Monday – Day one of our C.I.E tour of Ireland and we discovered there was a 2 PM bus and walking tour set up to begin the adventure. Our guide, Felicity, introduced us to Dublin City while we drove around and looked at the sites. Unfortunately, being on a small bus, doesn’t really give you a chance to take any good pictures plus the fact it was trying to rain didn’t help much. However, the history and sites were really interesting. We drove over the River Liffey a couple of times on 16th century and 21st century bridges to see the sites.
We stopped to see the statue of Oscar Wilde and the Children’s Play area near by which is across the street from his childhood home. The structures are designed to match the fairy tale of the Selfish Giant, a tale written by Wilde.
Soon we were at Trinity Collage, established in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I, our next stop, which included a walking tour with a student (from upstate New York working on his PHD) and a visit to the Library and a viewing of the Book of Kells.
The College has about 17,000 students and takes up a fair piece of property in Dublin. The walking tour highlighted some of the key spots on the campus, talked a little about being a student there and it’s requirements and ended up a the College library.
The Trinity College Library is the largest research library in Ireland. Due to its status as a ‘copy right’ library, it receives two copies of EVERY book published in Great Britain and Ireland every year – that’s a LOT of books. Incidentally, any profit made from a creative endeavor, books, paintings etc. is NOT Taxable. Creativity is supported by the government. The Library we walked through holds much older publications, the Book of Kells and Brian Boru Harp.
The Book of Kells is from 800 AD and is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together other examples of monastic literacy. It was created in a Columban monastery in Ireland. Needless to say, the book is old, protected under glass and tightly secured. The colors of the book were amazing, the inks being layered on calfskin, and produced with natural plants and minerals . The Brian Boru Harp is the oldest surviving Irish harp and is the model for the insignia of Ireland. It dates from 14th or 15th Century. It too is protected behind a glass case.
After getting back on the bus we motored back to our hotel for a welcome drink and a quick review of the upcoming events. I’m sorry we didn’t get more of an introduction to Dublin on our tour but we come back at the end of the trip around Ireland and we may have additional time to explore this City.