Chasing Summer –

Dublin Landmarks: St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin Castle, and Beyond

St. Patrick’s Cathedral

One of the most iconic spots in Dublin costs 10 Euros to enter but does include an audio guide. It is a grand building but was slightly jarring to enter straight into a gift shop area that has taken over the first few meters of the building.

I walked past the crowd of shoppers to where there is a stand with the audio guides available for pick up. I chose not to use one. With my hearing aides, they are actually inconvenient since I have to remove them to hear the guide. I am slightly parinoid about losing or breaking a hearing aide as they are expensive, and I’m far away from my audioligist.

As you continue into the cathedral, there are many statues and paintings to admire. They even have one section of immersion or hands-on learning that would be excellent for kids or nonenglish speakers. Focused on the building and architecture and history of St. Patrick.

The floor is amazing tile work
My favorite is the old flags
View from the park out back

Dublin Castle

Entrance to the Castle

Dublin Castle is perhaps the least castle-like castle I’ve been to. It is more of a government office building than a castle. No kings or queens lived there, grandly. Like most sites, it was originally a medieval village that was built over with stone and then redone after a fire to a more “modern” style.

Dublin Castle | The nerve centre of historical power in Ireland A guided tour costs 12 Euros and includes the state rooms, Medival foundations and Chapel. A selg guided tour only includes the state rooms and costs 8 Euro.

Here you can see what remains of the medieval towers and walls.
The chapel can only be entered on a guided tour. It is often rented out for weddings or TV/movies.
State Apartments- informal rooms

Towards the end of the guided tour, the fire alarm went off, and everyone needed to evacuate the building for ten minutes or so. I chose not to rejoin my group.

Other sites

Christchurch Cathedral -11 Euros to enter and an audio guide can be downloaded to your phone for no cost.
Bees at work
Bridge over the River Liffey
River Liffey and the Ha’penny Bridge
Needle in the background
The Spire of Dublin is 130m tall, and a time capsule was buried there in 2003.
Bang Bang on the Door Baby
GPO- museum focused on the 1916 Easter rising and current Irish history.
The portal to New York.  It’s basically a huge FaceTime.
Church pub

Pub Crawl with Yellow Umbrella

The evening involved a pub crawl with craft beer, whiskey, and even a local gin. The beers at the Black Sheep, which only sells craft beers, were a lager, an Irish red (my favorite), and an IPA. We headed off to another pub, Jack Nealon, for a Guiness. At our third stop, Slattery’s Bar, I got the whiskey with lemonade and their veggie soup of the day with soda bread. Desert was a gin and tonic. I must admit I hate tonic water, so I took one sip and gave up.

After the tastings, it was J. McNeill Pub for live music. It is a tiny little pub and crowded with people, so I just stood for a bit before calling it a night.

I stayed in the Gardiner House, which is a hostel. They have a variety of room types available, and I slept in an all female 6 bed dorm room with a private bath. It cost me $46CAD and is by far the cheapest stay of my visit. The bed was comfortable, and a free breakfast of toast, fruit, and cereal was appreciated the next morning.

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