Nanci and I arrived in the Republic of Ireland on 7/6/16, or as they say here in Europe, 6/7/16. You can easily mess up the date until you come to 13/7/16 (date I’m writing this!).
I love the Republic of Ireland. The people were friendly—offering to give you directions, recommending spots to shop and eat.
I think they speak English here (or as they say, “I tink tey speak English here.”) I’m not sure they’d welcome a visit from Professor Henry Higgins here!
Although the threat of rain is always present, we saw sun every day. We took advantage of that and walked all over the city of Dublin. We walked the canal and the river. We crossed several of the bridges crossing the Liffey River, including the famous Ha’Penny Bridge.
We saw a few of the locks on that bridge. Evidently couples in love put their lock on the bridge, throw the key into the river, symbolizing their undying love.
St. Patrick’s Green, the site of one of the battles for independence, is a beautiful spot in the center of town. Walking up and down Grafton Street, not only do you get a concentration of shops, but also a plethora of street performers who are happy to relieve you of a few Euros if you like the show.
We ventured outside the city as well. We hiked the trails at Glendalough, seeing the ruins of a cathedral and monastery dating back to the sixth century. Saint Kevin founded this community. This was the first religious community in Ireland. According to legend, Kevin drowned a woman who tried to seduce him. (Yes, a different time for the clergy!)
We also visited Kilkenny Castle. Kilkenny Castle was built in 1195 by William Marshall, the first earl of Pembroke.
We also visited the Dark Hedges in Ballymoney. I understand some scenes were filmed her for “Game of Thrones.”
I suppose one of my favorite days was the day we visited the Giant’s Causeway in Bushmills. Of course, to get there we crossed the border into Northern Ireland, still part of the United Kingdom. Now we’re traveling in miles instead of kilometers (no more Gaelic on the road signs either). There is an interesting story about this beautiful spot. There were two giants. One lived in Ireland and the other across the ocean in Scotland (yes, you can see Scotland from the causeway). The Scottish giant was minding his own business, fishing, when the Irish giant, skipping stones across the water, hit him in the head.
The Scottish giant, understandably so, was slightly irritated, and came to have it out with our Irish friend, Finn MacCool. Benandonner, the Scottish giant, was a wee bit bigger than Finn. Finn was terrified. His lovely wife, Oonagh instructed him to dress up as a baby. When Benandonner came, he heard the “baby” crying in the back. He said, “Whose baby is this?” Oonagh said this was she and Finn’s baby. When the Scottish giant saw this “large baby,” he thought Finn would be too much of a threat and went back to Scotland.
Well, I don’t think the causeway was really built by giants. I think volcano activity had something to do with it. Giants or volcanoes, it is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.
We took a short hop to Belfast, but we weren’t there long enough. (We’re heading back before we return to the USA.)
I loved going to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral back in Dublin. I rejoiced at the goodness and graciousness of God when I saw the spot where it is thought that Patrick baptized the first believers in Ireland (more about Patrick in a later blog when we return to Northern Ireland).
We had a tour of Trinity College where we saw the wonderful library with the Book of Kells. The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript of the Gospels (in Latin) that dates back to the ninth century. We also saw some of the oldest manuscripts of Scripture in the Chester Beatty Library at Dublin Castle. Praise God for the preservation of his holy Word.
When I was a child, the North (predominantly Protestant) and the South (predominantly Catholic) were committing all kinds of horrific acts in the name of religion. True believers do not practice hatred. How glad I was that Nanci and I were able to see the kindness and courtesy of the Irish people today.
Perhaps there’s a lesson to learn for those of us who are Americans.
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