June 20 and June 21 the ship was docked in Dublin, Ireland. Because we had been to Dublin before and seen many of the main sights, we decided to buy a two day "HopOn, HopOff" ticket to see a wider range of areas.
Because Neil loves history, and has seen movies and read books about the Irish rebellions and civil war, we decided to spend some time at the Kilmainham Gaol Museum, which was been preserved by Heritage Ireland. Here you can really feel the history of many of Ireland's tragic events. We had an excellent tour guide.
The Gaol is of historical importance to Ireland because it was the site if incarnation of many leaders of the Irish nationalist movement. Many were executed there.
Eamon D. Valera was imprisoned here in 1916. He was a leader of the Irish independent movement and of the ensuing civil war and was involved in the 1916 Easter Rising. Fortunately, he was not executed as there was political pressure by the time of his arrest to halt executions. A few years later, D. Valera became President of the Irish Republic.
Next we went to the Old Jameson Distillery where we had a very good lunch and tour.
The next day we visited the Guinness Storehouse which was built as the fermentation plant for Guiness beer in Dublin, but is now a tourist museum detailing the steps involved in making Guiness. The land was orignally leased by Arthur Guiness in 1759 for 9,000 years.
I then went to Trinity College and visited the Library where its greatest treasure is the "Book of Kells". The Book of Kells is a beautifully illustrated manuscript of the gospels from about the 8th century.
I then went to the nearby Irish Sweater Shop and bought myself a gorgeous cashmere/silk pullover. Can't go to Ireland without buying a sweater.
Really have been enjoying your photos and commentary! Glad you found some time to post...I know it's a busy week.
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