Well I guess I rubbed ol’ Molly Malone’s “upper chest” the right amount because I got another day of no rain! Continued luck of the Irish. And I don’t want to jinx it but it does look like it’s going to be pretty rain free the rest of the week. But when I get over to the Dingle Peninsula on the Western Coast next Monday, it looks like it will be a little soggy so I’m enjoying it while I can.
So the initial weather forecast said rain in the afternoon, so other than a walk to the beach in the morning, I planned all indoor things. Today was my church and culture day. For those that have followed me for awhile you know how I love the European churches and these two didn’t disappoint.
But I started my morning with a nice walk on the beach. Yes, I found that so called “beach” that was only about 10 minutes from my place but… it was all beach no water! I guess it was low tide but I mean REALLY LOW! As you’ll see in the pic I included, you can hardly see the water but you know it’s out there because you see a few large ships. Oh well, it was a nice walk to start my day.
After that, I went to the Christ Church Cathedral. I took a free guided tour they offered and learned a lot. Viking King Sitriuc Silkenbeard built the first church on this site in 1030. The Anglo-Norman’s rebuilt the cathedral in the 12th and 13th centuries and then it was heavily restored in the 1870’s. While the church was beautiful inside, one of the most interesting artifacts they have is the heart of St Laurence O’Toole, the patron saint of Dublin. Interesting story is that someone stole it from the church in 2012 and that person had both his father and himself suffer a major heart attack. Figuring that was a sign to repent, he came forward exactly 6 months ago tomorrow and told them he buried it in a nearby park. So they found it and put it on display again… bizarre! I included a pic (his heart is contained within the metal casing).
As part of the tour we also got to climb a ton of steps to go out on the roof and also see where they ring the bells. We all got to ring them! I included a pic from the roof. An interesting side note is the Jameson Family (whisky distillers) funded a large part of the church!
I then went to the other Cathedral in town called St Patrick’s Cathedral. Other side note, this church was largely funded by the Guinness beer family. Dueling spirits! I also took a group tour there. The first church here was Catholic and was built on the site where St Patrick baptized local pagan converts. While the core of the structure was built in 1220, most of the stonework is from the 19th century.
One of the most interesting relics it has is a door called “The Door of Reconciliation”. The story behind it is that in 1492, the Butler and Fitzgerald families were fighting each other and the Butlers were losing so they took refuge in the church. The Fitzgeralds came to the door of the church and said they would honor the truce if they opened the door. The Butlers thought it was a trap so they wouldn’t open it. So the Fitzgerald’s cut a hole in the door and one of them put their arm thru in a sign of reconciliation. They shook hands and ended the conflict and that started the phrase in Ireland of “to chance your arm”, which some people say in English became “to go out on a limb”! Crazy history! I included a pic of the door which is now over 500 years old.
Also, check out the pic that shows the whole church building and grounds and notice that I captured a little boy kicking a soccer ball in mid-air! Lol
From there a got my culture on by visiting two museums. The first was the Chester Beatty Library/Museum. Everything in it was bequeathed by a rich American mining magnate named Alfred Chester Beatty. He traveled all over the world and collected over 66,000 objects (most of which seemed like they were in here!). It contained ancient bible fragments, letters from St Paul, several Qurans, various Buddha statues, Egyptian papyrus scrolls, etc. He always loved Ireland and retired here and built this museum.
After there I went to the National Museum of Archaeology. (Both it and the Chester Beatty were free as are all of the National Museums in Dublin). I saw 4,000 year old gold jewelry, 2,000 year old mummies, 1,000 year old Viking swords, and probably the museums most treasured item, the Tara Brooch. It was an eighth century ornate brooch used by a Celtic man to fasten his cloak at the shoulder. They did not allow pics in either the National Museum or the Chester Beatty so I can’t show any of those.
The pics I do have are as follows: The First is the beach, 2 thru 6 are at Christ Church Cathedral, and 7 thru 12 are at St Patrick’s Cathedral.
I’ll also leave you with one last thing. I saw this article and of course given my recent choice to retire and travel the world it really resonated with me. So for those thinking about retiring soon, read this and take the plunge! Lol
Happy Hump Day!
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanlookjr/2019/07/08/want-to-live-longer-retire-early/
The Wandering Italian 