Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Hustle and Bustle Around the City of Dublin



Dublin, the capital of Ireland, has quite a little charm of its own to it. It definitely lived up to its reputation and beyond. Though I am not much of a city person myself, I very much enjoyed the bright and colorful shops, the live Irish music playing in the streets, and the way the old architecturally significant buildings have been preserved. One thing that Dublin had in common with every other city was its fast moving pace. Everyone seemed to flow along with it, excluding us of course! Some of the people would quickly zoom around our group to get past us and hurry off to their meetings or their classes at Trinity College, and even the people that seemed to be on shopping excursions seemed to be in a hurry as well! In the meantime, we were just enjoying the sights and taking them all in.

This is a little view of Grafton Street in Dublin--ideal for shopping!


I thought this was also neat. It was like a clash of times with brand new trams on a bridge built in 1821! The purpose of trams is not only to get people quickly from point A to point B, but also to greatly reduce Dublin's traffic, which has been successful. Dublin also has all large trucks traveling underneath the city to reduce traffic buildup, and in order for the trucks to be in the city they need a permit. Dublin is also trying to start a new bicycle transportation system, and it is up and on the rise. Even further, instead of adding to the pollution and traffic problems throughout the city, you can even rent a bicycle for the day from various stations throughout the city. It seems like a good idea to me!

Another neat thing to see in Dublin is the houses. The houses in Dublin are built as row housing, and the only way that the owners can individualize their houses is to paint their door. They also may change the hinges and the trim, but the main thing that sets them apart from each other is the color that the owners choose for the doors. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of the doors to display until I am able to hook up my other camera to my computer at home, but these doors have had quite alot of fame in several movies, so you may have already seen them yourself!

Also, in Dublin, this cross below was erected for the visit of Pope John Paul II in Phoenix Park, in September of 1979. The Pope held a mass here for an unexpectedly large crowd of over one million people. We took a walk up the steps and stood where the Pope would have spoken, and it was such an amazing sight from his point of view because I could see far out into the distance over a large stretch of land which would have been covered with all the people. We also took at stroll around St. Stephen's Green Park. I could see lots of flowers starting to bud, and there were birds everywhere. It was a very pleasant park with beautiful fountains around it as well. I think I actually experienced a little bit of Spring on its way!
While visiting the city, we also payed a visit to Trinity College. Located in the heart of Dublin, the Trinity College campus really made me feel like I was back in the 18th century as I walked through its cobblestones surrounded by its magnificent buildings on all four sides. The old library of the college houses Ireland's most precious treasure,the Book of Kells. It is an old 9th century manuscript containing the four gospels in Latin, lavished with beautiful artistic symbols and colorful drawings within the text. It was amazing to see this right in front of me and to imagine the time and patience that it must have taken to carefully and beautifully copy each word of the gospel by hand. Another amazing sight to see was the main chamber of the old library in the college, known as the Long Room. It is filled with 200,000 of the library's oldest books. There are also many of Ireland's treasures showcased in this room including one of the few remaining copies of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic. Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed to be taken due to interferences with the preservation of the objects, but if I were to describe it with words it simply would not do it justice; here is a picture from the web:

www.upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Trinity_College_Library-long_room.jpg

After I learned a little bit of the extremely complex history of Ireland, my little group and I moved on to a visit more familiar to us--Catherine McAuley's first House of Mercy that she built. Catherine McAuley and all of her work has greatly impacted many parts of the world. She was born in Dublin in 1778, and she had a love for the poor, inherited from her Catholic father. Unfortunately, her mother and father died when Catherine was quite young, and she was then adopted. Catherine then used the money that she inherited to build a house on the corner of Baggot Street which served as both a home for her and her helpers and also as a place for them to care for those in need. Eventually, Catherine and her helpers became Sisters, and they became known as the Sisters of Mercy. Catherine died quite young; however, her merciful works and acts are still being carried out in many Houses of Mercy around the world. This was all very exciting to see outside of the classroom, as Gwynedd Mercy College was actually founded by the Sisters of Mercy. We toured all around this first House of Mercy and saw the schoolroom in which Catherine taught the children. We also saw her bedroom which was her place of death, and we visited her grave behind the house where both her and some of the Sisters of Mercy have been buried. In this cemetery there was a little fountain of water which contained water from different countries around the world in which some of the Sisters worked in. Each of the Sisters brought back this water in a decorative vase relating to the specific country. Unfortunately, there was no photography allowed inside the actual house, so I cannot share any pictures of this as well.


One of my favorite places that we visited in this little tour around Dublin was St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was the most magnificent cathedral that I have ever seen:

The cathedral was built in honor of St. Patrick, Ireland's patron saint. It actually stands adjacent to the well that St. Patrick baptized converts on his visit to Dublin. The church is open to everyone for historical visits and also serves as a place to worship. In the first picture above, the wooden seats on the left and the right are for the choir. The architecture of the cathedral is extremely detailed, with each detail adding to its beauty. Before we left the cathedral, my sister and I both lit a special candle inside the little chapel in remembrance of my father's life. I'm extremely happy that my sister and I got that opportunity because I've been keeping him in mind throughout this whole trip, imagining his excitement. I know he would have especially loved this place.

Outside view of the cathedral.

I enjoyed my two day stay in Dublin, as it was a city none like any I've seen before! When I took all of the commercialism out of my view, the preservation of the city's old architecture really allowed me to experience what the old city used to be like. I could tell that the people of Ireland really care about this city because of all the preservation, restoration, traffic control, and also the litter-free streets. I am very lucky and grateful to have been able to experience this city in its true essence.


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