"In Dublin's Fair City"

As you can tell by the title of this blog we have left the countryside of Ireland and traveled to the capitol city of Dublin. As we walked the streets last night after dinner we could have been in any big city in the world. There was graffiti, litter, crowds of people bustling around, etc. Quite a change from the quite town of Adare! We were able to see a couple of the highlights of Dublin with our Edward Jones group on the way to our Hotel.

Nancy Hands Pub:


We were served traditional scones, along with all the tea and coffee we wanted. (Allyn and I had Seven Up and Fanta Orange!) The scones were more like a biscuit with raisins in it instead of the deep fried bread sprinkled with sugar I have had before. Good, but not what I was expecting.

Trinity College:

Trinity College in Dublin was founded in 1592 and is one of the oldest universities in Western Europe. They have a variety of disciplines including the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Engineering, Science, and Health Sciences. Our guide told us that if you are accepted you pay an acceptance fee of approximately $3000 and then the rest of your educational costs are covered. What a bargin! The buildings were magnificient, there was a bell tower, (like the BYU one but a different style) and lots of cobblestone.





We were able to see the Book of Kells, a copy of the Gospels from the New Testaments, completed by monks in the 800's. There were three books on display . . . a large one they would use only for ceremonial reading, and two smaller ones ("pocket sized") that would be used for everyday reading. There were beautiful pictures in each of the books depicting scenes from the gospels. It is interesting to think that this was one of the early steps that led to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the latter-days.


St. Patrick's Cathedral:

Built in honour of Ireland’s patron saint, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral stands adjacent to the famous well where tradition has it Saint Patrick baptized converts on his visit to Dublin. The parish church of Saint Patrick on this site was granted collegiate status in 1191, and raised to cathedral status in 1224. The present building dates from 1220. The Cathedral is today the National Cathedral of the Church of Ireland. Inside the cathedral it was very dark, like many cathedrals from that time period in Europe, though there were some beautiful stained glass windows and carvings on the walls.






This was the baptistry. The "bowl" on the right would hold the water which was sprinkled on the head of the one being baptized.


While there was some interesting and beautiful architecture, artwork, and historical significance in the cathedral, for us the spirit was lacking. It was just a building, not a place where the Spirit of the Lord was present.