Category: Hints

If you need a place to relax in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland, you can find Merrion square close to Trinity college. It is a garden in the Georgian style which was planned and realized after 1762. It contains a collection of historic street lanterns, an underground air-raid shelter but it is mostly known for a sculpture placed here: Oscar Wilde iconically hanging out on a stone. The author of The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Canterville Ghost was living between 1855 and 1876 in Merrion Square 1.

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Trinity college is a well-known university in Dublin, Ireland. Its campus is located directly in the city centre and it was created with Oxford and Cambridge in mind – a real ivy-league university. The university was founded in 1592 (yes, really!) by Queen Elizabeth and is the oldest of Ireland and one of the oldest in the world. Very uncommon for a university is that it is very much visited by tourists. And that is not only because of the beautiful buildings and the campanile (a tower on the campus).

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There is one thing everybody does when travelling to Dublin, Ireland: a visit to the Guinness Storehouse, the original place (St. James’s Gate) where this special stout was invented and produced. It is not a museum nor a bar – it is a continuous event for the masses. The exhibition is organized to welcome many spectators and you’re inside a neverending flow of persons that enjoy the edutainment served here: from the ingredients in the basis, over the production process to the roof bar where you get a beer with your ticket.

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St. Michan‘s church in Dublin, Irland, is something special. At its location a Danish chapel from 1095 was standing, the current building looking a bit like a ruin is dating back to the year 1668. Since the Victorian times, people get here to visit the vaults underneath – even Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula is said to have visited them. The reason for that is a bit spooky: inside the vaults, you can find corpses from the 17th to the 19th century. But they didn’t deteriorate normally, they didn’t become dust – they mummified without human help.

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It is said that at the location of the beautiful St. Patrick’s cathedral in Dublin, Ireland, in the year 450 a spring existed in which Saint Patrick baptised new believers. Later a wooden chapel was built there and from 1191 on it became what it is today: the largest church of Ireland. It is 91 meters long and the tower has a height of 43 meters. In 1860 massive restoration works were necessary, financed by Benjamin Guinness (you know his profession). Most parts of the walls and decorations, therefore, come from the Victorian age.

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If you’re looking out for Dublin castle at Dublin, Ireland, don’t expect a castle standing separated somewhere on a hill. The wonderful ancient structures are integrated into a complex of buildings and you need to search a little bit to find them. In this location already in the 10th century, a fortress was built – but the buildings existing there today date back to the 18th and 19th century. This is also true for the wonderful round Record Tower, the most remarkable structure there today.

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