Dublin

We stayed at a lovely rural B&B in Kinsale (southwest of Dublin) and enjoyed some good eatin' at the local pub before we ventured off to Powerscourt House & Gardens.

 

Powerscourt, we were told, is one of the most beautiful country estates in Ireland. Situated in the mountains of Wicklow, it was originally an important strategic site for the Anglo-Normans who came to Ireland in the 12th century. By the year 1300 a castle had been built here and was in the possession of the le Poer (Power) family from which it takes its name. The succeeding centuries saw the castle held for different periods by powerful families such as the O'Tooles and the Fitzgeralds, Earls of Kildare.

The Gardens were equally as spectacular and included an Italian garden, walled garden, Dolphin pond (with statues, not real dolphins!), pets' cemetary, and Japanese garden.

Just a few kilometres away was Powerscourt Waterfall - the largest in Ireland.  We enjoyed a nice little hike and picnic lunch here.

In the afternoon we ventured into Dublin City where we visited the National Library (Grandma did some family history research).  From there we went to see the Trinity College Library and the Book of Kells.

The Book of Kells is the centrepiece of an exhibition which attracts over 500,000 visitors to Trinity College Dublin each year. Written around the year 800 AD, the Book of Kells contains a richly decorated copy of the four gospels in a latin text based on the Vulgate edition (completed by St Jerome in 384 AD). The gospels are preceded by prefaces, summaries of the gospel narratives and concordances of gospel passages compiled in the fourth century by Eusebius of Caesarea. In all, there are 340 folios (680 pages).

 

Having taken a calligraphy class, I had an extra appreciation for the work involved in creating such a masterpiece.  Keep in mind, they didn't have traditional ink in this time period - all the colours were created from various minerals and plant extracts!

The library itself was also highly impressive. Its history dates back to the establishment of the College in 1592 and it is the largest library in Ireland.

Today it has 5 million printed volumes with extensive collections of journals, original manuscripts, maps and music reflecting over 400 years of academic development.













Day 2 in Dublin: parliament buildings, cathedrals, O'Connell memorials, the venue of Handel's first performance of The Messiah, and the GPO (General Post Office).

 

 

 There was a cute little museum inside the GPO that presented the unique history of the building as well as the postal system.  It was very hands-on with a create-your-own postage stamp, switchboard, and audio-visual presentations.

 Dublinia was another fun stop featuring exhibits on Viking and Medieval Ireland.  A really great museum, I wish we would have had more time to explore it in its entirety.