June 16 : Third Day in Dublin

Today was a busy day enjoying the national pastime of Ireland, drinking.

It started off with the Secret Street Tour. This tour was setup to allow for recovering drug addicts and homeless people the opportunity to explain how their lives had unfolded and how they were now coping. It was a real eye opener to the dangers of living on the street and strength it takes to beat addiction. After listening to these gentlemen, we have a new respect for them and how they’ve turned their lives around.

One of the guides is known as New York Noel. As a fourteen-year-old boy, he along with another boy were able sneak aboard ferries, trains and airplanes and travel from Dublin to New York City. There is a new documentary about them being release called “Nothing to Declare.”  Stephen Spielberg is also going to produce this story as a major motion picture.

They took us to a park near Trinty College called St. Stephens Green. I guess, this large park is a favorite gathering place for the homeless. Part of the history of this park, as told by our guide, relates to the Easter Rebellion. The grounds keeper was able to negotiate a ceasefire every day for an hour so that the ducks in the park could be fed before the hostilities resumed.

We then went to a small museum that outlined the social and political history of Dublin. As part of the exhibit there was a room devoted to U2.

On our way to the Pearse Lyons Distillery we passed several ladies in 19th century costumes walking along O’Connell Street. This is Bloom Day in Dublin, which is a celebration of the life of Irish writer James Joyce.

The Pearse Lyons Distillery is in a former church. In order to be true to the design of the original church an extreme amount of money was spent in the retrofitting for the distillery. For example, to put the copper kettles into the church, the roof had to be removed. Unfortunately, the slate used on the roof was no longer available. So, the owner of Pearse Lyons had to reopen a rock quarry in Wales to rebuild the roof. All the wood for the interior of church had to be imported from Nova Scotia.

This distillery produces Irish whiskey. We were given three tasting and I must admit by the third tasting it was exceptionally smooth.

Later in the afternoon we went to Guiness. This an enormous brewery and it was founded in 1759. Guiness currently has a nine-thousand-year lease on their sixty-four-acre property. The brewery produces over one million barrels of beer and is also one of the largest employers in Dublin.

It is located in the Liberties section of Dublin. This area of the city is named the Liberties because at one point in time, it was outside of the city limits and therefore tax free.

Tours of the Guiness Store House are among the most popular tourist attractions in Ireland. Instead of going through the tour though, we went directly up to the observation lounge and had a pint. I must admit, I really am beginning to like the taste.

For dinner we went to the Clarence House. This hotel and restaurant are owned by Bono and Edge of U2