A Walk Through History 03/10/2022

You could not ask for better weather than we had today. Not a cloud in the sky, temperature in the mid 50's. We met Harry and Amanda for breakfast in the hotel and afterwards began our tour of Dublin. We walked to Connelley Train Station and printed our tickets to Belfast for Monday. Then we walked to the Dublin Spire to meet our tour guide. Our guide was Sam McGovern. Sam is a native of Ireland and is a professional actor. He has appeared in several movies and does a lot of commercials in Ireland. One of his movies can be seen on NetFlix. The name of his NetFlix movie is "Michael Inside". Just google Sam McGovern, actor and you will see a list of Sam's movies. As I said, the weather was great and 3 and 1/2 hours and 15,000 steps later, we finished our tour. We had made a new friend and he shared a great deal of the history of Dublin and Ireland with us. I felt this was one of best tours we have had in our travels. If your travels bring you to Dublin, and you wish to take a walking tour, then contact Sam. Sam can be reached at samuelmcgovern@gmail.com or on Instagram @samuelmcgov We started the tour at the Spire of Dublin. It is a 390' stainless steel, pin-like monument located on O'Connell Street in Dublin. It's a great place to meet your tour guide. Our first stop on our tour was the General Post Office. This building was prominent in the Easter Rising of 1916, where armed groups of Irish volunteers and members of the Citizen Army took over the GPO and proclaimed the Irish Republic. The armed insurrection was ended 5 days after it began. The battle scars are still visible on the building columns. Our next stop after leaving the Spire was the O'Connell Bridge. This bridge was named after Daniel O'Connell. Mr. O'Connell was the acknowledged leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority and was instrumental in abolishing many laws enacted against the Catholics. We then went to Trinity College, home of the Book of Kells. Trinity College was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I, as an all Protestant school. Catholics were admitted in 1793 and women were allowed in 1904. Today it is ranked as Europe's most international university with nearly 30% of its students from outside Ireland. The Book of Kells, sometimes known as the Book of Columba, is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament. It is believed that this work was completed in the 8th century. Next we visited the Temple Bar area. Temple Bar is located on the Southbank of the River Liffey. It is one of the oldest areas in Dublin and is home to one of Europe’s oldest built theatres (Smock Alley Theatre). Over the years it has maintained its medieval street exterior with narrow cobbled streets. It is famed as being the cultural quarter of Dublin with a number of cultural organizations, artists, and creative professionals based in the area . It is well known for its lively nightlife, and attracts a number of tourists with its large variety of bars, clubs, and restaurants. We later visited the Dublin Castle, the Christ Church Cathedral, and St. Patrick's Cathedral. Dublin Castle was erected early in the 13th century on the site of a Viking settlement. The castle has served for centuries for the English, and later the British administration in Ireland. It was handed over to the new Irish government in 1922. It is still in use today. Christ Church was founded in 1030. This church is officially claimed as the Church of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland, founded in 1191, is the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland. As you can see, today has been busy. We ended the day with a visit to the Gravediggers Pub. It was established in 1833 and owned by John Kavanagh, a 7th generation family. Great food, great company.