We flew into Dublin airport on Wednesday afternoon, collected our hire car and followed Garmin's instructions to our accommodation. She took us through a huge toll tunnel, over a toll bridge, through some inner city streets right to our B&B in Donnybrook.
It was at breakfast that were able to read the history about the origin of the word doonybrook. At the Donnybrook fairs, back in the mid 19 th century a lot of the crowd would get very unruly causing a scene of uproar and disorder and so the word began to be applied to anyone causing this sort of behavour. Entually the fairs were stopped as the "donnybrooks" got out of control.
There was aa local supermarket and restaurant called Donnybrook Fair. We had hoped to eat in the restaurant the night we arrived but unfortunately it was closed for week for a summer break. A five minute walk down the road found us several more places to choose from. A small Irish pub provided us with an excellent meal and hospitality.
Thursday dawned fine and sunny, something the locals haven't had much of this summer so we were very pleased as rain would have made our sightseeing around the city centre unpleasant. We took the bus into town and bought tickets on the Hop On Hop Off bus. This is an excellent way to get a good overview of a city when time is short. After completing the full circuit we chose some sites to visits and areas to wander through.
A visit to the Dublinia exhibition gave us an excellent overview of Dublin's history dating back to Viking times. A walk around Trinity College was a must as was the Temple Bar. Grafton Street was fair bustling and we were very aware of keeping our belongings secure. A passenger on the plane had warned us that there had been trouble with 'pick pockets' lately so it was good to see a high police presence. The art gallery has a large collection of artwork, including both Irish and overseas that was definitely worth visiting. We saw a Picasso, van Gogh and many other famous artists' work. One thing that we didn't realize was that from 1912- 1952 art depicting sport was part of the Olympic games. A silver medal won by Irish artist was displayed for his painting of a swimming race in the River Liffey.
O'Connell's Street is another vibrant area of the city. Stephen was really taken with the huge stainless tower, The Monument of Light, which stretches 120m high into the sky. There are dozens small holes in it that then create light at night.
Standing beside the momument doesn't do justice to its height but you can see the patterns on the stainless steel. The following link gives you a better photo.
Monument of Light, Spire of Dublin - Photo of the Monument of Light
A traditional Irish meal in another Irish pub completed our day out before we headed back to Donnybrook.
Trinity College.
A view down The Temple Bar.
The Ha'penny bridge, across the River Liffey and a link to further information.
Christchurch Cathedral, with link across to the building where there the Dublinia exhibition is housed.
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