“A
nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it
honors, the men it remembers.” John
Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th President of the United States
Carol writes:
DUBLIN: It was in
Dublin, the Republic of Ireland’s capital and largest city, where the echoes of
Ireland’s fight for independence could be seen and heard the loudest.
Our guidebook had given such praise for the double-decker
hop-on/hop off bus tours that we decided to use that method to visit the
historic areas of chief importance.
From the very start of our bus tour, it was quite apparent
that Dublin is very proud of the men who fought for Irish rights while Ireland
chaffed under British rule for over 700 years. Numerous statues of notable Irish heroes were
seen everywhere. The statue of Daniel
O’Connell (“The Liberator”), with the controversial Millennium Spire in the
background, stated loud and clear that we were unmistakably in Dublin.
There were statues of many of the brave patriots, such as
Michael Collins, who paved the way for Irish independence in 1922.
Along the main street was the General Post Office, one of
the most iconic buildings in all of Dublin and the one that played such a big
part in the 1916 Easter Uprising. This
was where Patrick Pearse read the Proclamation of Irish Independence (from
British rule) that kick-started the tragic violent events of Easter Day nearly
100 years ago. Damage from bullets fired
during a fierce gun battle with British troops could still be seen on some of
the classic stone columns that graced the front of the Post Office.
The Easter Day Uprising against British rule did not turn
out favorably for the Irish. Sixteen of
the leaders of the rebellion were captured and imprisoned at Kilmainham
Gaol. Within a month, fourteen of these
men were executed at the gaol (jail) by firing squad. We took a tour of the jail and found it to be
a very sobering experience, especially the area in the courtyard with a simple
cross commemorating the spot where some of the executions took place.
One of the sixteen who was not executed was a man named
Eamon de Valera who, incredibly, eventually became the president of Ireland and
was a dominant political leader for 40 years.
His cell in Kilmainham was commemorated with a name plaque.
One fact became certain during our visit to the
jail—imprisonment there was a dreadful experience and no amount of restoring some
of the cells with nicely whitewashed walls could change that.
On a lighter note, while we were in Dublin we couldn’t
resist a visit to Trinity College. We
took an entertaining, joke-packed tour led by one of Trinity’s graduate
students.
The highlight of the tour was viewing the famous Irish
medieval illuminated gospel manuscript known as the Book of Kells that was
housed inside the extraordinary Trinity Old Library. The Book of Kells has been regarded as one of
the finest works of art from the Dark Ages.
[Internet photo]
On first entering the library, which was stacked two stories
to the ceiling with some of Trinity’s oldest books, both Al and I had what we
call one of those rare ‘wow moments.’
While in Dublin, we spent the better part of a whole day
tackling the highly-praised Dublin Museum of Archeology which showed off Irish treasures
from the Stone Age up to modern times.
We were fascinated by the very old golden necklaces,
along with one of the collection’s most notable pieces, the
Tara Brooch (fastener for a cape).
But…to be totally honest, it was the tasteful and excellent
display of ‘bog bodies’ that held the most fascination…ghoulish but
irresistible.
These bodies had been preserved for over a millennium in the
oxygen-starved environment of a bog.
Dublin lays claim to several of the world’s most well-
regarded authors—James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and W.B. Yeats,
among others. During our ramblings, we
stumbled on what has become a permanent display on the life and works of W.B
Yeats, one of Ireland’s most beloved poets.
As always, it was fascinating to see some of the world’s most famous
literature written in the hand of its author, freezing for all time the moment
of its creation.
We also made a quick visit to the National Gallery to see Dublin’s
fine collection of European masters. We
thought this would also be a great opportunity to get an introduction to some well-regarded
Irish painters. I was especially curious
to see a painting called “Meeting on the
Turret Stairs” by Frederic Burton, which had been voted Ireland’s favorite
painting in 2012. It was just around the
corner at the very end of the Irish exhibition…
What the heck???
BELFAST: After 19
days of touring the island and two days of strolling through Dublin’s very
historic streets, we felt we had learned a lot about Ireland’s stormy history
of war and peace, suppression and independence, conflict and calm.
We had booked a ferry back to Scotland that left at 11:30
p.m., so that left us the day to look around Belfast. Today, although Belfast enjoys a fragile
peace, we detected a feeling of tenseness in the air. The political sentiment of the Protestant/Unionist
areas was displayed loud and clear. In
many towns in Northern Ireland the Union Jack (the British flag), along with a flag
displaying the “Red Hand of Ulster,” was prominently displayed along the road
on every vertical pole. Many private
residences also flew these flags. It
struck us as sort of an ‘in-your-face’ way of saying that they are happy as a
member of the United Kingdom and have no desire to reunite with the largely
Catholic majority in the Republic of Ireland.
Or…perhaps the Protestant Unionists in Northern Ireland were just more
vocal than the Catholics who long for Irish reunification. Whatever the case, we always felt a little on
edge in Northern Ireland, especially in Belfast, scene of some terrible
violence during the ‘Troubles’ not too many years ago. We saw brick wall murals with militant Unionist
symbolism in some of the neighborhoods that we drove through. We were not tempted to get out and walk in
any of these neighborhoods, as some of the Belfast crowd struck us as a bit on
the rough side.
Our primary destination in Belfast was a place with no
political overtones--the Titanic Belfast,
a sparkling new museum that just opened in 2012.
This high-tech museum told an incredibly detailed story of
the short life of the Titanic--from planning, through construction by the proud
ship workers in Belfast, to the fatal maiden voyage in 1912. Everything you always wanted to know about
the Titanic was in this top-notch modern
museum.
BACK TO SCOTLAND: With
their usual efficiency, in a little over two hours Stena Lines had ferried us
across the Irish Sea back to Cairnryan, Scotland. We spent the 2-hour ride in the TV lounge watching
“Oblivion” starring Tom Cruise. After 6 months of no television, a movie
appealed to us as a novel diversion to pass the time. So, along with the rough-and-tumble trucker
crowd, we were entertained by the movie and in no time at all were pulling into
port. We felt very happy to be back in
Scotland and were eagerly looking forward to some great Scottish ambience in
Edinburgh.
“My Ulster blood is my
most priceless heritage.”
James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States
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