Dublin In A Day

Woke up early to get an authentic Irish Breakfast. We got recommendations to try Keoghs Cafe, they had quite an amazing spread of scones and fresh homemade jams, we were not disappointed in the least.

We then went for a walk through Stephens Green, it’s the largest park in Dublin and had loads monuments and history since Easter Rising took place there, it was so fascinating and beautiful to walk through.

Afterward we joined a Free Walking Tour of South Dublin, our tour guide, James, grew up in Dublin and was so passionate about the Irish history, it made the experience so rich and full.

We started the tour at The Spire, on the North side of The Liffy River. As James mentioned, the local Irish have many names for this monument, and they also love wit and words that rhyme. Some of the names he shared were The Pole in The Hole, The Stiffy by the Liffy and The Erection in the Intersection. Definitely laughed out loud for all. It’s the needle figure in the center down the block, a far away shot, but that’s because this thing is 120 meters tall!

We then went to the O’Connell Bridge, where a very important plaque sits in the center of the west rail. It’s dedicated to Pat Noise of Ireland for saving there country.

The Irish laid flowers and lit candles to commemorate him. It was only after three weeks of this that they realized no one had heard of or met Pat, upon researching further, they discovered that Pat Noise did not exist. It came to light that two brothers, practical jokers, placed the plaque there! The Irish found this brilliant and have left it; people still lay flowers and light candles on August 10th, but more to the Irish spirit of “never let the truth get in the way of a good story.” Too funny! Oh the Irish! How I have grown to love them over this trip.

We then made our way toward Temple Bar, which is a famous pub area, as well as where we stayed while in Dublin.

It is definitely something to experience. The bars are all packed and have live music every night, along with good restaurants. That being said, it is a tourist trap and I recommend venturing off to other spots. We ended up crossing later in the afternoon back over to Chapel Street, where you’ll find a string of good pubs, along with good craft beers. The Black Sheep was Zaq’s favorite and we made quick friends with the bartender, we were having so much fun we lost track of time.

But back to the tour, after Temple Bar we visited Trinity College, which was my main reason for wanting to visit Dublin, the campus is breathtaking and I really wanted to see the Long Lirbary and Museum Building staircase.

Next we went onto Dublin Castle, which is now a convention center, but it was originally built by the English to rule over the Irish and was the seat of power in Dublin for England from 1204-1922.

Next we visited two of the famous churches in Dublin, St Patrick’s Cathedral.

And Christchurch.

Both have very grand architecture, but noteworthy is why St Patrick (who is not Irish,) became so celebrated in the country – enough to name a church and holiday after him. He used the shamrock as a visual aid to teach Christianity to Ireland: the three petals represented the three trinities to make up the whole flower, or the one God. His demonstration also made the Shamrock the national flower of the Ireland.

We highly recommend the Free Walking Tour if you come to Dublin, we did the South one, but they also do North, as well as a Pub Tour, wished we had time to hit those as well! Next time…

Needless to say, after walking all day we needed some food, a Brit from CrossFit Blackbriars, told us that we had to try Elephant & Castle. The restaurant has been in Ireland for 27 years. Although they are known for their wings, we got the Carb cakes, calamari salad and Elephant burger. All fresh ingredients from Ireland. So good, every bite!

We then grabbed our packs and said a bittersweet goodbye to Dublin, we’ll miss you!