May 5, 2011--History and Relics of Ireland

Today, I decided I wanted to explore the National Museum of Ireland: Archeology and History. This museum contains artifacts from archeology finds throughout the country believed to be back as far as 5,000 B.C. Even if the dating is inaccurate, the objects and articles are fascinating.

I tried to view the items in a somewhat chronological order. The first were from the stone age, and several objects made from stone, including axes and hammers, as well as stone beads were displayed.

Next was the bronze age, when men began to use metals, and shape them into useful and decorative objects. 

This museum had a display of objects taken from the Hill of Tara, which I visited yesterday. Below is a model of what an aerial view of the Hill looks like. 

These are some of the many artifacts found in the Mound of the Hostages at the Hill of Tara. These were all contained in graves of people.

This was gold jewelry discovered in various parts of Ireland believed to be from the Bronze Age in Ireland, approximately 1200 to 1000 B.C.

Close up of the one of the necklaces above.

 Close up of a bracelet in the display in the first picture above.

 Close up of the jewelry from the second photo above, the far right piece.

 The next few exhibits were of men found in the Irish peat bogs. The bogs are a natural preservative, mainly because no oxygen is in them to deteriorate specimens. This is the real hair of one man found in a bog.

Another man from another bog. He looked like leather, but other than being flat, he was intact.

 Close up of his head and hair.

 Close up of a hand of another bog man--his fingernails were still intact!

Wide view of the above. He had been decapitated and cut in half.

 View from the top where the head would've been attached.












After my museum adventure, we met up at O'Neill's Bar and Restaurant. This is one view of the stairs going up. The whole place has several nooks and crannies--very interesting architecture.

Left: Roast Beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, veggies and gravy.

Right: Fish and Chips and veggies

This is the second time I have seen two types of potatoes in one meal!

Left: Full Irish Baguette, including chicken, bacon, mozzarella, lettuce and tomato--it was huge! This is only half of it.

Right: Deep fried Dublin Bay Prawns and chips.










Now.......while we were waiting for the bus to go home, we looked across the street and noticed that someone had put bubbles in the fountain which I had taken a photo of a few days ago. It was probably a college kid, since Trinity College is just a few hundred feet in front of this statue. We were amused!