Saturday 26 July

Dublin day 2

Dublin has many attractions in the city area. Robyn and I took a sightseeing bus tour (a hop on/ hop off arrangement) to get an overview. We sat on the bus while it took us past Trinity College, a jail, several museums and churches; and through medieval Dublin. It also took us right around the Guinness Brewery - a huge and glorious place.

At last we got off the bus at St Michan's church. This place has a crypt, and a guide to show people around. The place is dry, and stable; and so the bodies have been mummified (dried that is - there was no embalming or wrapping in cloth). There are two sections, each with 8 cells. Most of these are closed off with wrought iron gates, although on has a door (with three holes in it so we could see in). Each cell typically contains six coffins in very good condition. In one cell though, the bottom coffin of a stack of three had been crushed. In front of it, just near the entrance was a skull.

The highlight of the place is one cell with four open coffins; the skeletons laid bare for us to see. The lights were on, and the archway into the room open. Our guide told us about the four skeletons we could see. One was a Crusader, one was a nun. Another may have been a thief (no right hand). The last one was not identified, but is over 800 years old. All had some clothing, or possibly, skin remaining. There was also a spare leg bone resting casually on top of a closed coffin, and at the end of the passage was a jawbone sitting on a ledge. All a bit surreal actually. The guide invited us to touch the hand of the crusader - for good luck ! We both declined out of respect for the dead, although several others in our group did.

When we emerged, it was drizzling rain, but this didn't last long. We walked to the Museum of Decorative Arts and History. This was actually an odd mix.

The history was military and political. The Irish uprisings of 1798 and 1916 were explained. Then the guerrilla war leading up to the Treaty with Britain in 1922. This was a big display, of course, as Ireland has only been a republic since 1937. This is still in living memory.

Another part of the museum showed various military stuff, guns, planes (only 2  of these), uniforms, cannon and other weapons - that sort of stuff. I walked through it but didn't stop to look closely. I've seen this kind of stuff before, and I'm not much into the details of military history (strategy and battles -yes, but not but not the details of an AK47 assault rifle). Every country has their military displays though, and Ireland has at least reused an old army barracks.


The decorative arts were ceramics, glassware, silverware, clothing and furnishings. The place has literally tons of ceramic and glass pieces from all over the world. Almost all of these are in perfect condition. I saw only a handful of glass bottles which were scratched or chipped. All the rest seem to have been bought new, or taken from private collections. Everything is laid out on shelving, but its a bit crowded and hard to see.

Robyn looked at the clothing (the section was named "The Way We Wore"). All lovely stuff - like this..

I saw some of Eileen Gray's work as a furniture designer, and interior designer. She was very well regarded by those in the know, but not very well known by anyone else.

Here is one of her chairs

 

Well, it looked better in real life, even if they wouldn't let me sit on it.

 

 

After looking at a few more sections such as the reconstructed rooms from the 1900s, and the collection of religious silverware, we were kicked out (at 5 o'clock).

 

The tour bus took us back to a spot near our apartment on Lower Gardiner Street, and we walked home via a little grocery shop. After dropping the groceries off, we walked on down to O'shea's pub. I had a pint, and Robyn had a nice Sauvignon Blanc. Honestly, you can get wine anywhere these days, even in a pub in the heart of Guinness country.

 

Finally, we came home to cook dinner and watch the Tour de France on the telly.

 

 

Nitey night

 

 

Lex and Robyn