Isle!

We got a bit of a late start today. One of us (not me) needed to catch up on some sleep! We bought an all day ticket to the Hop On Hop Off GREEN bus. If you are ever here, be sure you get on the green bus line. As we got on the driver was telling me that the Red line was Crop, Crop, Crop Crop! I thought that perhaps he was a scrapbooker until I realized he was saying Crap, crap, crap! Anyway--we were on the good bus, with massive doses of Irish humor all day long. We had a list of stops we wanted to make, but only ended up with time enough to see Trinity College (the book of Kells) and Dublin Castle. Not enough time here in Dublin, I am afraid. We'll hit it earlier tomorrow!

Our first stop this morning was Trintiy College, for a tour and a stop to view the Book of Kells. A young lady named Aoife (pronounced Effa) was our guide. As all Irish she was very humorous, but also very intelligent, being a student at Trinity herself. Only the brightest can qualify to get into Trinity.

Trinity is a huge campus, housing several squares. This beautiful building on the left is on the main square. Trinity was established in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I. The location was on a former monastery, which Queen Elizabeth abolished. The monks, not liking this at all, cursed the area under the bell tower arch. Girls will not walk under it for fear they will not graduate. Our guide said she, being highly intelligent did not believe in such superstition, but, she did choose to walk around the tower as we walked under it! She said her roommate from her first year walked under the tower, and is no longer a student there either!
You would not believe the library at Trinity, something the Emerald Isle is very proud of. Thousands of ancient books. Each and every page must be dusted once a year! Students complete this task. The library houses the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript of the 4 gospels. Absolutely stunning. No pictures allowed, but I did buy postcards for my scrapbook! The book has a great story of its own, but there is still so much to tell about today! One tragedy did happen at the college that I must share. There was a strict, difficult professor named Edward Ford. The students decided to pester him by throwing stones at his windows on his campus room. He retaliated with a gun. Students then got their own guns. Edward was shot and died 2 hours later. The college expelled the students--duh! it was Murder! But the courts acquitted them because it was a harmless student prank gone bad. It is said that Edward now haunts the dorms, locking the students in at night! The college finally allowed girls to attend the school. Smart move...the last 2 presidents of Ireland have been women, and when the second one's term is over, women will have been in leadership for 21 years! My kind of country! Love that Emerald Isle!

I did get my first taste of traditional Irish Fish n' Chips from a lovely walk-in, highly recommended place named, "Burdocks"! Phil and I could have split one order and had leftovers! Although the grease soaked through the newsprint and brown bag it was served in, it was absolutely delicious! We took it back to eat in Dublin castle courtyard while waiting for our tour. The castle was built by King John in 1204--the King John of Robinhood story fame! It was all but destroyed by fire in 1684 but parts are being excavated and one original tower remains. A Georgian palace was built on top of the castle and is beautiful. Slowly it is being restored as well. For 700 years the palace was the center of British Rule in Ireland but that ended in 1922 with Irish Independence. During WWI the palace served as a Red Cross Hospital.

Now, the beautiful blue and gold ballroom receives dignitaries, is the location for the presidential inauguration, as well as other government ceremonies. The throne room has not been used since King George the 5th in 1911.
Legend has it that King George IV cared little for his wife. He was a great enemy of Napoleon. When visiting the castle he was told that his great enemy was now dead. His reply, "When did SHE die?" I told you, the Irish have a story or joke for EVERYTHING. Our bus driver on the way home changed his name every time we stopped and new people got on! He also told us the story of the Arthur Guiness, of Guiness brewery fame, who fathered 21 children. He said at night, when climbing into bed he would gently nudge his slightly deaf wife and ask her if she were asleep, or what? Being deaf, she would say, "What?" Thus...21 children! No headaches for her!

Ballroom of the Dublin Castle.
Tonight's dinner was unbelievable. We were bussed to Dublin College, where on our path to O'Reilly Hall we were greeted by numerous bagpipers. Then, after walking the red carpet, we were greeted by young men in traditional Irish garb, holding their Irish wolfhounds. After cocktails, trumpets called us into dinner. The evening finished with Irish entertainment of dancers and singing. Hope to post pictures now, if not, tomorrow! It has been a long day, and we still have much to see tomorrow, our last day in Dublin. St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Kilmainham Goal (old jail) and much more if we can find the time.