Our tour guide was James
and our driver was Jimmie. The tour
guide said that he usually goes by Jimmie also, but that would be too confusing
for this tour. Our tour began with a scenic, narrated drive through Dublin to St.
Patrick's Cathedral. En route, we saw the
city's major sights, such as St. Stephen's Green, O'Connell Street, the River
Liffey, the main river in Dublin and the city's Georgian District, including
Merrion Square. We also passed the
Custom House and viewed its elegant 18th-century Georgian architecture. Often considered the most architecturally
important building in Dublin, the Custom House is the first major public
building constructed in Dublin as an isolated structure with four monumental
façades.
We exited the bus and followed James into St Patrick’s Cathedral,
where he gave us a brief history of the cathedral and the life of St. Patrick. Built in honor of Ireland's patron saint in
1190, it is not only the largest church in Ireland, but is also said to be one of the earliest Christian sites in
Ireland where St. Patrick baptized converts. The cathedral was damaged during Cromwell's
invasion of Ireland in the 17th century and was restored in the 19th century by
the Guinness brewery family. Buried inside is Jonathan Swift, author and former
dean of the cathedral. Today, St.
Patrick's is the National Cathedral for the Church of Ireland (Anglican).
Our next stop was Trinity College, Ireland's oldest university,
and the alma mater of distinguished alumni, including Jonathan Swift of
Gulliver's Travels, Oscar Wilde, and Nobel Prize winner Samuel Beckett. After our tour of the college, we were given
free time to stroll through the grounds, shop, or to have a beer at one of the
local taverns in the area.
 |
| Free Time in Dublin |
We were back on board the ship by 5:35
PM. At dinner, we shared a table with
John and Paula from Los Angeles, CA; and Richard and Gwen from England. There was no ballroom dancing on the
schedule, so we returned to our cabin at 8:15 PM.
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