Dublin

It's in Ireland. You knew that already, didn't you?

The objective of our first visit to my passport country was for a family reunion. Thirty-odd people related to me either through birth or marriage would be flying in from around the globe to join an assortment of our Irish cousins for a little fun, frivolity, singing, dancing and a few Guinnesses. <--Guinnesseese? Guinnessi? What is the plural of Guinness?

Look Right, Or Die. The Irish drive on the left side of the road. Not to be confused with driving on the "wrong" side of the road. Left is the right side of the road in Dublin, if you catch my drift. 

The reunion would be held in the area of Inniscrone. Also known as "Enniscrone." Although not found in our GPS under either of those spellings. Or any of the others we tried. But, we'll get there. We spent a day in Dublin before setting off for the Gilmartin Family Homestead. Planning ahead, the day was geared to give the children a little history and some fun.

First up, Trinity College to see the Book of Kells.

Trinity College. Nice day, too.

The Book of Kells is a fantastically hand decorated manuscript containing the four Gospels of the New Testament. It was created in the year 800 by Celtic monks and Wiki says "it is also widely regarded as Ireland's finest national treasure."

And here it is in Coloring Book form. We bought this for Hope and let her go at it for a few weeks before we arrived. She was delighted to see real pages from the Book of Kells that matched her coloring book. Part of me thinks it is great to bring Great Works of Art to children, part of me is shuddering. Whatever, Hope enjoyed it.

The book is displayed in a dark room, under glass, with two of the current four volumes available at any given time. One shows a major illustration and the other shows a typical text page. Naturally, they do not allow you to photograph the book. I was just delighted to be able to lay eyes on it, considering its age and value, so I'm not complaining, just pointing out why you get a sign photograph instead of a book photograph.

Following the Book Viewing, you get to walk through the Long Room, which as a bibliophile, was pretty exciting. The Long Room contains 200,000 of the College's oldest books.

This I thought was hilarious. The "human remains" startled the wee ones; not only are there skeletons, but there were enourmous anatomical drawings, one of which showed a dissection of a pregnant woman with fetus. A bit much for the six-year old. But, apparently not for Under 18 yrs School Groups, who can see it free of charge.

Mission Accomplished on the Educate Children Front, we headed to Dublina, which was meant to be more fun than educational, although it did turn out to be both. Dublina is an exploration of Viking and Medieval Dublin for children. And it was really, really grand. The exhibitions were interesting, educational, and for the most part, fun, although I did think cart with the dead bodies on it in the Black Plague Exhibition was a bit much for the six-year old. Not that it wasn't appropriate to the museum, but it did set the kid back on her heels when she saw it.

She recovered when we let her try on chain mail and an amour helmet.

 

Tomorrow: Enniscrone, Inniscrone, the wild and windy shore

 

Comments

[lynne s of oz]

Oh boy, I would say I am super jealous that you've seen the Book of Kells, but I drove for 7 hours to see it when it was in Australia. And the page open that day was really crappy. Sigh.
I am really enjoying your tales. Thanks for sharing them.

[Ellen]

What bad luck! It really was gorgeous. Given the climate in Ireland, it is astonishing to me that it has survived this long intact.

And thanks for your kind comments; I write for myself, and am always a little chuffed when other people chime in. ;-)

[Ron & Rachel]

Hi Ellen! Love the blog, so glad to see other bloggers out there. They are alot of work, but such a good time capsule for yourself. It was great meeting up with you guys in Ireland. Can't wait to read more of your tales :)

[Monica]

I wonder whether your children are more knowledgable than I am in many areas.

[Debbie Hanson]

Monica...they are most definitely more knowledgeable than I am....in all areas!