A Day in Dublin: A free walking tour and the Guinness Brewery
We arrive in Dublin and head to Kinlay House. We are offered a free tour before we even open the door to our room. I like free stuff, and Michael likes tours, so of course we say yes. Ten minutes later, we’re on a walking tour of the town.
Dublin Castle
Our first stop is Dublin Castle. It is a pretty castle with a long history. It is on the site of an early Gaelic Ring Fort and a Viking Fortress. From 1204 to 1922, it is the seat of English (and then British) rule. Handed to the Irish in 1922, it now serves as a government building.
But Dublin Castle is more famous for the Irish Crown Jewels stolen from the Bedford Tower on 6 July 1907. The Ulster King of Arms, responsible for keeping them safe, did not know where they were or who stole them. No one has ever found out what happened. Jewels linked to an elite aristocracy called the Order of St Patrick, founded in 1783 and valued at several million Euros, are still missing over 100 hundred years later, with no leads and no clue where to find them.
We left the Castle square, Lady Justice beckoning us farewell as walk under her arch.
The State Apartment Lego wall
The outside walls of the castle are now in front of us. To the left of the Chapel is the Records Tower, dating from 1204-28 and one of the oldest structures in Dublin. Then, looking to the left, we see the classical architecture of the State Apartments and then something looks wrong. Very wrong. But also very colourful. Some of the walls of the State Apartments are stuccoed and painted in bright colours, resembling Lego blocks. Our tour guide tells us how locals are proud of their Lego castle and its medieval walls and how it is unique, unlike any other country. Unique, yes. Brilliant? I’m not so sure.
Looking down on the lawn underneath our feet, we see strange markings like thin paths. As it turns out, they are not paths but a Viking pattern representing a knot.
The naming of Dublin
The lawn we are standing on was once the site of a black tidal pool filled by the River Puddle that flowed through the pool and into the River Liffey. The name Dublin stems from the Irish for black pool, Dubh Linn.
From Vikings to Normans
The black pool is also why Dublin is where it is today. The river banks of the River Puddle provided a clear view of the countryside and a great place to set up camp. When the Vikings invaded in 831 AD, they took advantage and settled between the Puddley and Liffey rivers. Even though their settlement grew, they fought often with the Irish, and the Irish became their overlords.
In 1167, the Vikings helped Roderic O’Connor to drive their overlord, Dermot MacMurrough, into exile. He returned with an army from Wales and retook Dublin. (A man nicknamed Strongbow was influential in this fight. Bulmer celebrated and named a popular drink after him).
King Henry II from England popped over fairly quickly to check they were happy to follow his rule. They were, and they ruled Dublin as a small walled town surviving sieges, uprisings and the Black Death. Dublin chose to support the protestant movement during the Reformation and welcomed Oliver Cromwell when he visited in 1649. By the end of the Cromwell era, the town only had 9000 inhabitants and all the beautiful buildings had been decimated.
This was when Dublin fired into action. The city began to prosper with support from French and Flemish immigrant traders.
To an independent Ireland
All wasn’t as it seemed. In 1695, the Irish parliament passed the Penal Laws. These laws made the Catholics and Presbyterians, most of the population, poor and unhappy. So unhappy they rebelled. England decided the best way to deal with the problem was to create a union between Great Britain (England and Scotland) and Ireland. They called it the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (a catchy name) and dissolved the Irish Parliament. With no politics (and therefore no power), all the rich protestant folks returned to London, leaving Dublin to the poor and unhappy Catholics and Presbyterians.
Unsurprisingly, Dubin declined quickly and dramatically. An Irish Catholic lawyer called Dan O’Connell repealed the Penal Laws and became the first Catholic mayor in a long time. (People worldwide later celebrated his name by creating a series of pubs, but he probably wasn’t thinking about that then). The Catholic rebels took advantage of World War I to claim independence for a week in a famous event called the Easter Rising.
They were rounded up swiftly, paraded down the streets and executed. This just managed to upset the Catholics more, and a group of people called the Irish Republican Army (IRA) started a guerilla war against the government. After years of bloody wars, a negotiated treaty created an Irish Free State, eventually becoming the Ireland we know today. County Ulster in the north didn’t want to join, so they became Northern Ireland and stayed with Great Britain.
Christ Church Cathedral
Enough of the history chat. We were now standing in front of Christ Church Cathedral. Built during Strongbow’s reign, it is the largest cathedral crypt in Britain.
The Cathedral’s denomination is the Church of Ireland, which tries to combine Catholicism and Anglicism.
Uniquely, the cathedral is also one of two cathedrals in Dublin. It shares responsibility with St Patrick’s Cathedral, built in 1191.
One of the interesting exhibits in the Christ Church Cathedral is a mummified cat and mouse. One day, a cat chased a mouse into the pipe organ. That cat got stuck and died. The mouse then couldn’t get out. It also died. So they mummified them.
The River Liffey
We leave the cathedral and cross the Liffey River twice.
Liffey Bridge, a pedestrian bridge, is widely known as Ha’penny Bridge. In the early 1800s, William Walsh managed (poorly) a fleet of ferries for transporting people across the river. Given a choice between fixing his poorly maintained fleet and building a bridge, he built a bridge. He could charge a ha’penny per pedestrian for 100 years. The toll operated from 1816 to 1919.
The O’Connell Bridge is a vehicular bridge. There is nothing special about the bridge itself, but at one end of the bridge is a plaque paying tribute to Father Pat Noise. According to the plaque, Father Pat Noise died under suspicious circumstances when his carriage plunged into the Liffey on 10 August 1919. The funny thing is, Father Pat Noise never existed.
Trinity College
We continue to Trinity College, one of the seven ancient universities of Great Britain and Ireland. According to tradition, if you walk under the Campanile and the bell rings, you will fail your annual exams. Also, according to tradition, if you climb to the top without a lecturer shooting you with an arrow, you will automatically pass your exams.
St Stephen’s Green
We continue to our final stop and are welcomed by the William Theobald Wolfe Tone statue. A leader of the Republican movement (and Trinity College student), William helped to take control of Dublin during the Easter uprising. He was hanged for his efforts. Tradition dictates that manhandling his private parts gets you good luck.
The Guinness Brewery
Less starving after a superb pub lunch, we spend the rest of the day at the Guinness Brewery.
Beer needs water, and it needs good water. The water from the Wicklow mountains is so pure that in 1759, Sir Arthur Guinness signed a 9000-year brewery lease to guarantee his water supply. Guinness is now brewed in several countries across the world, and about 40% is brewed and sold in Africa.
A self-guided tour takes you through several floors of history and brewing techniques, finishing at the Gravity Bar, the highest bar in Dublin. For those who make it that far, a free Guinness and some Irish good luck await. We were lucky enough to make it that far.
