A DAY IN DUBLIN -

Belfast completely blew our minds, but after two days it was time to go back to Dublin. We had a direct flight from Oslo to Dublin, so we took a 2 hour bus drive to Belfast with Aircoach company, the same one we came back to the capital of the Republic of Ireland.

A plan in Dublin was ‘’no plan at all’’ apart from one-day excursion to the Cliffs of Moher and a visit to the Guinness store, which became a whiskey distillery tour eventually. You’ll have the chance to read about that in a couple of weeks from now.

Recently Dublin has become a very popular destination for numerous Croatian emigrants as you quickly spot that on the streets or in a store. Thanks to the numerous foreign investors, the economy of the country grew rapidly in the last twenty years.

Dublin is very attractive for the tourist. English speaking country + beer is enough for majority but this made it very touristic / overcrowded. Our main goal were only Guinness and whiskey. And occasional food and gin. 🙂

*The Spire of Dublin, located on the O’Connell Street in Dublin is a large stainless steel, pin-like monument 120 metres high*

The capital of the Republic of Ireland and the biggest city on the island, Dublin, is situated in the big valley of the river Liffey. The river divides the city in northern and southern part and it’s crossed by numerous bridges. 24 in total. For now.

All of the bridges are named after some of the famous citizens like James Joyce, the writer or Liam Mellow, the politician.

Although the place where Dublin stands now was inhabited long before JC, the city was founded by the Vikings in the 9th century. If you wish to witness the life of that time, visit Dublinia, a historical recreation museum and visitor attraction focuses on the Viking and Medieval history of the city.

The Christ Church Cathedral is the oldest church in Dublin, but the most famous is Saint Patrick Cathedral that serves as the National Cathedral of the Church of Ireland (a protestant branch of Catholicism)

The tallest and the largest church in Ireland was founded in 1191. at the very exact place where Saint Patrick used to baptize the first Christians.

In the 18th and 19th centuries large portions of the British Army were made up of Irish men. It has been estimated that anything up to 30-40% of the army which defeated Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo was Irish. During the second half of the 19th century the percentage of Irish who made up the army dropped significantly. Following the founding of the Free State in the early 20th century these numbers fell further and many of the Irish regiments in the British Army were disbanded over time. In order to remember the men who had died while serving in these regiments the colors (flags) of the regiment are traditionally hung within a church.

Did you know that the Irish phrase “to chance your arm” comes from a real event. Back in 1492 two Irish families, the Butlers of Ormonde and the FitzGeralds of Kildare, were involved in a bitter feud. This disagreement centered around the position of Lord Deputy. This tension manifested itself with violent fighting between the two families just outside the city walls.
Realizing the violence was getting out of control, the Butlers took refuge in the Chapter House of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. The FitzGeralds followed them into the Cathedral and asked them to come out and make peace. Afraid they would be slaughtered, the Butlers refused. As a gesture of good faith, the head of the Kildare family, Gerald FitzGerald, ordered that a hole be cut in the door. He then thrust his arm through the door and offered his hand in peace to those on the other side. Upon seeing that FitzGerald was willing to risk his arm by putting it through the door, the Butlers reasoned that he was serious about peace. They shook hands through the hole. The Butlers emerged from the Chapter House and the two families made peace. Today, this door is known as the “Door of Reconciliation”.

Lady Chapel was offered for use to the French-speaking Huguenots who had fled to Ireland, and after some repair and preparation works, it became known as L’Eglise Française de St Patrick. A lease was signed on 23 December 1665 and was renewed from time to time until the special services ceased in 1816, by which time the Huguenots had been fully assimilated into the city population.

*Cemetery behind the Cathedral of Saint Patrick*

One of the Deans of the Saint Patrick’s Cathedral was a famous writer Jonathan Swift, the author of Gulliver’s Travels. He attended Trinity College, one of the oldest universities in Ireland, founded in 1592 by the Queen Elizabeth I.

*Arnaldo Pomodoro’s Sphere Within Sphere sculpture, outside the Berkeley Library*

*We stumbled upon one of the three sculptures in Merrion Square, representing Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde, an Irish poet and playwright, who was also one of the students of Trinity College*

The Library of Trinity College is the largest research library in Ireland and it conserves and guards some of the most ancient texts in the world like the Book of Durrow or The Book of Kells that is by far the Library’s most famous book. Why? Because of the Harry Potter, of course 🙂

Since we’re not Harry’s fans (I have never seen the movies) we decided to spend our time and money in a liquor store. Far more appropriate for two foodies, don’t you agree? 🙂

DAN U DUBLINU

Nakon dva dana u Belfastu, koji nas je oduševio, došli smo u Dublin. Naš direktan let iz Osla bio je za Dublin nakon čega smo Coachair busom otišli za Belfast, a istim prijevoznikom vratili smo se nazad u glavni grad Republike Irske.

Plan u Dublinu bio je ”nema plana” osim jednodnevnog izleta na klifove i posjeta eventualno Guinness pivnici, što je na kraju ispalo viski destilerija, ali o tom potom.

Glavni grad Republike Irske, u zadnjih nekoliko godina, postao je iznimno popularna destinacija za brojne hrvatske iseljenike što vrlo brzo shvatite na ulici ili u trgovini. Zapravo, nije ni čudno jer je ekonomija u zemlji rapidno porasla u zadnjih dvadesetak godina i to sve zahvaljujući brojnim stranim ulagačima.

Dublin je jako privlačan brojnim stranim posjetiteljima (englesko govorno područje + piva) što ga čini iznimno turističkim, ali to nas nije spriječilo da prošetamo po gradu te pojedemo i popijemo sve što nam je na putu 🙂

O’Connell street je glavna cesta u Dublinu nazvana po Danielu O’Connellu, koji se zalagao za tzv. katoličku emancipaciju i ukidanje Kaznenog zakona u Irskoj u prvoj polovici 19. stoljeća

Glavni grad Republike Irske i najveći grad na otoku, Dublin, nalazi se u širokoj dolini rijeke Liffey, neka tri kilometra od mjesta gdje se ona ulijeva u Irsko more. Rijeka dijeli grad na dva dijela, sjeverni i južni, tako da oko milijun stanovnika grada barem jedan put dnevno prođe nekim od brojnih mostova preko rijeke. Njih 24, točnije.

Gotovo svi mostovi nazvani su po nekom od slavnih građana Dublina poput pisca Jamesa Joycea čiju smo skulpturu našli u 19stoljetnom parku St. Stephen Green.

Najzanimljiviji je Ha’Penny Bridge, pješački most, izgrađen od lijevanog željeza 1816, ime dobio po cifri koja se plaćala za njegov prijelaz: pola penija. Most je popularno okupljalište za brojne glazbenike i performere, a u posljednje vrijeme zaljubljena ekipa vješa lokote na most i baca ključ u rijeku.

Iako je mjesto na kojem se danas nalazi Dublin bilo naseljeno još prije Krista, sam grad su osnovali Vikinzi u 9. stoljeću. Život tog vremena može se doživjeti u povijesno rekonstruiranom muzeju nazvanom Dublinija, koji se nalazi u sklopu srednjovjekovne katedrale Presvetog Trojstva.

Muzej je doslovna replika vikinškog i srednjovjekovnog perioda sa živim glumcima u kostimima koji pokušavaju dočarati život vojnika, popova, seljaka, farmera….
Cijeli zid oko muzeja prati crtana priča o svim akterima srednjevjekovnog života tako da samo prolazeći tamo možete saznati da su monasi koji su živjeli u samostanu katedrale ovisili o vlastitom obrtu izrade grnčarije ili proizvodnje brašna.

Monasi su imali običaj brijati kosu na tjemenu iz poštovanja prema Bogu, ali i generalno jer nisu marili za modu i što drugi o njima misle. Obzirom da im je bio zabranjen kontakt s vanjskim svijetom, to ionako nije bilo pretjerano bitno

*Kontrafori i svodovi su velika ljubav 🙂*

Iako je Katedrala Presvetog Trojstva najstarija crkva u Dublinu, najveća i najpoznatija posvećena je zaštitniku Irske, svetom Patriku.

*Toranj visok 43 metra čini crkvu najvišom i najvećom crkvom u Irskoj.*

Na mjestu gdje je sv. Patrik nekad pokrštavao, Normani su sagradili kamenu crkvu krajem 12. stoljeća, a stoljeće kasnije nakon dogradnje i obnove nastala je današnja katedrala.

Obzirom da dvije katedrale u gradu ne mogu vršiti istu funkciju, dogovoreno je da biskup stoluje u katedrali Presvetog Trojstva koja služi kao Katedrala Dublina i Glendalougha, dok sv. Patrik nosi naziv Nacionalne katedrale i služi za brojne službene ceremonije i proslave.

*Iznad luka sjevernog transepta, koji je nekad služio kao zasebna crkva, vise brojne zastave postavljene u čast poginulih Iraca i Irkinja koji su služili u Britanskoj vojsci*

Gospina kapela u Katedrali služila je za obrede francuskih Hugenota koji su, u 17. stoljeću, pobjegli, a pokopani na valjda najmanjem groblju koje sam ikada vidjela 🙂

Na putu do Trinity Collega, zaustavili smo se u Nacionalnoj galeriji, jedinom rijetkom muzeju što ima besplatni ulaz te smo odjurili na drugi kat gdje se nalazi kolekcija portreta, samo da bi vidjeli Grahama Nortona 🙂

*Rodna kuća Oscara Wildea, još jednog od poznatih stanovnika Dublina*

Trinity College je najpoznatije irsko sveučilište osnovano 1592. godine po uzoru na već postojeća sveučilišta kao što su Oxford ili Cambridge.

Sveučilište su pohađali neki od poznatih književnika poput već spomenutog Oscara, Samuela Becketta, Bram Stokera ili Jonathana Swifta, koji je bio dekan Katedrale sv. Patrika, a najpoznatije je, ipak, po bogatoj knjižnici koja čuva jednu od najstarijih oslikanih rukopisa na svijetu; Knjigu Kellsa te scenografiji za snimanje Harryja Pottera.
Obzirom da nisam ljubitelj ni jednog ni drugog, samo smo protrčali kroz zgrade sveučilišta i produžili do trgovine viskija i džina. To se nekako činilo prikladnijim za posjet Dublinu 🙂

A DAY IN DUBLIN

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