It took me ten full weeks, but I finally did it; I made it to the city of Dublin. Ireland’s largest and most well-known city, Dublin is very different than the rest of Ireland I’ve seen so far. Sitting on the east coast of Ireland, Dublin is Ireland’s connection to the world, both figuratively and literally. I had technically been to Dublin a few weekends ago to fly out to London, as Dublin is the only airport big enough to have economical flights. This past weekend’s trip showed me the what urban Ireland looks like.
While Limerick and Cork and Galway are all “cities” they don’t have the same feeling as Dublin. Dublin’s urban area has a population of 1.17 million, about ten times the size of the next biggest city in Ireland, Cork. The city of Dublin feels like a city everywhere you are. The buildings are taller, there’s people everywhere, and the city goes on as far as you can see. This isn’t like the other cities in Ireland, with a small downtown surrounded by residential areas. Dublin is a hustling center of activity, and in many ways, it felt to me less “Irish” as a result. While this is just my perception, I’ve come to associate life in Ireland with more rural settings, even the “cities” I’ve been to feel like comfortable small towns where most people already know each other.
Seeing the way Ireland does urban life was in some ways surprising, but in many ways just like what I’ve come to expect when travelling in Ireland. Dublin feels significantly more diverse and international than the rest of Ireland. I noticed a much greater proportion of international accents, restaurants, and tourists around the city. Yet in between the bustle of the city, were the ancient stone churches and castles one comes to expect as essential to every Irish town or city. This marriage of old and new is pervasive throughout Ireland, as traditions and ruins meet new technology and development. But it is especially apparent in Dublin, as the same ancient structures such as St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Dublin Castle, built in 1191 and 1204 respectively, stand in between buildings such as the 120-meter Spire of Dublin, a four million euro stainless steel pin that sticks out of the ground as a sculpture, and the now iconic Samuel Beckett Bridge, with its modern cable spar.
The actual city is a delight to walk through, with pedestrian friendly streets spanning it from end to end broken up by large and clean parks. Of course, this pleasant walking may be an experience unique to my trip, as it was sunny the entire weekend we were there. Dublin is home to many popular walking streets and markets, such as the infamous Temple Bar area along the River Liffey. This area is home to some of the best nightlife in Dublin, with lively – but expensive! 6.60 Euro for a Guinness! – pubs featuring live music all night, and often all day too! But before the sun goes down there is also plenty to do in the Temple bar area, as it hosts vintage markets, food markets, performances, and arts galleries. The weekly Saturday Temple Bar Food Market also afforded me my long awaited chance to try some fresh raw Irish Oysters! I tried and failed to get my hands on some in Cork, but the Temple Bar Food Market hosted a local fishmonger who specializes in the salty shellfish. After downing a couple oysters, trying out both the farmed and wild caught varieties, I rounded out my one of a kind lunch with some Spanish olives, a skewer of what may or may not have been donkey meat, and a juice dubbed the “Ed Sheeran” – a bright orange concoction mixed with carrots, ginger, and oranges.
We were also afforded free tickets to The Book of Kells exhibition at Trinity College, and a Vikings Splash Tour from the University of Limerick, so we were able to experience a couple of Dublin’s major tourist attractions for free. The Book of Kells is a Latin Gospel book originating in Ireland decorated with some of the most impressive calligraphy and ornamentation of any Christian tome. The exhibit describes the Book of Kells itself as perhaps Ireland’s most important national treasure. The book is housed in the equally impressive Trinity College Library, a 6 million book archive collection of some of the most famous, old, and important texts in Irish history, such as one of the last copies of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, and artifacts and writings from Oliver Wilde.
The Viking Splash Tour was less historically impressive and more gimmicky, as we were made to wear Viking helmets and drive around the city yelling “Arrrgghh” at passing tourists. We did learn some impressive and fun facts about Ireland, and our blue dress wearing tour driver was a good laugh.
But by far the best part about Dublin was the part no tourist should go to Dublin without visiting. Whether or not you like Guinness, or even beer, the Guinness factory is an incredible achievement in being perhaps the most interesting museum I have ever been to – and that’s not the free samples talking! The Guinness storehouse takes you through every imaginable facet of the process of making one of the world’s most famous beers, discussing the history of why the 258 year old stout came to be in Dublin, and how it has changed (they only added nitrogen to give it it’s now famous head in 1959) and yet stayed the same over the years (they use the biological descendent of the very first batch’s yeast). The Guinness storehouse is both a historian’s and Guinness lover’s dream, and each of the 5 floors provides an overwhelmingly impressive collection of Guinness artifacts, decorations, movie theatres, and even animatronics on their floor dedicated to their infamous advertisements.
Ireland has proven to be quite the place for a study abroad, as the country is packed with interesting and different features and attractions. Each trip I take leaves me even more impressed with what the country and the people of Ireland have to offer. Even if Dublin did leave me missing city life to a certain extent, it made me remember – almost 2.5 months in – why I came to Ireland in the first place.
