Dublin by Foot

Dublin - the very name conjures images of drunken Irish people wearing green as they insult each other and yell at the Gaelic football game. 

As you might guess, there is more to the story.  Originally home to ecclesiastical monks with a penchant for brewing beer on the River Liffey, the modern city of Dublin was founded by Vikings at the Black Pool.  The city is filled with churches that date back to 1030 (building of the orignal Christchurch cathedral), took the brunt of the 1840s Potato Famine which saw Ireland's population drop from 8.5 million down to 3.5 in a span of 50 years (Ireland is the only developed country to have a smaller population in the 21st century than it did in the 20th), hosted the bloody, but short-lived 1916 Irish revolution and subsequent 1922 independence struggle, Ireland's WWII neutrality followed by the Troubles (with the the 1966 destruction of the Nelson Tower) which all eventually led to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and the delicate peace that followed.

 

After spending a couple days here, I have a whole new respect for the Irish who have suffered so much... poor for so long, lost many people through famine and emigration, the British stomped on them and then civil war didn't make things easy.  In general, a very friendly people but definitely quieter than expected.  The crazy St Patty's day participants are the tourists... not the locals.  It was great fun to see Dublin through a local's eyes (by way of Belfast and Aberdeen) - thank you, Peter, for the connection!

I found an amazing free walking tour (Generation Tours, HIGHLY recommend!) which took me all over the city.  Extremely walkable and filled with interesting streets, Dublin has elements of many cities I've visited.  Grafton felt a bit like Edinburgh's Princes Street, Trinity College and Houston's Rice University are cousins, New Orleans and Dublin share windy streets and alleys while London has a similar buried history.  Unfortunately I didn't have time to visit the Kilmainham Gaol (book early for your visit) which inspired the song, "Grace", my new favorite.

Look out for my next post about my Irish road trip which followed my Dublin visit.