Thursday, July 14
The ship had again arranged a shuttle bus to take us into town, and it dropped us off very close to Trinity College. This was our main priority as the old Library there holds the Book of Kells. This ancient book was written around 800 AD by monks in Latin, and is a highly decorated book of the 4 Gospels of the Bible. The skill in writing the gospels out in Latin, and the decorations added to various pages in different styles and symbolism really amazed us. That it has survived since it was finished is also amazing, given the fires, wars and travelling it has done!
After learning about how they did it, and seeing just 2 open pages, we moved upstairs to the Long Room of the Library. This vast hall is 65 metres long, with beautiful wooden barrel vaulted ceilings, and holds about 200,000 of the Library's oldest books! There was also an old harp on display, which dates from the 15th Century, and it is this harp that appears on Irish coins.
It was time for lunch and a pint of Irish ale, which was very nice. We then took in the Molly Malone statue, crossed the Liffey River, and made our way to the GPO and the Millenial Needle. It was outside the GPO that the Irish Declaration of Independence was read out during the 1916 Easter uprising.
It was now time for some retail therapy as we walked along some of the pedestrian only streets and through to the Temple Bar or legal section of town. The City Hall and Dublin Castle are nearby, so we checked them out before moving on to St.Stephen's Green shopping centre, which was very classy and really well renovated for a 100 year old (or there a outs) shopping complex.
After dinner we went to the Irish Folk show that had been arranged on the ship. It was good hearing some old Irish folk songs and seeing some Irish dancing.
The ship had again arranged a shuttle bus to take us into town, and it dropped us off very close to Trinity College. This was our main priority as the old Library there holds the Book of Kells. This ancient book was written around 800 AD by monks in Latin, and is a highly decorated book of the 4 Gospels of the Bible. The skill in writing the gospels out in Latin, and the decorations added to various pages in different styles and symbolism really amazed us. That it has survived since it was finished is also amazing, given the fires, wars and travelling it has done!
After learning about how they did it, and seeing just 2 open pages, we moved upstairs to the Long Room of the Library. This vast hall is 65 metres long, with beautiful wooden barrel vaulted ceilings, and holds about 200,000 of the Library's oldest books! There was also an old harp on display, which dates from the 15th Century, and it is this harp that appears on Irish coins.
It was time for lunch and a pint of Irish ale, which was very nice. We then took in the Molly Malone statue, crossed the Liffey River, and made our way to the GPO and the Millenial Needle. It was outside the GPO that the Irish Declaration of Independence was read out during the 1916 Easter uprising.
It was now time for some retail therapy as we walked along some of the pedestrian only streets and through to the Temple Bar or legal section of town. The City Hall and Dublin Castle are nearby, so we checked them out before moving on to St.Stephen's Green shopping centre, which was very classy and really well renovated for a 100 year old (or there a outs) shopping complex.
After dinner we went to the Irish Folk show that had been arranged on the ship. It was good hearing some old Irish folk songs and seeing some Irish dancing.
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