I just returned from a work trip to Ireland, my first international trip in a couple of years.
Most of the trip was grueling and not worth writing home about, but I took the opportunity to take some pictures of a few places I visited on the weekend.
Dublin
First, in downtown Dublin,I visited the incomparable Book of Kells exhibit at the Trinity College Dublin museum. The book is an exquisite 9th century hand drawn copy of the 4 Gospels. The artwork and detail are simply amazing and the backstory of preserving Christian texts in the depths of the dark ages is fascinating. The book was drawn during the age of vikings. The monastery at Iona where the book was created was plundered or burned by vikings 18 times in less than a century.
 |
| Trinity College Dublin Museum |
 |
| Sculpture at TCD |
 |
| Exhibits at Long Hall, Trinity College Dublin |
There was also a display of stories of Brian Boru, the first High King of a unified Ireland in the 900s.
 |
| Coronation |
 |
| Battles against the Vikings |
 |
| Brian Boru is killed by vikings in 1014, although his army won the battle. |
Here are some pictures of beautiful downtown Dublin.
 |
| Cathedral in Dublin |
 |
| Unitarian Church and Park Caretakers House |
 |
| Courthouse on the River Liffey |
 |
| Pond at St. Stephen's Green, a large public park |
Dublin Castle, originally built by viking invaders, then Norman invaders, then British invaders used to symbolize foreign rule, but now symbolizes the Irish independence. Note the curvy lines in the grass, evocative of the prehistoric Celtic art patterns. Coincidentally, virtually no road in Ireland is straight it seems.
 |
| Dublin Castle Green |
 |
| 12th century tower and 18th century Georgian addition |
 |
| Dublin Castle Georgian Justice Court |
Castletown
Next I visited the former estate of Lord William Conolly, a protestant Irishman who supported the overthrow of Catholic James II by William of Orange in the Glorious Revolution. As a reward, he was given a huge estate, which he modestly called Castletown. It is near the industrial park where I was working. He was also elected to the Irish parliament and served as its leader. Shortly after erecting this huge castle, he died. I'm sure many of his Catholic countrymen were sad (sarcasm). His wife Katherine lived as a philanthropist until she was in her nineties.
 |
| Castletown |
 |
| 18th century interior decorating (Italian influenced) |
 |
| All the ceilings had fancy plaster work |
 |
| Stairwell |
 |
| I'm Lord William Conolly, I picked the right king to support. Aren't I cool? |
 |
| Not only did Conolly get sculpted reclining, he had a bed installed in his greeting room so he could greet guests while reclining, after the fashion of the French King Louis XIV. |
 |
| Parlor at Castletown (note the modest portrait of Conolly) |
 |
| Service entrance |
 |
| The Wonderful Barn, a project sponsored by Lady Katherine Conolly in 1743 to keep local workers employed. It was probably used as a barn. It reminds me of Luna Lovegood's father's house in Harry Potter. |
North of Dublin, there are numerous burial mounds, many predating the Egyptian pyramids and Stonehenge by 500 or more years. No one knows the intent of the builders or how they did it, but the tour guides had a very entertaining explanation that ends with, "at least that's how it happened for me." I got to go in the one called Newgrange, built around 3200 B.C. (The interior picture is courtesy the visitors center).
 |
| Newgrange Burial Mound |
 |
| Note the entrance stone tri-swirl pattern. This pattern was the apparent basis for many Irish motifs. |
 |
| East facing carved kerbstone on side of mound |
 |
| Interior of tomb (courtesy of visitor center. I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside.) |
 |
| Megalith overlooking Boyne Valley |
 |
| Ancient building adjacent to tomb. This is certainly much newer than the main tomb, but still very old. |
Kylemore Abby
The west coast of Ireland, especially Connemara county is rocky, wet, and beautiful. In the 1860s, Mitchell Henry, a wealthy British doctor, merchant, and politician built this country hunting lodge as a vacation home and present for his wife Margaret. The work and food thus provided saved thousands from starvation as the county had lost over half its population in the 1840s-50s due to famine and emigration. Kylemore castle was ~40,000 sq. ft when done, more or less. Unfortunately, Margaret Henry died 3 years later on vacation in Egypt. After it was eventually sold to the Duke of Manchester in 1909, he quickly gambled it away and it was sold to the Benedictine Nuns of Ypres Belgium who lost their home in WWI. It was used a girls school and abby until 2010, when there was only 1 nun left. (After she's gone there will be nun....).
 |
| Panorama of Kylemore Abby and the lough |
 |
| Kaching! Post-card material |
 |
| This is my 2nd home |
 |
| Room with history of Benedictine nuns at Kylmore |
 |
| I astutely noted the welcoming Christ statue on the mountain above the abby. |
 |
| Beautiful parquet floor in entry |
 |
| Mushrooms growing on the moss growing on the lichen |
 |
| Kylemore dining room |
 |
| Kylemore Castle floor plan 1st floor |
 |
| Beautiful trees near the Henry's mausoleum |
 |
| The Henry's built their own private church |
 |
| Stain glass with the 5 virtues for boarding school girls |
 |
| 3 types of Connemara marble |
 |
| Beautiful carvings |
At Kylemore Abby, there is a large victorian garden, purportedly one of the largest in the world. While well maintained while the Henry's lived at Kylemore, it fell into disuse afterward until recently. The Henry's grew lots of tropical fruits in the greenhouses for export to London, but now most of the greenhouses are just brick foundation ruins.
 |
| Gardeners' homes at top center, greenhouse at top right, and herb gardens in foreground. |
 |
| 2 dimensional pear trees adorn the walls where they are protected from frost. |
 |
| A huge grove of ash trees was planted to provide wood. |
 |
| The ruined foundations of old greenhouses give a hint of the garden in its prime. |
 |
| The brophy, or workers house. |
 |
| This is a pile of peat, semi-decomposed bog plants and mud that are cut out of the bog and burned on the fireplaces. It's free, but it sure stinks relative to firewood. |
 |
| The huge gates and exterior walls are all in good shape after 150 years. |
 |
| I love the many variations of lichen. |
 |
| The woodland area of the forest was both practical and beautiful. |
 |
| Some of the trees were more than 5 feet in diameter at the base. |
 |
| Over the years, various students at the boarding school have done art projects that remain. This was my favorite. |
 |
| The trees reach out to make a huge canopy for travelers |
 |
| Another huge tree! |
 |
| These cisterns were dynamited out of large rock formations. The trees appreciated the leaks in the rocks! |
Countryside views
Of course, driving across a place as rural and beautiful as Ireland, I had to stop a few times to take pictures of interesting sites.
 |
| Lots of stone walls, vibrant folliage, and narrow roads |
 |
| I love the colors |
 |
| Not sure what mysteries lay down this trail |
 |
| Old mills on the canal now used as apartments |
 |
| Old time wooden sailboat still used for fishing |
 |
| I love the timelessness of the picture with the fishing boat foreground and castle background |
 |
| The old buildings have been given vibrant paint jobs in Kinvara |
 |
| On the west coast, the "beach" is solid rock, broken up by ice, rain, and wind. |
 |
| Anyone for a game of beach volleyball? |
 |
| Despite the plentiful fresh water, most of it is unclean, so when a spring is found, it is protected, in this case by a mini castle. |
 |
| There were numerous castles we drove past in various states of ruin |
 |
| A woman bought this castle, fixed the remaining tower, and now holds nightly medival dinners for guests who want an authentic experience in the castle keep. It was out of my budget. |
Cliffs of Moher
The highpoint of the trip, both figuratively and literally, was the visit to the Cliffs of Moher. Rising ~700 feet straight up from the Atlantic, these cliffs run about 3 miles long. It is always rainy and windy there, so the footing wasn't so good.
 |
| The visibility was remarkably good this day. Often the rain and wind restrict views. |
 |
| This tower was built in the 1800s as a tourist attraction. |
 |
| The surf was pounding hard, but still hard to clearly distinguish because of the 700 foot drop. |
 |
| I love the occasional island that escapes the pounding erosion. |
 |
| I couldn't believe the audacity of some tourists who went right up to the edge, despite the wet rocks, gusty wind, and history of several people falling every year. (I heard there are an average of 4 recorded deaths a year here and numerous unrecorded ones.) |
 |
| Along the cliffs are two paths: one official one safely behind the wall and away from the edge, and the other, on top of the wall and a gust away from a fall. It was a commentary to me on the risk tolerance of different types of people. |
 |
| The visitors center was a two story underground building in the side of the hill, which looked reminiscent of a hobbit building or a teletubbies building. It was a large cave on the inside, but very nicely done. |
Well, I hope you enjoyed seeing some of these pictures. It was nice to get out on the weekend to improve an otherwise grueling work week. Glad to be home!
