Trip to Ireland

Monday, September 3

We took a ferry from Swansea to Cork. We arrived at the port before 9:00 in the evening and boarded the ferry. We had a stateroom with a private bath. Very small, and no windows. The boat was rocking a little during the night, and but it wasn't bad.

Kenji's Corner

When we arrived at the port, there was a big ferry. However, there were only a few foot passengers. Almost all the seats were empty, and I don't think the cabins were full. Our cabin was very small with bunk beds and a small bathroom with a shower. We paid 36 pounds for this cabin, and one advantage was that we could lie down.

I exchanged money on the ferry, and I found out later that they had a good rate.

When we got off the ferry, we were given a brochure of youth hostels. I assume that many backpackers take this ferry, especially as foot passengers. Later I found that the bus service from London to Ireland is much cheaper than this ferry.

Tuesday, September 4

The name Cork comes from the word corcaigh, which means marsh, because it was built on what was once a marsh around the River Lee. The city's patron saint, St. Finnebar, built a monastery on the site in about 650. The city became an important port for Ireland's butter exports in the 18th century. In the mid-19th century, thousands of people who were suffering from starvation as a result of the potato famine flooded into Cork, and the port of Cobh (pronounced "cove") became an important point of departure for immigrants to the New World. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Cork was an important center of the Irish independence movement.

According to our guidebook, there were a number of B&Bs on McCurtain Street a couple blocks north of the bus station, across the River Lee. (Cork lies around and between two channels of the River Lee.) We went there and looked for a B&B. We accidentally wandered into a police station first, because the B&B was downstairs and the police station upstairs. We found a room in the second place we asked, and there was a friendly proprietor there who served us tea and toast before we went off sightseeing.

We visited a church called St. Anne's Church, Shandon, on the hills in the north part of the city. From the outside, the church looks a little odd, because it is faces with grayish white limestone on two walls and red sandstone on the other two. The clock tower has a clock on each side. At one time, the clock was known as the "four-faced liar," since each clock was set to a different time. Now they all agree. More useful, perhaps, but less colorful. St. Anne's is famous for its bells, which are mentioned in Irish folk songs about Cork. For a price, visitors can climb up into the bell tower and ring the bells. There are eight bells, and the bell pulls are numbered. There are some songs that are transcribed by writing down the corresponding bell numbers. The hard part is getting the rhythm right. I tried a few, such as "Waltzing Matlida" and "Home on the Range," but the only song I could make sound like itself was "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" from the musical "Evita." I bet this just drives people who live in the neighborhood crazy.

After ringing the bells, we climbed the tower and got a great view of the city. From the tower, you can see the rivers, the cathedral, and the green fields beyond the city.

The church itself is plain and simple. They have a small collection of manuscripts from the 16th century onwards.

Near the church was the Butter Museum, next to the Butter Exchange, where butter was once graded before being exported. Butter was very important to the ancient Irish people, who churned it and then heavily salted it and put it in wooden casks in the bogs. It was called bog butter. Butter was so important that, except for a few bulls for breeding, the Irish only raised female cows. That way, there would be as much milk as possible for making into butter. In the 1800s, butter was exported from Ireland throughout the world. The museum was rather interesting, because I had had no idea that butter had been so important to Irish culture.

We also visited a former jail, which is located in the western part of the city. It had a recorded tour, and we walked around the jail listening to the recording, telling us about the history of the prison and the stories of various prisoners who had been there. There were mannequins representing various prison employees and prisoners. A lot of the people who were imprisoned there were among the ones who were driven to the city as a result of the potato famine. As the guide said, the worst crime that many of them had committed was being born poor. They stole because they would have starved otherwise. In some cases, the guards were no different from the prisoners. They sometimes stole the prisoners' allotted food. Therefore, prisoners were weighed periodically to make sure they were being fed properly and were not losing too much weight.

We stopped at a pub on the way back to the main part of the city to have lunch. One thing I had forgotten about British/Irish English is that when they say "chicken salad," they mean chicken and salad, not a salad with chicken in it, which is how Americans use it. So I didn't get what I expected, but it was really good -- cold chicken and a variety of salads.

From the jail, we walked to St. Finnibar's Cathedral, a Protestant cathedral built in the late 1800s and dedicated to the founder and patron saint of the city. The area around the altar is especially impressive, with stained glass windows of the story of the life of Christ.

Near the cathedral was the Red Abbey. All that is left of the 13th century abbey is a tower. It was used as a cannon emplacement when King William III bombarded the city in the 1690s.

On the way back to the B&B, we walked by the National Monument, which is dedicated to the memory of Irish patriots who died between 1798 and 1867. We also took a detour through the English Market, which was a covered fruit and vegetable market established in 1610. I was tired and went back to the B&B for a nap, but Kenji went to Cobh.

Kenji's Corner

The views from the ferry was very beautiful.

We found a B&B that was only 45 Irish pounds. Things are much cheaper in Ireland than in the UK.

We followed Kathi's plan for sightseeing. The problem with her plan is that there are too few things to see, so we finished our sightseeing around three, except for going to Cobh.

Kathi's bell concert was good, but I don't think residents thought that was great. Probably they are tired of listening similar music all the time.

The jail was interesting. They had recording and also at the end, they had an audio visual presentation about political prisoners, which was nice. I guess now people are used to audio visual or multi-media presentations; maybe we need to make our web site more multi-media.

Since Kathi was tired, I went to Cobh by myself by train. This small port city was the last stop for the Titanic. The Queenstown Story has some exhibitions about it. It also had some exhibitions on Lucitania, which was sunk by a German u-boat. Many passengers died, and there is a memorial for the dead in the center of own.

There is a Cathedral on the hill. It was a nice church. One interesting thing with it was its souvenir shop was outside of the building, and there was a big sign for it, even though it had very few things to sell.

After I went back to Cork, we looked for a nice restaurant. We ended up a cheap Italian restaurant. We had had a good lunch in a pub, and I ate a seafood platter which was only seven Irish pound (about 1,000 yen). I had a lot of crab, salmon, and shrimp.

I found that most places we visited took only cash. I felt that I went back to a long time ago, since I would think that credit cards would be accepted more in a large city like Cork. I was glad that we exchanged much money on the ferry.

Cork is the second largest city in Ireland. However, the city does not look very large. We saw the most important things in city on foot.

Wednesday, September 5

When we arrived in Kinsale, we took a taxi to Charles Fort (named after King Charles II), which was built in the 1670s a couple miles from the city to protect the harbor. It had some interesting buildings and a great view of the harbor and Kinsale. Charles Fort is a star-shaped fort, one of the best surviving examples of star-shaped forts in Europe. (At one time, star-shaped forts were common. The advantage they had was that soldiers could shoot at enemy soldiers trying to enter the fort from two angles. The man who designed this fort, as well as a number of other star-shaped forts in Europe, also wrote a book about how to attack them. I guess you could say he was working both sides of the street.) It was in an excellent position to protect the harbor (along with James Fort [named after King James II] on the opposite side of the harbor), but it was vulnerable to attack from the land side, and King William III captured it in 1690. It continued to be a working for t until 1922, when the British left Ireland and it was turned over to the Irish government, who closed it down.

We walked back to the city along the harbor, which was a very nice walk. We had lunch at the Blue Haven, a seafood restaurant.

From there, we went to Desmond Castle, a small castle that, among other things, was once a prison. It was locally called the "French Prison," because of the French prisoners held there. It also once housedprisoners of war from the American Revolutionary War. Apparently the people of Kinsale did a lot to make sure that the prisoners were properly fed and cared for, because they were sympathetic to the cause of independence. George Washington later wrote them a letter of thanks. It had a museum about the history of the prison and also included a wine museum.

We tried to visit St. Multose Church, but it was closed. However, we did walk around in the old grave yard. The Old Courthouse, which was once (you guessed it) a courthouse, is now a museum of the history of the region. There have been a number of shipwrecks off of the coast near Kinsale, and the museum had some remnants from the ships.

The main street in Kinsale is picturesque, with brightly painted shops and restaurants.

Kenji's Corner

We decided to take the 8:44 bus to Kinsale. The bus terminal is very large, but the ticket windows and money exchange didn't open until 9 o'clock. We had to buy tickets on the bus using cash.

Kinsale is famous for the battle in which Irish and Spanish Catholics were defeated by British Protestants. After that Catholics suffered inequality.

Kinsale is at the end of a long bay, and there is a fortress on each side, one of which is Charles Fort. We walked back to Kinsale, and from the path we could see many sailboats and small ships in the harbor.

There are not many things to see, but we had a long guided tour in a castle, which took about forty minutes. This was a very small castle, only one small building with three stories. The guide explained the details including wine export. This was a wine museum, too.

I had a nice seafood lunch here. They have nice seafood around here. We went back to that cheap Italian restaurant near our hotel for dinner.

Thursday, September 6

The Folk Park is a collection of old houses and other buildings. It was originally started when an old house had to be moved to build the Shannon airport runway. It now has different types of farmhouses and other farm buildings, a village with houses, a school, and businesses, a church, waterwheels, and a couple of larger houses where the gentry would have lived.

After we left the folk park, we drove through the Burren, a huge area of limestone. We stopped to see a dolmen, a type of monument built in ancient times with three large standing stones and a capstone on top. It is particularly impressive when you realize how large it is -- probably ten feet tall.

Finally, we arrived at the Cliffs of Moher, which is one of the most dramatic stretches of Western Ireland's coastline, and one of the most beautiful coastlines I've ever seen. (As far as rugged coastlines, as opposed to beaches, perhaps only the Great Ocean Road in southern Australia is more beautiful.) The cliffs rise 200 meters (about 650 feet) out of the sea, and run for 8 kilometers (5 miles). Kenji climbed O'Brien's Tower, which was originally built for Victorian tourists, to get a view from there. We could see mountain goats standing on precarious positions on the cliffs. It's amazing that they could live there.

Kenji's Corner

I really liked Bunnatty. As a mater of fact, we went there for a banquet held in the castle six years ago. But this time, we could see more. We had a guided tour of part of the castle, and we could see many buildings in a village. I like this type of folk museum. We spent about two hours there, but we could have spent more time.

We saw a big dolman. It is almost three meters high. I wondered how people put the flat rock on the top of three rocks even though they are very high. We saw a smaller dolman at the heritage center the next day.

The Cliffs of Moher are really something. It is rather scary. The view was nice but the sun was setting, so it would have been better earlier in the day. We heard as we left that someone had fallen. It is really dangerous and there were so many signs warning people not to get close to the cliffs, but people seemed to ignore them, climbing over the fence to take pictures or get their pictures taken.

We had a nice seafood dinner in a pub. I had Guinness with it. This is very Irish.

I guess we drove almost 500 kilometers or even longer. We could see the lovely countryside of Ireland. It is said that Ireland has forty-eight shades of green, and I really believe they have many beautiful shades of green. Many Japanese tourists are amazed by the beautiful greens in the countryside in Britain, but Ireland is far better.

We came back to the hotel around 9:30 and saw nice evening lights on the river. The tour was 12 hours long, but it was only 21 Irish pounds. Transportation in Ireland is cheap.

Friday, September 7

A gate called the Westgate from Norman times (12th century) is still standing, and nearby is The Westgate Heritage Center, which has an audiovisual program that traces the history of Wexford -- but unfortunately, it was closed when we were there. There was also a ruined abbey called Selskar Abbey which we also would have liked to see, but it was closed, too, through we could see it from the gate.

From Wexford, we went to the National Heritage Park. It has different kinds of structures from Ireland's ancient history (before the Normans came in the late 1160s). First, we saw a video that traced the history of Ireland during that period, and then we went around to see different structures. The first immigrants to Ireland came 8-9 thousand years ago from Scandinavia through Scotland. They lived by fishing and gathering wild plants, and they lived in simple structures of wood frames covered by skins. The next wave of immigrants, about 6000 years ago, brought agricultural techniques, and and these immigrants grew food and raised animals. They built more sturdy dwellings, round houses with thatched roofs. These were the ones who built dolmens and stone circles.

Later immigrants, such as the Celts and Vikings, built ring forts with homes and outbuildings inside them. They also built crannogs, which were compounds on islands in lakes. The Celts developed a sort of writing that consisted of vertical slashes on a baseline. They were carved writing into large, flat stones. After Ireland was converted to Christianity in the 5th century, monasteries became important. A monastery would include a church, buildings for different kinds of work, and accommodations. Every monastery had a high cross, which was a large stone Celtic cross (a cross with a circle where the bars cross), with carvings of Biblical scenes. (The carvings were used as memory aids, because most people could not read.) Though the paint has not survived, most of the high crosses are believed to have been brightly painted. Monasteries also usually had a round tower, a tall tower that was used to hide valuables, as a lookout, and as a hideout if the monastery was attacked.

The Vikings began coming to Ireland in boats as raiders in the 9th century. Over the next century or two, they frequently came on raids, but they also began settling and founding cities.

We saw examples of all these types of structures at the heritage park.

Kenji's corner

We tried to sightsee in the city first. However, the church gates were locked, and the museum was closed. Even people in businesses nearby did not know when they were open. People at the tourist information center were not very helpful.

The heritage center was kind of interesting. It was not as good as Bunratty Park, since it had houses and items that were much older. However, Kathi was a good guide, so things made sense, and also since we have studied the early history of Ireland since returning to Japan, they have become more interesting for us.

We found that soft ice cream in Ireland is very good, and there are some stores which have big signs of soft ice cream. We sometimes stopped to get it.

Saturday, September 8

We visited a wonderful regional museum, called Waterford Treasures. It included many of the items that have been found in excavations. This museum also had a taped guided tour. At various points, we entered numbers to hear about the main points of the tour. We could enter other numbers to hear more details about topics we were particularly interested in.

We visited Reginald's Tower, part of the old city wall, which was built by the Normans in the 12th century. (We were lucky that, because it was European Heritage Week, we were able to get in there, and some other places, for free.) It is 25 meters high, and the walls are three to four meters thick. The tower has been a mint, an ammunition depot, and a police station, but today it is a museum. We saw some artifacts from the city's history. Also, there were two people dressed in period costumes doing demonstrations, one of metal work and the other of spinning and weaving. The woman who was demonstrating spinning and weaving let me spin some wool. She was using a kind of spinner called a hanging spinner, which dangles from the hank of wool and spins the wool. It is slow and I'm sure would become tedious very quickly if you had to spin enough thread to weave a garment. It was easy to see why the spinning wheel was such an improvement. She also had some weaving in progress on a standing loom.

We also visited the two cathedrals, which were both build in the 18th century. (Waterford has the distinction of being the only city in the world whose Protestant and Catholic cathedrals were designed by the same man. Another man who worked both sides of the street.) The Protestant church was built in the late 1800s, but it sits on the site of older churches. It is rather simple and austere. There was a rectangular area in the back of the church that was excavated, so we could see down into the layers of the foundations of the earlier churches. There is also a famous tomb there, " the tomb of James Rice, a Lord Mayor of Waterford who died in the 1400s. The effigy shows the body decaying, and it has the inscription, As you are, I once was; as I am, you will be." The Catholic cathedral is more sumptuous than the Protestant one. It has Waterford crystal chandeliers and a beautiful pulpit.

We also walked to a place where part of the old city wall was still standing. There was a watchtower in this part of the wall.

Kenji's Corner

The museum was excellent. It is a guided tour with an audio-visual thing in various languages. You punch in the number of the exhibit and listen to the explanation. If you are interested in it, you can hear more explanations related to it. They had various kinds of displays and in a sense very realistic. We spent almost twice much time going through the museum as they suggested at the ticket window.

We visited Reginald's Tower, where they had a video on the history of Waterford. Nowadays, they have video or audio visual equipment in tourist places. I think it is a good idea because it is much realistic and easy to understand than just exhibits and written explanations. Multi-media presentations are much more effective.

They had demonstrations of metal work and weaving. Kathi seemed to enjoy the weaving a lot.

Sunday, September 9

Since it was Sunday morning, the earliest thing that opened was the Black Abbey, which was founded in 1225 and is named after the black habits of the Dominican friars. For a time it served as a courthouse, and it was nearly in ruins for many years, until it was restored in 1866 after the laws that prevented Catholics from practicing their religion were repealed. It has some beautiful stained glass windows.

We went to the castle and signed up for a time for the tour of the castle, which is the only way we can see it. Then we walked around on the grounds of the castle, a large park, which has a formal rose garden in the shape of a Celtic cross.

Then we went on a walking tour of the city. (It started at the city tourist office, which is in the Shee Almshouse, which was built in 1582 by a wealthy family to provide help for the poor.) The guide explained about the history of Kilkenny as we walked around. (We also got into a discussion of the conversion to the Euro, which will take place on January 1.) As part of the tour, we were taken into the old jail cells in the town hall.

One of the stories he told was of Dame Alice Kyteler, who married four wealthy men in the early 1300s who all died under what her neighbors thought to be suspicious circumstances. As a wealthy, independent woman, she made a lot of enemies, and eventually she was accused of witchcraft. She was convicted along with her son and her maid. She managed to escape to England, and no one knows what happened to her there. Her maid was hanged, but her son managed to escape that fate by promising to put a lead roof on the cathedral. He kept his promise, but the roof collapsed in 1332, taking the church tower with it. Today, Dame Alice's home is a pub called Kyteler Inn.

Next, we went on the tour of the castle. The guide talked about the history of the Butler family and the castle. The Butlers lived in the castle until 1935, when maintaining it became too much of a financial drain. It was handed over to the city in 1967. One of the most memorable rooms was the long gallery, with a vividly painted ceiling and portraits lining the walls.

Rothe House on the High Street is a Tudor period merchant's home, which now has a small museum in it. The Rothe family was wealthy, but they had a tendency to support the losing side, as they did when they supported James II in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 and had the house confiscated.

Finally, we went to St. Canice's Cathedral. It was built sometime after the 11th century, and has suffered serious damage at various times, as when the tower and roof collapsed in 1332, or when Cromwell's men smashed its beautiful stained glass and stabled their horses in it in 1650. It has many tombs and monuments around the walls, especially ones of the Butler family.

St. Canice's has a round tower, which was built between 700 and 1000 on the site of an earlier Christian cemetery. (Round towers are a traditional structure at Irish religious establishments [they were used for defense and to hide valuables], but relatively few survive in such good condition, and I've never seen one that was open to the public before.) Kenji climbed it (apparently it is a series of ladders; I figured getting up wouldn't be bad, but I was afraid my fear of heights/falling would make it difficult to get down), and judging from the pictures, it was another great view.

Kenji's Corner

Kilkenny is an interesting place to visit. We started sightseeing early, but many places were closed. So we had to make a good plan to visit places. Sunday is not really a good day for touring.

Stained glasses in Black Abbey was very strange for me. There are dark blue and red colors, which are too strong for me.

Kathi likes walking tours, which are common in Europe. However, I do not think they are worthwhile in many cases. Most of the information we got was what we knew through guide books. The guide explained the Euro, since it will be in use from next January. One interesting thing I heard was that the punishment for stealing even small things, such as little food, was severe. People ended up in Australia just for stealing a piece of bread.

The tour in the castle was probably the highlight of sightseeing today. Unfortunately photos were not allowed, so I cannot not share it with you.

We visited craftspeople's workshops but many of them were closed since it was Sunday.

The merchant house was kind of interesting, and we could understand how people lived here. We had an audio visual program before seeing the house. That is a common procedure of sightseeing and that helps us easily understand what we're going to see.

We went to a nice restaurant for much where we could not have dinner last night. That was the best meal we had in Ireland. Kathi had breast of chicken, and I had salmon.

The round tower of the cathedral was interesting to climb up. I felt like I was climbing up ladder after ladder. The view from the top was worth the climb.

Since we were tired and not very hungry, we decided not to wait until the restaurants opened. We picked up some scones and bread in the market and ate in our B&B, which was located in the suburbs. This was the cheapest meal we had in Ireland. Food in the market is very cheap, compared with food in restaurants, which is very reasonable compared with it in Japan.

Today was a long day with a lot of walking.

Monday, September 10

It was Monday, so unfortunately, the National Museum of History, which I would have liked to see, was closed. However, we did see the National Gallery, which has a lot of pictures by Old (European) Masters. They have a wonderful collection.

We also went on a history walking tour with a history grad student from Trinity College. It was really good, because it gave us an overview of the history of Ireland -- we'd picked up bits here and there, but it was useful to get the big picture. It started at Trinity College and went across the street to the Bank of Ireland, which has a room once used by the Irish House of Lords. We also went through Temple Bar, a restored part of Dublin, and to St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Kenji's Corner

The man from the B&B took us to the bus terminal. He was talking about the low tourist season this summer, because of mad cow disease.

The bus came late. It was delayed further on the way, and we arrived in Dublin about half an hour late, which was very unusual in Ireland. Traffic in Dublin is very bad. The economy in Ireland has been very good for last several years, and it is still good this year. Dublin became an expensive place to visit and live.

I did not know Kathi liked art museums. She spent a lot of time to see individual paintings. There were some audio visual programs with computers which explained different themes in the paintings, clothing, etc.

The historical walking tour is very famous in Dublin. The guide was a graduate student in the history department at Trinity College. He explained the history of Ireland and Dublin, and that helped us understand things which we saw better. However, two hours were rather long for me.

Tuesday, September 11

The house was going to be opened to the public, but there was a terrible fire about 30 years ago just before it was to be opened, and it was just too expensive to restore. We saw a display and a video about the history of the house and gardens, and saw the ballroom, which is partially restored.

The garden has ponds, statues, wrought iron gates, flower beds, a walled garden, a tower, etc.

In the evening, we went to a pub for dinner which had Irish folk music and traditional dancing. I really enjoyed both, but especially the singing. One of the songs that they sang was "Wild Rover." Doshisha University's mascot is the Wild Rover, after the name of a ship. I wonder if the ship was named after the song.

I enjoyed this trip to Ireland and felt that I learned more about the history of the country than I have in the past. It inspires me to want to learn more about Ireland's history.

Kenji's Corner

It was unfortunate that we had to drive through the Wicklow Mountains in the fog. If it had been a clear day, it would have been a nice drive. We stopped at a place where we could see Dublin well, but it was hazy.

We went to see a fall, but for me that was just water was running down of the cliff and did not look like a fall.

Since the stately house was burnt, it was not much too inside except the video about it. The garden was the main thing to see. It looked like a large one with borrowed view, but it took an hour to see around. We were impressed with wrought iron work on the gates. There were some beautiful flowers. I did not understand why Kathi was so anxious to come to see it.

We went to an Irish pub for dinner and a music show around 8 o'clock. We got a table next to the stage. Since we found that the show would start at 9:30, we had a very slow dinner.

It was very good with singing and dancing. I did not know that "Wild Rover" was a pub song. Doshisha people are proud of having a pub song as a symbol. (The Wild Rover is the name of ship the founder took from Shanghai to Boston and made up his mind to establish a Christian educational institution.)

September 12

I visited George Bernard Shaw's birthplace in the southern part of Dublin. Shaw was born there on July 26, 1856 and grew up there. The house is from the Elizabethan period and a typical upper-middle-class house in those days. It has three stories and a basement. They have a recorded guided tour in various languages, including Japanese. I enjoyed seeing the kitchen, Shaw's room, the maid's room, the hall, the drawing room, the parents' room, the living room, etc., as they appeared one and half centuries ago.

Shaw's room is very small. His parents' room is nice but not very large. The drawing room is very nicely furnished. The living room has a harpsichord, and the family held concerts at home.

The family was fairly wealthy and had a live-in maid and a nurse for their child. Shaw loved his mother but hated the nurse. The maid's room was in the basement next to the kitchen, but it is fairly large. The guided tour lasted about 45 minutes, and I really enjoyed it.

On the way back from the Shaw's Birthplace, I bought my lunch and went to St. Stephen's Green. There were many pigeons. I fed them small pieces of my bread. One piece was too big and one poor pigeon had to fight over it with other birds before he could swallow it.

St. Steven's Green is a beautiful and peaceful place. There were some other people who were eating their lunches. The green has not only grass but also many flowers. They were very beautiful. Some leaves had already started falling. It was late fall in Dublin.

I visited Newman House, which is a small private college. Since school had started, I could not see the inside. Newman built this building in 1853 as a Catholic college. A famous poet Gerard Manley Hopkins was a professor of classics here from 1884 to 1889. The room where he lived is kept even today as it was when he lived there.

James Joyce was a student here from 1899 to 1902. He wrote a story based on his experiences here.

I walked through St. Stephen's Green and visited the National Museum of Ireland. Fortunately a guided tour had just started, and I joined it. There are many pieces of gold and silver jewelry. .There are some items related to the Vikings. It is not a big museum, but there are many interesting things.

I stopped by the Natural History Museum briefly.

Then I visited Number 29 Fitzwilliam Street Lower, which is a house restored as it was when it was a typical middle class family house in the eighteenth century. I saw a video of life in those days in this house, and then had a guided tour of the house. It was quite interesting to see it. Unfortunately photography was not allowed inside the house.

I walked through Merrian Square and took DART to Joyce Tower.

I got off DART at Sandycove and walked along the seaside to the tower. This tower was built by the British military in 1804 to prevent Napoleon's invasion. James Joyce visited a friend here, and it was the setting of the opening of his famous novel Ulysses. Now there is a small museum on the first floor, where you can see his manuscript and some of his personal belongs. The room he stayed is upstairs and you can walk up the top of the tower. It is much smaller than I had expected, and I was disappointed.

I took DART back to Dublin. After I rested a little, I went to an Irish pub for dinner and joined the literary pub walk. Two men performed some skits as well as explained famous people in literature, such as James Joyce, Yeats, O'Casey, etc. We visited two pubs. One of them was a huge one where many literary figures visited as well as students from Trinity College.

It was a long, busy day. I wish I had had more time to see things.

September 13

Passage tomb -- We visited a passage tomb first. It is mound tomb and has a large chamber inside. Many people were buried in the chamber. The most famous of this type of tomb is Newgrange, which was made about 5,000 years ago, before Stonehenge and the pyramids in Egypt. People who build these passage tombs knew a lot about astronomy.

Site of the Battle of Boyne -- James II was the king of Great Britain, but people wanted to have a Protestant king and invited William of Orange, the nephew and son-in-law of James II. He tried to get the throne back and gained the support from Irish Catholics and French people. He raised an army in Ireland. William went to Ireland and fought against him. They met at the Battle of Boyne on July 12, 1690. This was not only a battle to decide who will be the king of Great Britain, but the war between Protestants and Catholics. Since William won, Irish Catholics were oppressed by the Protestants for centuries.

Mellifont Abby -- Mellifont Abby is Ireland's first Christian monastery. It was the most magnificent and important center of Cistercians in the country. The monasteries were closed down in the 16th century, and parts of this monastery were taken away to build a house nearby.

On the north, the remains of a 13th century cross-shaped church can still be seen. On the south side, we could see the ruins of the chapter house, where the monks held meetings. There is also a octagonal washing house.

Monasterboice -- Monasterboice has a cemetery, ruins of two churches, one of the finest and tallest round towers, and two of the best high crosses in Ireland. This site was founded in the fourth or fifth century by St. Buithe, a follower of St. Patrick. His name was changed to Boyne, and the river was named after him. This settlement was invaded by Vikings in 968.

The two high crosses are very famous. The high cross nearest the entrance dates from the early 10th century. Its pictures have not been positively identified but the ones on the east face are thought to be (from the bottom up):

The fall of Adam and Eve and the murder of Abel David and Goliath Moses bringing water forth from a stone, before the Israelites The three wise men with gifts for Mary and Jesus The Last Judgement (in the center part of the cross) St. Paul in the desert The pictures on the west face are thought to be:

The arrest of Christ Doubting Thomas Christ giving the keys to the kingdom to Peter The crucifixion of Christ Moses praying with Aaron and Hur The second cross is near the round tower. At 6.5 meters high, it is one of the largest high crosses in Ireland. It is much more weathered than the other cross, so only a few of its 50 panels are identifiable. The ones on the east face include:

David killing a lion and a bear
The sacrifice of Isaac
David with Goliath's head
David kneeling before Samuel

The west face includes: 


The Resurrection
The crowning of Jesus with the crown of thorns
The baptism of Christ
Peter cutting off the servant's ear
Judas betraying Jesus with a kiss

Hill of Tara -- This hill is the most important in Ireland, since the king was decided here. We do not know when people started living here, but there are some passage tombs from the stone age and the bronze age. It is assumed that some important figures were buried here.

Ireland had many small kingdoms and no king was strong enough to control the whole nation. There were three major kings, and they negotiated to have one high king. It was on this hill that he was chosen and his coronation was held.

Thus Hill of Tara was symbolic of Irish tradition, and it was certainly the center of paganism. This place is the origin of Halloween.

After I rested in my hotel, I went to an Irish pub for dinner and enjoyed a music show. They have singing and dancing for a couple of hours. Believe it or not, it is free and you can see it as long as you drink or eat here.

September 14

Because of a National Mourning Day for people who suffered from terrorism in New York, practically all places except hotels were closed in Dublin. I walked around Dublin and took pictures. All stores and eating places were closed, and the city was dead. However there were many people on Grafton Street. It was very strange to see many people even though all stores on the both sides of the street were closed.

Since all the buildings were closed today, I could take pictures of the exteriors only. I planned to go to many places today, but I had to give all of them up. Even St. Stephen's Green was closed.

I could enter Christ Church Cathedral and St. Patrick's Cathedral. The former was open for service and prayer. There were many people lined up to sign a book of condolence. The latter was open for prayer, but they did allow tourists to see the inside. Since tourists did not have any place to go, it was nice for them to do so. There were several tour buses in front of the church.

Jonathan Swift who is the author of Gulliver's Travel was a bishop at St. Patrick's, and he is buried with his lover. His death mask and belongings are exhibited.

I went back to the hotel and watched TV. They had a lot of things related with terrorism

I took a night bus to London. It takes almost 12 hours including a ferry. It is awfully cheap and cost only less than $30. The ferry was called the Ulysses and it was a very nice. I thought the ferry ride itself was worth for the whole fare.