Samuel Beckett Bridge over the River Liffey

We arrived Monday in Dublin, to a great house we're renting in the nice suburb of Clontarf, about 3 or 4 miles from Dublin city center. First order of business was groceries, so a walk to the SuperValu store. They have a separate off-license store within the store, I went for some wine and looked at the California selections - oh my...not a winner in the bunch! All off-brand, factory wines, almost as if they're downplaying our great wine. Instead, I picked up a couple of delightful French bottles. I didn't see any Irish wines, hmmm. But I did get some Guinness and Bailey's Irish Cream (for Eileen's Guinness cake recipe...mostly). 

Tuesday we made our way via double decker bus and tram (light rail) to the National Museum of Modern Art, located in a former Royal Hospital founded in 1684. The modern art was not the best we've seen, in fact not that good, to my taste. The main exhibit consisted of some very weird video installations, mostly of people doing hand gestures and poses. But there were some great outdoor sculptures, and some nice paintings. There's also a large courtyard, and an open space/park area where we walked. 

217.5 Arc x 12, Bernar Venet

We then made our way to the Temple Bar District and enjoyed some great Irish guitar/vocal/violin music at Fitzpatrick's Temple Bar (not to be confused with the, oh, 4 or 5 other pubs with "Temple" in their names!). Irish coffees were in order! This is a pretty touristy kind of area, there's a Hard Rock Cafe, so you get the picture. But overall it has a good vibe, lots of people in the street, and we enjoyed the music. We're looking forward to the much more traditional pub and Irish music at smaller, off-the-beaten-path places in our upcoming travels. 

(BTW we came back to Fitzpatrick's a couple of nights later hoping for similar music - but all we got was a guy from San Diego on acoustic guitar playing Credence Clearwater Revival hits, with a drum machine...Toto, we ARE in Kansas!)

There are several National Museums in Dublin, each with a specific focus (including the modern art one mentioned above; all free, btw). We visited the National Museum of Decorative Arts and History, housed at the former Collins Barracks. That explains why there is a section on military history, including weapons, tanks, war planes, etc. That was pretty cool, but the art pieces were fantastic. We especially liked the section featuring the work of Eileen Gray, an Irish artist/furniture designer/architect who spent time in Paris (we saw her apartment there, in fact that's how we 'discovered' her). She was active in the early 20th century art nouveau and art deco periods (and later). Very individual and unique, mainly known for her furniture design.

The Ireland National Museum of Archeology was next. Wow - so much great stuff! An ancient dugout canoe from 2500 BC, remarkably preserved fishing nets from about 5000 BC, lots of other primitive stuff. Gold work, statuary, Viking artifacts including those horns they always blow in movies and TV, medieval items...and the main event: a collection of bog men, from about 400 BC to 400 AD. Incredible. I hope I have that much hair when I'm 2,500 years old.

Clonycavan Man ca. 300 BC

Gallagh Man, ca. 300 BC

Model Gold Boat, 100 BC

Bronze Viking Horns, ca. 700 AD

Dugout Canoe, 2500 BC

Wooden Block Wheel, 400 BC

Corleck Head, three-faced stone idol, 100-200 AD.

We visited EPIC the Irish Emigration Museum. Is there such a thing as too much interactivity, too many touch screens, too many videos...? In my opinion, after seeing EPIC, the answer is yes. I'm simplifying, but this is basically an overview of the trials and tribulations that led many Irish to emigrate to the US and elsewhere, before, during, and after the famine in the mid-1800s. Followed by a whole bunch of "hey, aren't we great now?" exhibits of all that Ireland has accomplished, its favorite sons and daughters, etc. Well, maybe better for youngsters...

Much more interesting than EPIC is the Chester Beatty Museum at Dublin Castle. An absolutely stellar collection of manuscripts, documents, ancient writings, decorative arts, books, and more from Europe, Asia, the Middle East. The centerpiece right now is fragments of papyrus from Roman Egypt, as Christianity spread to that part of the world. Just fantastic. The Beatty is not as well known as the many other museums, and, I think, is under-appreciated. By the way, the castle itself is just ok - but the garden, and the Beatty, are incredible.

Bifolio from the Gospels, 3rd century AD, Egypt

Portion of a scroll from the Tale of Benkei, Japan, ca.1575

Mark from a Gospel Book, ca: 13th century AD

Pilgrim's Flask, ca. 4th-6th century AD, Egypt

Note about the flask: the museum text says that pilgrims purchased souvenir flasks stamped with an image of a saint, filled with holy water or oil to bring home. So even in 500 AD, swag for your favorite celebrity was available! 

Folio from the Canons of St. Basil, ca. 9th century AD, Egypt - zoom in!

Angels from parchment manuscript, ca. 3rd century AD

Note that the angels are wingless - according to the museum text, wings didn't appear in images of angels until the 4th century.

Page from illuminated choir book, ca. 1450 AD

Monday we leave for another base of operations, a bit north of Dublin in the area of Newgrange, where we'll stay 3 nights, and then we head south toward the Waterford area.