Dublin Castle and Temple Bar, May 3

Tuesday, May 3: We toured Dublin Castle inside and below. It has a long history, and was used mostly by the British during their rule of Ireland. In 1923, the Castle was given to the Irish. Most of it does not look like a castle, but nonetheless, it is called this. Once upon a time, there was an actual castle on this site, and there are some remnants of it, especially underground.

Here is the throne located in the throne room.

The Single Ladies room. The story is that the married gentlemen went into another room to do men things, and the married ladies went into another room to do what women do. The single ladies went to this room and lined the walls, waiting for the single men to ask them to dance. If they never got asked to dance, they just stood huddled together for hours until the carriages took everyone away---early the next morning!

 Another view of the throne room.

Ceiling of the dining room.

 One end of the dining room.

 St. Patrick's Hall--this was the ceiling.

 Work being done in St. Patrick's Hall, preparing for the inauguration of the new Irish President after the election in November.

The National Symbol of Ireland--The Harp--the only country in the world to have a musical instrument at its symbol.

In the courtyard of the Castle

Flags surround the court yard from all the counties of the Republic of Ireland.

 Now we go underground. During the 1980s, when they were doing some renovation, they discovered another tower from the old Castle. This picture shows how the castle looked in about the 11th century.

 Another rendition of the Castle and the town of Dublin within the walls.

The bottom of the newly discovered tower, called the Powder Tower, because gun powder was stored here.

 Part of the old wall of Dublin Castle

 And more wall......

Entries into the castle were small and few, in order to more easily defend them. This was an entry to the old Dublin Castle.

 This is part of the old wall of Dublin city. At one time, there was an opening here, but had been closed in (at this point I could not hear the tour guide, so I don't know why it was closed in). There is a little water here, what is left of the area that gave Dublin its name. The river "Poddle" joined the river "Liffey", and at that spot, formed a "black pool," or dubh linn in Gaelic. The river Liffey was diverted and remains, but Poddle is gone.

If you look closely at the top half of this drawing, slightly to the left and center, you'll see the opening in the wall before it was closed in.

After our tour of the Castle, we went down to Temple Bar for lunch. This time we actually ate at The Temple Bar. We had some great sandwiches, Guinness, and a little live music as well.

Jails, Castles and Churches

Monday, May 2, and we visited 3 very different places in Dublin today: a jail, a castle and a church--similarities and differences.

First stop, Killmainham Gaol (jail). This jail was first built and opened in 1787.

Outside of the prison complex. Looks like a castle wall.

The front door to the jail.

Outside the prison cells

Taken through the peep hole into one of the older cells. Very dank, dark, and cold. How would you like to spend years in here?

One of the prison doors. No thanks!

One of the many hallways with cells on the right hand side.

The newer section of the prison, built in the 1800s. Almost looks like a hotel compared to the older portion. Still a prison, though. It gave the guards better control, as they had a view from every angle.

The newer cells were much brighter, but not much bigger.

I don't know, maybe you've had some beds like that in the hotels you've stayed in, but I think I'll pass! (hahaha)

The yard where prisoners did hard labor, breaking apart rocks and boulders for roads. This yard was also used to execute 14 rebels from the Easter Uprising, April 24, 1916, one of many of Ireland's struggles to be independent from Britain.

 

This plaque commemorated the 14 who were executed.

After our prison excursion, we had lunch across the street at the Patriots Inn. The sign tells what the Patriots Inn was famous for.












Next we visited Dublin Castle. The tours were sold out, so I took a few pictures of the outside. (More of the Castle and interior in tomorrow's post)

 In the courtyard at Dublin Castle.

 Olivia and Erica---silly girls!

Dublin City Hall, next door to the Castle














Our next stop was Christ Church Cathedral, Church of Ireland, Anglican/Episcopal.

A very old part of the church long since demolished (partly), which has been dated from the 14th century.

 Beautiful tiled floors throughout the Cathedral

Beautiful craftsmanship

The Church Pipe Organ, which was high above the floor

A reliquary of the heart of Archbishop Saint Laurence O'Toole (Lorcan Ua Tuathail [Gaelic]), who died in 1180 A.D. He became the only archbishop of Ireland who was canonized.

This is absolutely hilarious, and goes to show those Irish, even back in the day, had a sense of humor! This is a display of an actual cat and mouse who had become lodged in a pipe of the organ, and became mummified. This was at some point in the 1800s. Anyway, while cleaning and repairing the organ, these were discovered, about 6" from one another, apparently the cat had chased the mouse into one of the pipes and they both got stuck. What's funny, is that they kept them and put them in a display!

Appropriately stockaded for all their antics!

This is the tomb of Strongbow, a.k.a. Richard Declerc, who captured Dublin in 1170 A.D. and was buried in 1176. This is not his original tomb, but it is believed that the small piece to the right is a portion of his original memorial. A "new" tomb had to replace the one destroyed in the collapse of the roof and walls in 1562, so the larger one to the left was made. It has a good example of medieval armor.

That was the conclusion of our touring day. The old architecture is very fascinating. It is hard to believe that so much of it is still standing. It has been weathered, and some of the weather has worn away at it, but for the most part, things are intact. Some structures have been fixed, but the basic architecture remained. The oldest stone buildings are all from around the 11th through 15th centuries. What's interesting is how committed the people were to holding on to Jesus Christ and salvation through Him.