I am sitting in the lobby of the Clarion drinking my last Guinness on Irish soil (it does NOT taste the same in the USA) sweet wheat and bitter hops. Today we took our last trip into Dublin. We traveled by bus from the hotel (by the Dublin airport) which was an adventure in itself. The bus driver would not take my money, telling me to buy a family day pass when I got into town. This was typical of our experiences in Ireland. People are almost unfailingly helpful, nice and sweet and not just the people in service jobs. First we went to the Kilmainham jail and did the tour. Casey was here before with a history class and so I knew quite a bit of the history of the most famous prisoners who were held here and executed in the courtyard (picture with cross). These were the leaders of the Easter Rising of 1916. The tour guide gave me permission to run back and take a picture of the courtyard with the cross with no tourists present - very nice of him. Then we took the bus to the Dublin Castle which we tried to tour last week. Last week they were closed to film advertising for The Gathering, today they were just sold out. We toured the free parts. Then we took the bus back to the hotel, but got off too soon, so we had about a twenty minute walk to the hotel.
Shea checking out the jail yard.
and Shea checking out the stairs to the cells from the large inner room.
Painting done in one of the cells by Grace Evelyn Gifford Plunkett
The execution courtyard.
Statue in honor of the Easter Rising
Dublin tours full
Gardens at Dublin Castle
Peacock fountain
Taxi driver pushing taxi. We saw this all the time. I guess it was to save gas.
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