(Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, Ireland)

Part of my preparation for this trip was to watch “The Commitments”, a 1991 movie that captured the grimness of the north side of Dublin prior to the years of the Celtic Tiger.  In short:  the north end of Dublin is rougher than the south.  Incidentally, even if you disregard the rest of the movie, the climactic performance of “Try a Little Tenderness” is one of the most powerful musical moments I’ve ever seen on film.

My initial impression of Dublin on this trip was the main bus station: it is (barely) in the north end and I didn’t feel very comfortable there when I arrived.  Particularly given my viral situation, I thought it might be better to start off by visiting the “softer” south side on my first full day in Dublin.

Accordingly, I set a modest goal of commuting into Dublin and experiencing two things:  a tour of Trinity College (University of Dublin) and a visit to the National Museum (Archaeology).  Just in case, I also took note of the address of a favourably reviewed used record store.  These were all within walking distance of each on the south side of the River Liffey.

Trinity College reminded me somewhat of the Ivy League schools in the U.S…and, of course, my alma mater Queen’s University in Kingston!  Despite being in the middle of the city, it was relatively quiet, green and filled with old stone buildings.  Our tour was led by a current student who had returned to Trinity to complete his doctorate.  Trinity has quite a history of architectural corruption and incompetence…with much of the corruption on the part of the school!  It also was the site of a late 18th century murder, in which the accused students were acquitted because it was just a “student prank gone wrong”.

It was great to get some personal insights into the school and to learn about some of its famous alumni.  In the field of literature alone, its alumni include Samuel Beckett, Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker (“Dracula”).

However, the prize at the end of the tour was seeing the Book of Kells in the college’s Old Library.  This is a remarkable book from Europe’s darkest days when literacy was just barely alive and there was extremely little in the way of artistic expression.  It was prepared in about 800 A.D. by monks and consists of four gospels… but it is the presentation that is most remarkable.  It contains an astonishing and whimsical (crossing a “t” with fish?) assortment of calligraphy and vibrant illustrations.  To get an idea, do a Google search for “images” of the “Book of Kells”, or just check out this link: Work | Book of Kells. IE TCD MS 58 | ID: hm50tr726 | Digital Collections

You will be amazed by what was created during such a grim time.

Interestingly, I found the preliminary displays to be more vibrant than the Book of Kells itself.  Because it is more than 1,200 years old, it is necessary to keep the book in a highly controlled environment with minimal light.  This understandably lessens the impact of the colours.  Two folios (consisting of two pages each) are available for viewing at any given time, but they are under glass and you cannot touch anything.  Of course, everybody else wants to see the Book too…with the result that you have only a few seconds to look at the pages before either the “marshal” tells you to move along or the crush of people forces you aside.

Upstairs from the Book of Kells is the “Long Room”.  It is, as you might expect, a very long room with a lot of very old books.  However, it also contains the “Brian Boru Harp”:  the oldest known harp in Ireland and the model of the harp that appears on everything in Ireland from government documents to bottles of Guinness beer.

I also visited the National Museum of Archaeology later in the day but somehow missed out on several of the most important exhibits.  Fortunately, I had some very successful record-buying therapy in not one but three separate used vinyl record shops.  I may have to devote a post to this once I am back in Canada.

I resolve to visit the north side of Dublin tomorrow and also rectify my oversight at the Archaeology Museum.