Dublin Archives ⋆ Page 2 of 3 ⋆ The Passenger

October 4, 2019February 22, 2020

St. Patrick‘s cathedral

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.

October 4, 2019October 18, 2019

The Art of Making Books

The US-American industrial Sir Alfred Chester Beatty had an interesting hobby: how collected old books, book fragments and papyri. His collection is today on display in the Chester Beatty Library at Dublin, Ireland – located within Dublin castle. The very well-designed and modern museum dates back to the year 1950 and contains many beautiful and important books from all around the world. Most of them are religious, some secularistic.

October 4, 2019February 22, 2020

Dublin castle

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.

October 4, 2019October 18, 2019

Glasnevin

It sounds a bit strange but I really love to visit cemeteries. Sometimes they have a fantastic atmosphere like the Cimetière du Père Lachaise in Paris, France or the special local burial traditions are fascinating like at the Cementerio Cristóbal Colón in La Habana, Cuba. And often they are the starting point for interesting stories. The most beautiful graveyard of Dublin, Ireland is Glasnevin; here you can find a mix of all religions and the typical Irish combination of Catholic crosses and pagan symbols.

October 4, 2019October 18, 2019

Victorian greenhouses

It was a really rainy day when I went to the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland at Glasnevin, Dublin. In Ireland you need to always plan around the weather and if you don’t have enough time to do so you need to live with what you get. When I exited the bus near the botanic garden I recognized that I made a big mistake – I left my umbrella on the bus. It wasn’t very good at this windy time of the year but at least it gave some protection.

October 3, 2019October 17, 2019

Parkway Guesthouse

Finding a good place to sleep in Dublin, Ireland wasn’t fun. You’ve got plenty of options but the prices were close to those in London, England. And I dislike paying a fortune just for a short night in a hotel. Therefore I decided to book the Parkway Guesthouse, a bed & breakfast in the north of the city – not far away from O’Connell street (upper). That was a good and a bad decision at the same time.

October 3, 2019October 21, 2019

Roof garden

I love bars with good views, but the only one in Dublin, Ireland, seems to be the ‘Gravity bar‘ in the Guinness Storehouse (not accessible without a tour). Even though it hasn’t good views The Roof Garden is quite a nice alternative: It is a partially roofed terrace on top of the Fitzsimons Hotel close to river Liffey and the Temple bar region.

October 3, 2019February 20, 2020

Liffey

If you get to Dublin, Ireland, you will definitely stumble open the river Liffey. It runs through the city centre from East to West and at its shore, you will find good hotels, restaurants and bars. Unfortunately, they don’t really make use of the river there – next to the water there is on both sides a road. How beautiful this area could be if there would be a pedestrian zone. It is 125 meters long and has its main source in the county Wicklow not far away from Dublin where it runs into the Irish sea.

October 3, 2019October 17, 2019

Luas, busses and the DART

Getting around in Dublin, Ireland with public transport can be a bit confusing in the beginning but is quite simple once you know how to do it. The city feels like a beehive of different busses, but there are also tramways, the DART and normal trains. The first contact with public transport system will for sure be at the airport – where you can catch the busses 747 and 757 that bring you within 30 minutes on different routes to the city center.

October 3, 2019February 23, 2020

Dublin zoo

The zoological garden of Dublin, Ireland, is the largest zoo in the country and one of the oldest in Europe. It was opened in 1831 and you can have a very long walk within the 28 hectares of ground. When I was there I was seeing rather few animals – but it was rather late and bad weather, most of them were inside. One of the former inhabitants we all know: the lion Cairbre (born 1927) was the face of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and we all saw it already multiple times before a movie started.