I am finally starting on a project that I have been meaning to get to for some time: putting more photos online!

One obvious way to organize them is by country, and I have done so. Granted this is not entirely fair, as I did not spend the same amount of time in each country. But this is my blog, and I make the rules, and that is the way we are going to do it. They will also be chronological within each country grouping.

I took film pictures because charging batteries is too difficult on a long international trip like this. A scanned these pictures in and zoomed in on some. As a result the resolution may not be perfect on all of them, but they give you an idea of what I saw.

And now, without further ado, I present: Ireland!

First off we see some lovely crocuses and daffodils in a small courtyard in Mullach Ide, a town on the east coast of Ireland, just north of Dublin. I visited here while staying in Portmarnock, the neighboring town to the south.

Springtime

While still staying in Portmarnock, I took a daytrip into Dublin (about 1.5 hours away) to see the Book of Kells. This illuminated manuscript is preserved in the library of Trinity College, in the center of busy Dublin. The campus is surrounded by stone walls, and is actually quite peaceful. This is one of the courtyards inside.

Trinity College

Then I took the train all the way to the east coast to see Galway, passing through some lovely open countryside (more on that later). Galway is smallish to my mind, though the Irish consider it to be one of their huge cities. It is lovely, though. The houses and buildings are painted gorgeous colors, each one brighter than the next, as you can see in this picture:

Galway

Next, on to Cashel, a tiny village in south-central Ireland. It is known for the Rock of Cashel, a fortified cathedral complex where, as I mentioned, St. Patrick converted his first Irish King. It is now a museum open to the public (for a small fee). The graveyard surrounding the ruins was dotted with Celtic crosses.

Celtic Cross at Cashel

I walked through the graveyard and entered the ruins of the cathedral itself. I took this picture from the inside, looking up at the sky where the ceiling should be. You can see the outline of the rose window.

Cathedral ruins

The Rock is a limestone rise that affords a good view of the surrounding country, which is why it has been used as a stronghold since before recorded history. This picture shows a view from the top. The stone wall surrounds The Rock at Cashel (pronounced like "castle" with an "h").

Countryside

A great deal of Ireland was built during the Georgian period, so named because during that time there were five Kings of England named "George", one right after another. This era lasted over 100 years, from 1714-1800. The doors of the period are quite distinctive, and examples of this type of architecture are all over Ireland, especially the Georgian quarter of Dublin. They are distinguished by the arch of glass over the doorway, sometimes accompanied by columns flanking each side next to matching glasswork. I could see two excellent examples from my room at Cashel, and took a picture.

Georgian Doors

I couldn’t leave Ireland without returning to Dublin to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, fondly called “St. Paddy’s Day” in Ireland. Though mainly it is a draw for tourists like me, the natives do make the most original and creative contributions to the otherwise traditional parade.

While waiting for the parade to begin one of the law professors from New York that I met at the hotel arranged to take a picture of me with this quite genial cop patrolling the parade route.

Friendly Irish Cop

The parade itself was incredible (see the other entry about it for more details), with some regular marching bands and such, mainly from the US, combined with incredible floats and costumed characters provided by the locals. One of the best was this one, an inflatable phoenix. There is a park in Dublin called Phoenix Park. The name comes from the Gaelic for “clear water” (there was a spring there I think), but when the English took over for a bit they just heard the sound and thought the meant phoenix the bird. So they erected a statue of one and now the name refers to that, mostly. Here’s the float:

Phoenix float

Another great production were these aliens on stilts who…, well, look at the picture. I know they were aliens because they were preceded by terrified looking humans carrying signs that read, “The Aliens are Coming!”

Alien visitor

After the parade we walked over the River Liffey to a pub that featured traditional Irish music played by live musicians. On the way we stopped to take a picture on one of the many bridges. That’s the law professor I mentioned. It is called the River Liffey, not Liffey River, much as The River Thames is incorrect reversed. And it is rhymes with “jiffy”. Oh and yes, it is windy.

River Liffey

And that is an overview of my visit to Ireland! Enjoy!