Day 6 - Dublin

After the lovely countryside through which we have been travelling, Dublin is quite a shock.  About 1.02 million people live here, plus visiting tourists.  The streets are very clean with no litter, but the city buildings are grey and a bit grubby.  

There are plenty of city bicycles for rent like we have seen in Cork and Amsterdam.  Cyclists do not wear helmets.

We took a 1.5 hour City Bus tour to explore the city with audio announcements - very good value.  A ticket lasts for 24 hours.  We drove past the head office of the Bank of Ireland which has no windows.  The story goes that once you put your money in there it never sees the light of day again!!

Steve showed us the home of the 166 snakes known to inhabit Ireland - they are 2-legged and occupy Parliament House!!

We then walked to the replica of the Jèanie Johnston ship on the river Liffey (see photos below).  The conducted tour was excellent and informative.  Margaret Anñ Damody would have likely sailed in a similar ship to Australia.

There is a very tall spire called Nelson's Pillar Spire in the middle of the city, which nobody mentions because they didn't want it and don't like it.  It is not even marked on the city map (see photo below)

We walked to the National Gallery to view a collection of old masters, after which we staggered back to the hotel.  Karen informed us that the day had involved 9.5 kms of walking!!

An important sport played only in Ireland is "Hurling" which is played with a long-handled bat with a spoon-shaped end, and a very hard ball a bit smaller than a cricket ball.  They did not wear shin guards, helmets or face guards until 2010 when they became compulsory.  Steve had every finger broken when he played as a young man.

There are many bridges over the river Liffey which flows through central Dublin.

The Ha'penny bridge has a story. Years ago it cost half a penny to cross the bridge, which is how it earned its nickname.  One day a man asked the toll man if it cost extra to carry baggage across the bridge and was told it didn't. So he put his friend on top of his shoulders and carried him across. 

Walked the streets of Dublin this afternoon and came across little bars and stumbled on this one. This is named after Mrs Browns Boys.

Read the words carefully, there is a message here.

These statues represent the period of famine in Ireland when potato crops failed and the people were starving.  Many, especially women, were welcomed on the boats to America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and European countries.

One of the famine boats we inspected today was small with cramped conditions for 150 people but it was a new beginning for the Irish and on this boat which had a Doctor, not one life was lost.   It sailed from Tralee Co. Kerry to Quebec 16 times as one of the ships known as "coffin ships" because so many passengers died on board from disease and starvation.  A baby boy was born onboard shortly after departure, and he was given a very lengthy name which included the first name of every male staff member on the ship.

Looks ok here but this boat was narrow and small for the trip across the Atlantic.

A new bridge now encloses the replica of the Jeanie Johnston Tall Ship into the confines of the Liffey River.  The original ship eventually sank whilst bringing wet wooden poles back from Canada, but all of the crew were rescued as they were clinging to the mast and praying.

This spire at 130 metres has caused a drama in Dublin.  Same old story, no consultation with the locals, remove a well respected icon ( see below) and everyone dislikes the new spire.

This is the old statue removed and discarded to the back blocks to make way for the spire, so some politician could win a few votes ???!!! Named by the locals as the Floosie in the jacuzzi!!