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Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Dublin, Ireland Part 1

Where do I even begin with my Ireland and England trip? I have sooooo many photos and recommendations. I am not sure how many posts this will take to say it all, but I plan on writing until it seems long enough and then I will do the same with the rest of the photos/trips.

Let me rewind to the start of my trip. I left on a Tuesday afternoon with a stop in LA, a three hour layover in London and another flight into Dublin.
sky and clouds
This was the amazing sky on my flight from London to Dublin

We arrived in Dublin around 5 pm (on Wednesday) which means we hit traffic on the way to our hotel. Once I arrived, I showered, unpacked a bit and got ready to go out to dinner. Since we were exhausted, we opted for a pub. I didn't take any photos, but it was a decent meal for our first night in. I got a play off of Shepherd's Pie and a Kearney's Pale/Blonde Ale. This was in the Temple Bar area which is such a fun spot to hang out in. Plus our hotel was across the river (a 5 minute walk).

Thursday we had work and then explored. Our first stop was Trinity College. This college is similar to our Harvard. I bought the girls shirts from the school store. The campus was soooo beautiful. Plus it holds the Book of Kells, which we took that tour. Totally worth it.
Trinity College
 Trinity College
Trinity College
Trinity College

Tickets to the Book of Kells tour were 13 Euros. We purchased our tickets and took the self guided tour. You will read all about the Book of Kells, tour the old Library where the Book of Kells is housed and you can see two of the four volumes (no pictures allowed in the Book of Kells room). The Book of Kells is in Latin and color and it is truly beautiful. 

After you look at the Book of Kells, you go into the Long Room. This area houses over 20,000 books, and so many of them are covered in cobwebs and falling apart. There are also many other books on display. I would definitely visit if you are going to be in Dublin.
Long Room at the Book of Kells Trinity College

Long Room at the Book of Kells Trinity College

Long Room at the Book of Kells Trinity College

Long Room at the Book of Kells Trinity College

Long Room at the Book of Kells Trinity College

Long Room at the Book of Kells Trinity College

Brian Boru Harp

Once you are finished, you can go to the gift shop or leave and walk through the Trinity College Campus.

From the campus, we made our way to the Kilmainham Gaol Jail and Museum. We got there and the tour had already started, so we went to the museum after purchasing our tickets (9 Euros). The museum is about three stories and it has so much history. You can read about many prisoners, see handwritten letters, uniforms, listen to stories and get a feel of how life was in prison. 

From there, we went back to the main building to check in for our tour. First, we went into the court area.
People did sit on top of the table in the chair for their hearing/sentencing.

From there, we walked to an altar to watch a short video on the jail.
Kilmainham Gaol altar

From here, we went into the oldest part of the jail. This area was cold. There were no closed windows, just bars. Also, each jail cell could house 10 or more people. They crowded people in this wing. Even children were in this prison
Kilmainham Gaol jail cells

Kilmainham Gaol jail cells

Kilmainham Gaol jail cells

As we made our way through, the tour guide tells you about infamous prisoners, which cells they were housed in and what eventually happens to each of them.

From there, we made our way to the newer wing. You may have seen this area in movies such as In the Name of the Father and The Escapist.
Kilmainham Gaol jail cells

Kilmainham Gaol

Kilmainham Gaol

Kilmainham Gaol

After leaving the jail cells area, you go outside and learn about the execution areas and some very sad stories. The tour was amazing and again, I would recommend it.

After the jail tour, we headed back to our hotel and then out to dinner to O'Neills Pub and Kitchen. Our taxi driver recommended this. It was super busy, but so much fun. It is cafeteria style, but you can order from the pub menu and have it brought out to your table as well. This place was huge. Two stories and the food was really good. We had a couple beers here, but then walked around Temple Bar area to walk off our food and see more of the night life and area.

And that is where I will leave off until next time.


19 comments :

  1. this trip looks amazing. I am so jealous! I have always wanted to go to Ireland! Can't wait to see more!

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  2. Your pictures are amazing! It looks like such a fun trip - can't wait to hear more.

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  3. Wow that tour looked amazing!! I hope to get to Ireland one day, it's on my list!!

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  4. I've always wanted to go to Ireland. That room with the books is so cool!

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  5. I'm so excited to hear more about your trip. I can only imagine how amazing it was to see the campus in person-- the pictures alone are all so cool!

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  6. Sounds like such a great historical place, these pictures are great! I can't wait to hear more!

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  7. Omg both of those tours sound amazing. Definitely adding to my bucket list. I'm tearing up from your pictures of that library (how dorky am I?) because I can't even imagine books so old. I love it. And the jail would be right up my boyfriend's and my alley. Definitely sending him pictures right now haha. I can't wait for the rest of your recaps!

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  8. Ooh very interesting tours, especially the one about the jails. Such intriguing history, I'm sure. I've never been to Ireland but I'd like to visit someday.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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    1. It is totally worth it. I loved Ireland and really want to go back and explore more.

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  9. We explored Trinity too when we there and it was so pretty. It seems like you go to do so much and it wasn't just all work (was it a work trip? I forget) which is so nice. Sierra~Beautifully Candid

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  10. It looks like you had such an amazing trip! I can't wait to see more!

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  11. How cool! I have always wanted to go there, so I will be living vicariously through your pictures!

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  12. Seeing all those books and doing the jail tour sound so fun! Cant wait to hear about more of your trip!

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  13. So amazing! Dublin is on my list of places that I desperately want to visit!

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  14. Ooooh I have been waiting for these posts! Oh man, I'm so jealous of everything you got to do!

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  15. Your travel pictures are fascinating!

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    Replies
    1. thank you. It was a lot of fun and the history was amazing.

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