The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
IRELAND BECKONS GET THE MOST FROM A TRIP TO EMERALD ISLE
Ireland is replete with stories, history, warm welcomes.
DUBLIN — The week before St. Patrick’s Day found us at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a structure as fascinating historically as it is awe-inspiring spiritually. We planned our vacation to coincide with our 20th anniversary, rather than the holiday celebrated in America with green beer and shamrock gear, but it made for serendipitous timing.
“Ireland is an island of stories,” Patrick O’Donovan, Ireland’s minister of state for tourism and sport, said during a Tourism Ireland event hosted by the Atlanta Press Club at the St. Regis three days before our trip. (Talk about luck of the Irish.) “There’s a traditional saying, ‘Cead Mile Failte,’ which means ‘100,000 welcomes.’ That’s how you’ll be welcomed.”
He wasn’t kidding and it’s impossible to overstate what a wonderful trip this was. With the festive occasion upon us tomorrow, it seemed like a good time to offer some tidbits to ponder should your travels take you to the Emerald Isle.
The castles rock
We spent time in three castles and viewed others from a distance, without much effort or travel time involved. Dublin Castle, in the middle of town, was the epicenter of British rule from 1204 until 1922, the year of Irish independence. It got its start as a medieval fortress under King John, and is built on the site of an earlier Viking settlement. The guided tour is an informative bargain at 10 euros; you’ll be squired down into a subterranean level to view what once was the front door, so to speak (a correct password got you through the castle gate; the wrong one got you pitched down the steps).
Benjamin Franklin, Queen Victoria, Charles Dickens, Nelson Mandela and Queen Elizabeth II are among the notables to have visited, and the grand occasion rooms reflect centuries of pomp. An Abraham Stoker once worked there as a civil servant but found it tedious, our guide said. Bram Stoker, as he was better known, later tried his hand at gothic fiction and had a better go of that.
Clontarf Castle is about a 15-minute cab ride from downtown, near where the forces of Brian Boru, high king of Ireland, battled the Vikings during the 1014 Battle of Clontarf. Team Brian prevailed but the king was slain as he knelt in prayer. There’s been a castle at the site since 1172, and the current structure, dating to 1837, is now a hotel. We dined in Fahrenheit, the main restaurant, and had cocktails in the Knights Bar, both memorable experiences that weren’t too pricey. Dinner was about $130 and our bar tab was about $13. Note: We found few places took American Express, and almost no cabs accepted credit cards at all. You can withdraw cash at any ATM; transaction and exchange fees vary by your bank. When we were there, the dollar-to-euro exchange rate was pretty close ($1 = .94 euro).
Trim Castle, about an hour by bus in County Meath, dates to the 1170s. The largest Norman castle in Ireland, it was once owned by Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington. More recently, it and the town surrounding the castle grounds served as filming locations for the 1995 Mel Gibson film “Braveheart.” Remember the scene where King Edward throws the guy out the window? Take the guided tour for 10 euros and you’ll see that window. There are any number of bus and train excursions available. We took a Bus Éireann coach from the Dublin-Busaras station and back again for less than $40 combined.
Go Vikings
As first-time visitors to Ireland, we felt woefully uneducated about the country’s rich Viking history. There’s a particularly fine collection of items on exhibit at the National Museum of Ireland — Archaeology. Admission is free. Dublinia, housed in a section of Christ Church, offers interactive exhibits young visitors might enjoy. It’s 9.5 euros for adults and 6 for kids. Or just walk around and keep your eyes open. There are plaques along the sidewalks representing where items such as coins, utensils or longboats have been unearthed.
The weather is damp and the humor is dry
“How many potatoes does it take to kill an Irishman? None!” cracked our tour guide at the Little Museum of Dublin, mining the Great Famine (1845-1852) for comic fodder. “Too soon?”
Pointing out a photo of President John F. Kennedy’s 1963 visit to Dublin, he noted the president’s open-top limousine, “lulling him into a false sense of security.”
At the Tourism Ireland seminar, a guy touting Belfast noted it’s where the Titanic was built and mused that when the doomed ship left Ireland’s shores, “it was working fine.”
It’s hard to imagine, here in trigger-warning America, someone joking about the Great Depression, Kennedy’s assassination or the Titanic sinking. But the gallows humor felt very much in sync with what appeared to be a near-universal spirit of self-deprecation. Nearly everyone we met seemed to apologize for something, usually the weather. Speaking of weather, pack an umbrella, raincoat and shoes you don’t mind getting wet, as it’ll probably rain while you’re there. The frequent drizzle, though, makes the sunny days all the more glorious.
A few odds and ends
2016 was a year of commemoration of the 1916 Easter Rising, a revolt against British rule. Rebel leaders were executed (one, who could not stand, was tied to a chair and put to death by firing squad), which galvanized support for Irish independence. The next yearlong celebration might be in 2022, coming 100 years after the end of British rule in the Republic of Ireland. (Northern Ireland is still part of the United Kingdom and uses the pound as currency.)
Oh, and St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland whose use of the shamrock to illustrate the holy trinity made the three-leaf symbol one of history’s most iconic, apparently wasn’t born in Ireland. According to a confession he is said to have written, he was born in the English county of Northamptonshire and brought to Ireland in bondage. His faith blossomed amid the adversity. He did make it back to England, but he returned to the Emerald Isle as a missionary and introduced Christianity to Ireland, starting about A.D. 450. (The business about the snakes is folklore.)
A place of worship has probably existed on the site of St. Patrick’s Cathedral for more than 1,000 years, according to the institution’s history. Its present structure, dating from 1220-1259, is located at the site of an ancient well where St. Patrick is said to have baptized converts.
If green beer and raucous revelry aren’t your thing, consider reading Patrick’s reputed words tomorrow as a sort of historical devotion. It’s available online via the Royal Irish Academy website (confessio.ie).
“My name is Patrick,” it begins. “I am a sinner, a simple country person, and the least of all believers. I am looked down upon by many.”