Reflections on Dublin

Friday night began with a musical pub crawl. While I was concerned that this was going to be a bit heavy on the cheese factor, it was most certainly not. My new American & Canadian friends came along for it as well. We began at a bar in the Temple Bar district. Apparently Temple Bar is where all of the tourist go and get drunk. The locals call it “Temple Barf.” We had two gentlemen leading our tour and they took us to a bar around the corner that they claimed was the only “real” Irish bar in the area. Recently when Temple bar was renovated the pub owners turned the bars into tourist attractions, heavy on the cheese, and all the same music played in each one. Our guides informed us that the way to tell if you are in a “real” Irish pub is if you feel like you are in someones living room.

There were 50 people on the tour and we all sat in a room on the second story of this pub with a tiny bar in the corner serving up Guinness and cider and we listened to our host play for us. One of them was a singer and he sang some amazing songs. he sand acapella and his songs was evocative of images of lost love, camaraderie, and despair. It was beautiful.

The next and last bar on the tour was about a ten minute walk up O’Connell street where we crowded around our hosts as they played us reels and jigs. The proper way to appreciate Irish music is to “play the boot” which means stomp your foot on the floor, they will get quite vexed when tourists are clapping away! When traditional Irish musicians put down their instruments for a break it is customary for someone in the crowd to fill the space with music, either by singing or playing. Songs were elicited from the audience and three audience members sang. No I did not sing, and I wish I would have! I was trying to remember the lyrics to “Blue Skies” but knew I couldn’t remember them all. One of the singers was a Canadian woman who sang the theme to the World Cup, another was a man from Texas who sang a country song, and lastly were two men from Norway who sang a drinking song. It was a really special moment, to have complete strangers who are not being paid to entertain you, get up and sing. It endears you to them in that vulnerable moment.

Post tour our hosts made some suggestions on local pubs to listen to more Irish music with one of them being located next to the 3 American girls hotel. We crowded into this local pub (which did feel like someone's living room!) with musicians in one corner and people talking in the other. You had to stand really close to the musicians to hear them as there were so many people in the pub talking and drinking their selected drinks. It was warm, almost muggy, dark, and yet there was a richness in the air as the three men played songs from the past. Two of the men were Irish with one playing the guitar and the other playing the accordion, the third man being aJapanese flautist. I made friends with the locals at the bar two of whom were Irish men in the 60’s who regaled me with stories of everything from their trips to America, to true appreciation of Irish music, to psychotherapy. It was a great time.

Saturday began with a visit to the Kilmainham Gaol which was built in 1796. This jail housed a lot of the political prisoners from the 1916 uprising through the civil war. It was a really interesting tour accompanied by a very well done museum which had three floors. One was dedicated to prison life, the second was dedicated to the political events surrounding the prison, and the third dedicated to the restoration of the prison which had fallen into disrepair after it was closed in 1925.

This tour coupled with the 1916 tour yesterday was quite the history lesson for me. Being American I do not feel a deep sense of culture associated with my country, sure my family has its traditions but I certainly can admire the rich cultural and hard won independence of the Irish. The 16 men that were executed after the Easter uprising of 1916 really fascinated me. In the museum was their last letters to their families with all of them ready to die for their countries independence. I challenge anyone to go there and not be stirred deep within their soul for the fight of these people. One of the men in particular, Patrick Duffett wrote a letter to his fiance stating his love for her and that he was a fool to not marry her before. To see this letter and read it brought tears to my eyes. They were married in the prison, and she immediately had to leave after the ceremony. She was requested back to the jail one hour later and had ten minutes with her husband before his execution. There were guards with them in the cell counting down those minutes. I cannot imagine what that must have been like for her and him. I left the jail with a heavy sadness and a tremendous amount of respect for all the Irish people as a whole and was full with all of the history that I had learned. (No comment on the North)

After the jail it was time to head to the Guinness factory since I have been consuming it throughout this trip. I had heard from others that it was a bit of a tourist trap and it most certainly was. You cannot tour the factory instead they turned one building into an “experience” with displays and videos of the process of making Guinness. It is very apparent that a lot of money went into the building of this “experience” but it was a bit much for me. Also there were way too many Americans! (:

I ascended the 7 floors to the Gravity bar where your ticket gets you a fresh pint of Guinness and the views of the city are amazing. It is a circular bar with windows all around, and it was packed. I met a couple of Americans from Pennsylvania that were there with a wedding party of 50 people. The happy couple was to be wed in a few days time in a castle. How awesome is that! My time in the gravity bar was brief, a couple of sips of Guinness, a bit of craic, admiration at the views and then it was off to the gift shop. Favorite purchase= pen with bottle opener! Yes, I like cheesy things, I am not ashamed. (:

After Guiness I headed out to lunch at a place called Wagamama, say what you may about the silly name but the noodles were excellent. I had ramen with mixed veggies, sooo good. That evening I met up with my friends from the pub crawl for a few drinks and had a really nice time.

It was a great short trip to Dublin and I am much looking forward to spending more time there after my next farm which I will be at for one week.