Ireland: Dublin

August 30, 2015

We left Tobercurry at 9:00 on Sunday morning and drove to Dublin. We checked into The Shelbourne, which was established in 1824 and has a long and distinguished history. Michael Collins signed the Irish Constitution at The Shelbourne in 1922. When we walked into the lobby, I noticed that there was something of a commotion over a large, very fit man with a shaved head around whom a few people were gathered, some of them apparently asking for his autograph. I asked the front desk clerk who he was, and he said “Paul O’Connell, who is arguably the best rugby player in Ireland.” He went on to explain that the day before, Paul had played his last regular season rugby game at the stadium in Dublin. He would be retiring after serving as captain of the Ireland team in the Rugby World Cup. More to come about Mr. O'Connell later!

August 30, 2015 (Continued)

There is a museum in the lobby of the hotel, designed to showcase some of the memorabilia and documents describing the history of The Shelbourne. On display is a beautiful emerald green Givenchy dress and jacket worn by Princess Grace when she visited the hotel. I couldn't help taking a picture of the lovely stained glass skylight in the lobby. We were able to get an upgrade for a larger room, and after depositing our luggage there, we got in the car and headed to 30 Avondale Road in Killiney, where we dropped off Peter's BMW and caught a cab back to the hotel. We purchased tickets for the Hop-On, Hop-Off Tour Bus, which we boarded and "hopped off " after two stops. I had read that one of the most interesting tours to take in Dublin was the "Traditional Irish Musical Pub Crawl", which begins at Oliver St. John Gogarty's Pub. Oliver St. John Gogarty (1878-1957) was an Irish poet, author, otolaryngologist, athlete, politician, and well-known conversationalist. He served as the inspiration for Buck Mulligan in James Joyce's novel "Ulysses". More to come about Mr. Gogarty later!

August 30, 2015 (Continued)

We arrived early to have dinner at Gogarty's, and then went upstairs where the tour began with two musicians, Mark French (the only Irishman I have ever seen sporting dreadlocks!) and Fergal, introducing the crowd to the world of traditional Irish music. After a brief introduction at Gogarty's, we proceeded to the Ha'Penny Bridge Pub, a more authentic bar which was better suited to traditional Irish music. After more music and storytelling, we walked across the Ha'Penny Bridge to Brannigan's, a neighborhood watering hole. At one point, Mark asked the crowd to contribute songs of their own. One lady (obviously American) sang (badly) a few bars of "The Yellow Rose of Texas". No one else wanted to sing so I (not wanting the crowd to be left with that image of the U.S.!), raised my hand and sang a few lines and the chorus of "My Old Kentucky Home". After a few more songs, Mark and Fergal brought a very enjoyable evening to an end.

August 31, 2015

Since it is Monday, Gary has to stay in the room and work, so I am on my own in Dublin! I had read about the Little Museum of Dublin and was keen to see its current exhibit, "Ireland at the Movies: Costume in Irish Cinema, 1987-2015", which was curated by costume designer Eimer Ni Mhaoldomnaigh and costume historian Veerle Dehaene. This exhibition explores costume design in Irish cinema from the iconic "My Left Foot" to more contemporary productions such as "Calvary". Pictured are the cassock worn by Brendan Gleeson and a coat worn by Kelly Reilly from "Calvary". Coincidentally, "Calvary" was filmed in Strandhill, County Sligo (Tobercurry is located in County Sligo!). I was also intrigued by the U2 exhibit. One of our cab drivers told us that Bono, who lives not far from Killiney, likes to drink in a pub in Dalkey and you can tell if he's inside if you see an olive-colored Maserati parked outside!

August 31, 2015 (Continued)

I had lunch at Hatch & Sons, the cafe under the Little Museum and later Gary joined me and we boarded the Hop-On, Hop-Off bus for the rest of the tour around Dublin. We "hopped off" at the Guinness Storehouse and took the tour, which included a free pint of the Guinness of our choice. We went up to the famous "Gravity Bar" at the top of the Storehouse, which features a 360 degree view of Dublin, but it was too crowded, so we went one floor below, where the views weren't spectacular, but decent, and we saw the first of the many rainbows that we would see in Ireland! After that, we had decided that we had eaten enough pub food in the last two days, so we had dinner at La Mere Zou, a very nice French restaurant not far from the hotel.

September 1, 2015

Another work day for Gary, and I ended up doing a bit of shopping at the Pandora Store on Grafton Street. We checked out of our hotel and took a cab to the airport, where we picked up our rental car, a Skoda Octavia, and began our drive to Claisavougha ("Clais") in Newcastle, County Tipperary, which is the location of our third home exchange.