June 15 : Second Day in Dublin

Today we moved from our original hotel to the Hard Rock Hotel, which is the hotel being used by Collette to start the Irish tour.  We decided to stay at the Muldron Hotel, last night, because it was considerable cheaper than the Hard Rock.

The Hard Rock is a very modern hotel with a Rock & Roll theme. They pay homage to Irish artists such as U2 and Van Morrison. There is music in their bar every night.

The room is very clean, but it is considerable smaller than the rooms at the Muldron.  Its main advantage is that it is located in the Temple Bar, which is the entertainment district for Dublin.

Dublin is the capital and largest city of Ireland. It is situated on a bay on the east coast of Ireland, at the mouth of the River Liffey. The population of Dublin is slightly over a million people.

The area of Dublin Bay has been inhabited by humans since prehistoric times, fish traps discovered from excavations during the construction of the Convention Centre Dublin indicate human habitation as far back as 6,000 years. In 841 the Vikings established a fortified base in Dublin. But Dublin became more established as a Viking settlement in the 10th century and, despite a number of attacks by the native Irish, it remained under Viking control until the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169.

As the city continued to prosper during the 18th century, Dublin became the second largest city of the British Empire and the fifth largest city in Europe. Unfortunately, Dublin suffered a period of political and economic decline during the 19th century following the Acts of Union 1800, under which the seat of government was transferred to the Westminster Parliament in London.

The Easter Rising of 1916, the Irish War of Independence, and the subsequent Irish Civil War resulted in a significant amount of physical destruction in central Dublin. Dublin was also a victim of the Northern Irish Troubles. A Loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Volunteer Force, bombed the city during this time – notably in an atrocity known as the Dublin and Monaghan bombings in which thirty-four people died, mainly in central Dublin.

Dublin has a significant literary history, and has produced many literary figures, including William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, and Samuel Beckett. Other influential writers and playwrights include Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Swift. It is also the location of key and notable works of James Joyce, including Ulysses, which is set in Dublin. Dubliners is a collection of short stories by Joyce about incidents and typical characters of the city during the early 20th century.

U2 are natives of Dublin and apparently you might see Bono using public transit.  We did not see him, but we did eat at his restaurant.

We took the Hop On Hop Off bus tour in the morning. One of the more interesting areas we stopped in was Trinty College. Here you could find Grafton Street, which is one of the most expensive shopping districts in Dublin. Also, in the area there are many Georgian Town Houses. Because taxes were placed on windows, these houses were designed with windows which decrease in size as they reach the higher floors of the home.

For lunch we went to a small pub called Grogan’s. The manager was one of the most personable persons you could ever meet. The pub only served ham and cheese sandwiches. When Marg told him that she needed gluten free bread and that she carried a couple of slices for such occasions, he went out of his way to prepare a special sandwich for her with all the fixings and extra cheese. Later he came by and had a short friendly chat with us. It just reinforces my opinion that the Irish are the friendliest people around.

Our friends Trudy and Jay arrived earlier in the day from Penticton. It was a long trip here. Later in the afternoon we meet our tour director and the rest of the people who are the tour. Most of the people are American with another gentleman from Britain.

For dinner we went to the Brazen Head pub. There has been a pub at this location since 1613. Our tour director told us that the names of the streets around this district indicate the occupation of people who worked and lived there.

We wanted to go to a pub called Darky Kelly. They have Irish folk music every night. Unfortunately, it was packed, even at 7pm.