Buddy's Blog

Just south of Dublin is Dún Laoghaire. They changed the name to Kingstown after King George IV in 1821. They changed it back to Dún Laoghaire in 1920 when Ireland gained some independence while leading up to becoming a republic.

This is the Kilmainham Gaol. That’s where the British imprisoned the Irish freedom fighters at the beginning of the last century.

These were the nicer cells. Below is the wall where they shot the leaders of the rebellion.

On the plaque you’ll see the name of Joseph Plunkett who was shot when he was 28 years old. Grace, his bride of a few hours, never remarried. She remained active in the struggle. Here is a song written about the tragedy. It’s worth listening to.  She was active in the resistance. Here is her cell. She painted the picture.

Trinity University is old. It was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I, and it was alma mater to just about every famous Irish person you can think of. But the best part about it is that it’s just a couple blocks away from the Temple Bar neighborhood an all the pubs. And the students make good use of the neighborhood.  Just outside the main entrance is a statue of Molly Malone…

As you notice, a couple parts of her anatomy have been pretty well polished.

So here are some shots of the University:

The great hall is the ancient library. It’s almost as long as a football field. Most of thebooks are off the shelves and are being cleaned.

This is the symbol of Ireland. It’s called the Brian Boru Harp, but it’s really a couple hundred years newer. King Brian Boru was killed in 1014 at the Battle of Clontarf.

We also saw the Book of Kells, but photos were not allowed.

Frau G and I sailed from NYC to South Hampton on the Queen Mary II. We had sailed on it once before, but from South Hampton to NYC. It’s an old. classy ship. Not at all like the floating Disney Lands they have today. It’s a good way to go to Europe – no jet lag. We were a week at sea and then we took a train to Holyhead, stayed over night, then caught the ferry to Dublin.

We stayed in the Temple Bar neighborhood, right near the Ha’ Penny Bridge. It’s called the Ha’ Penny Bridge because when they built it in 1816 it cost a ha’ penny to cross it.

Here’s the bridge at night:

 That’s the old part of Dublin where just about every fourth door is a pub. The first afternoon and evening we sat at the Ha’ Penny Bridge Inn, and I tried just about every beer they had on tap. Count ’em.

Then the Irish band showed up. They were from Sarasota, 15 miles from where I live. Here they are singing Folsom Prison Blues..

Bar tab was 99 euros. The nine days we were there we hit a lot of pubs.

This next one was the best…

It was late, and we stopped in for a last beer. The MC came up from the downstairs and said there was a free comedy show. So we went downstairs. It was packed, mainly with Temple University students. (I’ll post pics of Temple tomorrow)  We were the only old people there and Americans ta’ boot. There were six stand-up comics. The first was the MC. He mentioned something about wanking, and Frau G says “What does that mean?” That brought the house down. It didn’t stop. She was the hit of the show all night long.

More tomorrow.

Go back to December 1990. President Bush is facing another global crisis!

I’M BAAAACK! Back from Dublin. Dublin and the Irish are just plain terrific. We sailed over to South Hampton on the Queen Mary II. This is the second time on the Mary, and it’s by far my favorite ship. So grown up. And, as you know, I’m a classy guy, and I like grown up stuff. Dublin was wonderful. And the Irish are wonderful as well, and they sure know how to have a good time. I’ll post some photos and talk about it this week. Meantime, this is from August of 1997…

In the published version you stick your finger in your nose.