When I looked at the map this morning, I realized that the things left that I want to see are on the opposite side of the city. Specifically, I wanted to go out to Poolbeg Lighthouse and then all the way across town to Phoenix Park. Based on all the walking I had already done, I was not going to do it on these legs.
But walk I must so walk I did. I had not gone east down along the Liffey and this was a brilliantly sunny day. I passed the Custom House which is a massive building that was built around 1790. Like a few buildings North of the Liffey, it was gutted by fire during the 1921 independence battles.
Next along the way was the Jeanie Johnston. The Jeanie Johnston is an exact replica of what was known as a “coffin ship”. When the famine hit Ireland in 1845, the country was devastated. Basically, the potato crop failed and the country continued to export any other food stuff so people in the nation starved. Some people would actually commit crimes just to go to jail so they could get fed.
With food scarce, mass emigration began. Many of those people went to America. The ships taking people out of the country
were known as “coffin ships” because so many people died on them. On a positive note, the Jeanie Johnston made
sixteen trips and lost ZERO people.
At first I was skeptical of taking a tour of a facsimile ship
but I am glad I did. The tour guide was really
passionate about the topic and they have a project where they are trying to
trace what happened to every person who traveled on the ship. For the most part, my family is
English/French/German/ Scotch (I know, it’s probably Scot but my family did
drink a lot of scotch). However, I am determined to find some Irish after this boat
tour and this trip.
So, what happened to the original ship? She went down at sea with sixteen people on
board… and all sixteen were rescued by a passing ship.
Next to the Jeanie Johnston is the Famine Memorial. It is a haunting and visual reminder of what
happened to the country in those years. The
sculpture is seven stickly figures slowly moving along the Docklands. About one million people died in Ireland and
another million set sail for better hopes.
By 1890, two of every five Irish-born people were living abroad. From the
1840s onwards, so many Irish emigrated that Ireland claims over seventy million
people scattered across the globe are direct descendants from this diaspora.
I was still determined to see Poolbeg Lighthouse. I don’t know why. I did not see any pictures of it to draw me
to it. I just felt like I had to see the
Irish Coast. So I continued down the
docks.
While there are a few modern buildings up along the way,
there are still quite a few old ones that used to house pubs or be used for
goods transfers. If you squint, you can
see the hustle and bustle of the docks in the early twentieth century.
I made it all the way down to the East Wall Road and
O2. O2 was where Rihanna played Friday
(see notes from Thursday). At this point
I peered down the road and did not see any lighthouse. Wisdom overran ambition and I turned around.
The East Wall Road and Phoenix Park are three miles
about. I had seen most everything in between
so I was not walking that again. I used
public transportation for the one and only time and rode the LUAS. The LUAS is Dublin’s light rail system and it
goes from The Point to Saggart or Tallaght.
At least this line did. It was
nice to view the city streets from a seat and soon I was at Phoenix Park.
Why did I want to go to Phoenix Park? Well, for starters, it is Dublin’s equivalent
of New York’s Central Park or San Francisco’ Golden Gate Park. Except that it is over twice the size of
Central Park and larger than all of London’s major parks combined. It’s massive.
No, I was not going to walk Phoenix Park.
I had seen the Wellington Monument from The Royal Hospital
earlier in the trip and I wanted to see Dublin’s Zoo. They are both in Phoenix Park. So is the Irish President’s residence as well
as the United States Ambassador’s house.
I didn’t so much want to see these.
The Park used to be the lands of the Knights of Jerusalem. Much of the good land in Ireland was part of
the church. When Henry VIII dissolved the
monasteries, the lands went to the crown.
Under the Duke of Ormonde, Phoenix Park was a royal deer park. Finally, in 1745, Lord Chesterfield (he of cigarette fame?) opened
the park to the public.
By the time I got to the Dublin Zoo I was pretty much walked
out. I did the mandatory lap and saw the
animals. They had a baby hippo. Their African preserve area is nice. They have a large heard of giraffes. They had the usual lot of animals. It was nice to see not everything was stuffed or mummified in Ireland.
I left the zoo and headed over to Wellington Monument. The Tower looks like a shorter, fatter
version of the Washington Monument. Then
I buzzed out of the park and expected to jump the LUAS, again, but felt obligated
to check out the Collins Barracks.
The Collins Barracks are known more formally as the National
History Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts and History. The building was built in 1704 by the British
to house the British Army. And it did until
1922 when Ireland won their independence.
Britain turned the barracks over to the Irish government and it was
renamed in Michael Collins’ honor.
I did not go inside.
I was losing the day and my next stop was more important. I continued to walk my way back to the heart
of the city and to the Old Jameson Distillery.
Well, this entry is getting long and I’m not sure what else
you can say about another booze tour.
The original Jameson distillery was on this site. The tour takes you through a cardboard-like replica, including a stuffed
cat. You
get a free shot of Jameson at the end. I
was selected for the whiskey tasting so I got two free shots of Jameson at the
end plus one of Jack Daniel’s and one of Johnny Walker Red (for
comparison). I felt compelled to have an
Irish coffee after that which led to some questionable purchases at the Jameson
store (Merry Christmas, someone!).
It was suppertime so I moved onto The Church to get
supper. They claim the church is one of
Dublin’s top attractions. I guess the
opportunity to dine among the dead does not come up often. The restaurant is not in the Old St. Mary's Church but IS the old St.
Mary’s Church. The whole thing - the pipe organ, upper
deck pews, and wall memorials.
Supposedly, Handel used to practice on that organ. The food was good and the dining experience
excellent. They had some live music by
the bar and that was good, too.
From The Church I wandered home. It was decision time – do I pub crawl my way
through Dublin on my last day or do I take a coach tour out into the
countryside? I had also not seen a
number of famous dead writer’s houses but I figured you’ve seen one dead writer’s
house, you’ve seen them all. So, that was
out.
I sent an e-mail to Mary Gibbon’s Tours (recommended by
Lonely Planet). We’ll see if I can get
on a bus tomorrow and see Ireland’s Stone Henge…
No comments:
Post a Comment