I AM SO TIRED. I walked all over Dublin today!
But in fact the day started with a very short stroll indeed, as I started by visiting the National Museum of Ireland right around the corner from my hotel.
The museum is deceivingly large: when you enter, you walk into an atrium of sorts with a map that makes it look like that’s more or less everything, but in fact there are two floors with lots of rooms and galleries!
The collection of this branch of the museum is focused on Irish archeology and boasts all sorts of Celtic, Viking, and medieval artifacts from hundreds and even thousands of years ago. I skipped the prehistoric sections in favor of the rich displays of ancient clothes, weapons and jewelry from the different peoples that inhabited the island through history. I was fascinated to learn that the various marshes and bogs around Ireland are a treasure trove of archeological findings, as people dumped, hid, or lost all kinds of stuff in the wetlands that got buried in the map and therefore preserved from the elements much better than if they’d been outside. This reminded me of the fact that many scrolls that ancient Egyptians tossed out as garbage were better conserved in the sand than the ones they tried to protect in libraries…
In addition to the brooches, coins, or even a longboat, the bogs also led to the discovery of four bodies from centuries past, also on display -their desiccated remains were gruesome to see but the informational panels about what scientists discovered from them (like the style of their haircut or the contents of their last meal) were fascinating.
As in other archaeological museums, the most curious exhibit for me was the shiniest, one focused on gold. It never ceases to amaze me, first, that people two thousand years ago were making such intricate, detailed work with gold and precious stones, and also, that they survived to this day so that we can marvel at them. Somebody two millennia ago loved wearing this bracelet.
After the museum I went on a little walking tour of odds and ends around Dublin. Today there were still throngs of Spanish tourists in their guided tours, but now their supremacy is being challenged by the Welsh hordes that have descended upon the city to attend the rugby finals tonight. One of them asked me for directions but I wasn’t of any help!
I visited Forbidden Planet, a smaller branch of the famous London geek store. I also took a look at Christ Church and St Patrick’s cathedrals, although I didn’t walk in as they have an entrance fee of 12/9€ respectively. I don’t mind paying for sites that I want to see, but I wasn’t particularly interested in these two so I was content to just walked around the gardens outside in the sunshine.
One place I did visit and pay for was Marsh’s Library, a tiny but historically significant library built in the 18th century. It’s just two rooms, for 7€, so not the biggest value for money, plus it’s fairly popular because it’s literally next door to St Patrick’s so it gets a lot of overflow traffic. But it never feels too bad to patronize a library!
By now it was time to, if not eat, certainly to start thinking about where to eat. I have a bunch of restaurants saved on my Google Maps, but they were all towards the center, so I decided to go on my own discovery mission in the opposite direction and sure enough soon found myself sitting at an authentic Korean restaurant. I visited Korea last November (it is the trip before this one on this blog) so I was thrilled to return, if only through my tastebuds. I ordered dakgalbi, or marinated grilled chicken, which came over a bowl of rice and vegetables and it was delicious. So flavorful and lightly spicy!
(At one point the waitress just plainly forgot about me, but it suited me fine because I was so tired of walking by now that I was in no rush to speed up my visit. But it happened this morning at breakfast, too, when the hotel waitress came with my toast after a long time and sighed “Sorry, I forgot!” Girl was going through it!)
My plan had been to return to the hotel after lunch, have a rest, and then go out again in the afternoon, but I saw on the map that I was now relatively close to the Irish Museum of Modern Art and the Kilmainham Gaol, which are otherwise quite a trek from the city center, so I decided to power through it and go directly.
After more walking, I made it to the IMMA, which occupies an old infirmary modeled after the Invalided in Paris. Now it holds various exhibits of contemporary art, which I took a cursory glance at.
Next, after another walk across a carefully manicured park, I arrived at the nearby Kilmainham Gaol, an 18th century prison now turned into a museum. You can only visit the jail via guided tour, which I already knew, but turns out it sells out fast, which I did not, and there were no free spots left for today. However, the kindly guard pointed out that the museum adjacent to the prison is free to visit, so in I went.
I expected the museum to be underwhelming (if it was good it’d be part of the ticket, right?) but I was pleasantly surprised. Although its value lies more in the information presented than in the collection itself, what I wanted out of the visit was to learn about Irish history.
As explained in the various sections, at first Kilmainham was a prison for the general population at a particularly dark time in Irish history. In the mid-19th century, during the Famine, one million people starved to death and more than one million people had to emigrate; those that stayed were often arrested for stealing or begging and thrown into unsanitary, overcrowded prisons like this one. By the early 20th century, however, Kilmainham Gaol held mostly political prisoners, namely those who led revolts against the British occupation -including Eamon de Valera, who would go on to become Taoiseach (pronounced “tee-shek”), that is, President of Ireland.
So in the end, even though I didn’t get to visit the prison itself, I left contented, having succeeded in my mission of knowing more coming out than when I went in. Now, finally, I took a bus to take me back to the hotel, where I could rest my legs. I’m almost scared to trace my steps on the map!
I left only to find a place to have dinner. I thought I might avoid the worst of the Saturday night crowds by going early, but I immediately realized that, much like in London, 7PM in Dublin is like 11PM in Spain: everyone was out on the streets, people were already three sheets to the wind, slurring directions to cab drivers, and every restaurant and pub everywhere was packed to the rafters with people waiting outside. So long story short, that’s a sandwich in the peace and quiet of my room for me!
This Is A Lake 