Urbs Intacta Manet Waterfordia

Waterford's Medieval Museum was fantastic! We left the reception area and climbed down a 13th century spiral staircase to two preserved medieval chambers. The Choristers' Hall, built around 1270, was a residence for the dean of the cathedral.

The other chamber is a wine vault, built in 1440 by Peter Rice, one of Waterford's mayors. (His son, James, served as mayor of the city 11 times! He's the one who built the cadaver tomb we saw yesterday at the cathedral.) People didn't drink water, as the city wells were often contaminated. Wine was the popular drink for young and old, and Waterford was known as the wine capital of Ireland in the Middle Ages.

One of the cool treasures we saw was the four-metre-long charter roll. It was made in 1373, and was designed as part of a presentation by Waterford City Council to King Edward III. It was meant to convince the king to make Waterford the premier port in the region and guarantee its wine monopoly.

We also saw Henry VIII's cap, which was a gift to the mayor in 1536. It's made of red velvet from Italy, and is the only piece of Henry VIII's wardrobe to survive anywhere in the world.

It was Henry VIII's father Henry VII who gave Waterford its motto Urbs Intact Manet Waterfordia (Waterford remains the untaken city).

We also saw The Great Parchment Book of Waterford -- a manuscript containing records of the city from 1356 to 1649. Amazing.

But the most amazing display was the Waterford cloth-of-gold vestments -- the only full set of medieval vestments to survive in Northern Europe. They were made of Italian silk from Florence, and the decorated panels were embroidered in Bruges, working with designs prepared by artists of the calibre of Jan Van Eyck and Hans Memling.

They figure that our friend James Rice likely paid for them, as one of the wealthy patrons of the church. They survived because they were hidden in a chest buried under the cathedral floor in 1650 before the city fell to Oliver Cromwell. They stayed there for 123 years and were discovered after the wars of religion.

Ha! You can see by the length of this blog post that we were fascinated by all this. And these are just the highlights — there was so much to see and learn there. You can read about all the treasures, and even take a virtual tour of the museum here.

After, we drove to Hook Head Lighthouse, the oldest operational lighthouse in the world. The current structure has stood for almost 800 years. The first custodians of the light were a small group of monks whose monastery was situated on the peninsula. They would have lit warning fires to warn sailors of the dangerous rocks on the peninsula.

The monks were replaced by the first lighthouse keepers in the mid 17th century. In 1671, a new coal-burning lantern was installed. In 1791, the coal fire was abandoned when a whale oil lantern was installed. Gas lights came in 1871, and paraffin oil became the source of power in 1911, along with a clockwork mechanism to change the light from fixed to flashing. Electricity came in 1972, and in March of 1996, the Hook Lighthouse was automated.

From there, we drove to Kinsale, a picturesque seaside town. We had a grand dinner at the White Lady pub. The owner was as welcoming as a proprietor could possibly be. The place was packed, and he knew everyone. The food was great, and the chap talked us into a huge ice-cream-filled crepe that would have easily served three. There was some misunderstanding about sharing it -- Fred thought I didn't offer, and I thought he didn't want to sully the taste of the lovely whisky he ordered. The result was that I came very close to having broken the Fred Dawkins Law: "Never eat anything bigger than your head."

As we were getting ready to leave, three large jolly fellows from Philadelphia sat down with us, and we had some laughs and animated conversation with them. What a nice experience, and a great way to end the day. We'll explore the town tomorrow, then continue to our next stop!

Waterford

Today we left beautiful Tullamore, land of my ancestors, and drove to Waterford. Colleen (our GPS, or "SatNav," as they say here) must have taken an unscheduled coffee break, because we wound up on some very narrow roads that we're pretty sure shouldn't have been part of this fairly straightforward journey. We paused in Abbeyleix to reset Colleen, then continued on our way.

I looked Abbeyleix up afterwards. It  apparently has lots of historical structures, such as ring forts, burial grounds, churches, beautiful estate houses, and is situated near a 12th century Cistercian monastery. Every little place you go through has something to offer, and it makes me want to spend a year here trying to see everything.

We had big sightseeing plans for after checking in to our lovely hotel. After the drive and its extra leg, though, we felt more like doing our sightseeing right here in Waterford, and not going too far afield.

The Waterford Marina Hotel is right on the River Suir, and our window overlooks the river, which has a lively population of swans, herons, and gulls. After getting settled, we started off with lunch — my kind of lunch, let me tell you! I had a steak pie with crispy potato topping, served with two big scoops of mashed potatoes, and a good helping of scalloped potatoes, along with lots of sliced carrots and cubed turnip. Yup, three root vegetables and no sign of anything green. Oh yes!

Next, we set out on foot. Our first stop was Reginald's Tower, the oldest civic building in Ireland, and the only urban monument in Ireland to retain its Norse or Viking name. It was built in 1003, as part of the city wall, by Reginald (Ragnall), son of Ivar, the Norse king of Waterford. It was originally a wooden tower, but was replaced with stone  between 1253 and 1280.

We climbed the narrow, steep, winding stone stairs to the top floor, where we saw an audio-visual presentation, then worked our way down through the three floors of exhibits. Fascinating!

After, we walked up to Christ Church Cathedral, where we saw the tomb of James Rice, who was Waterford's mayor several times during the 15th century. "A fine example of a cadaver monument," they call it. The Elliot Organ is magnificent, with its gold-plated pipes and solid mahogany casing.

The cathedral had very little stained glass, but the ornate ceiling was beautiful, and the many features, plaques, memorials, tombs, and so forth were all interesting. The building is on the site of a Norman cathedral, the rubble of which was used to construct the new church. One of the original support pillars of the Medieval building is visible in the nave of the cathedral.

We continued to walk around the town through the Viking Triangle, and past the Greyfriars Friary ruins (below). Founded in 1241, it was one of the earliest Franciscan foundations in Ireland. Now only the nave, chancel and an aisle remain of the original complex. We wound up at the Medieval Museum, which is supposed to be very good. It closes at 5, though, so we missed our chance. We might do it in the morning.

A castle, a monastery, and the River Shannon

It was a busy day! First we drove to Birr Castle, where we were surprised and delighted by the science centre and the grounds. The castle has been in the Parsons family for 400 years, and the Seventh Earl of Rosse and his family still live there.

In the science centre, we learned about the Third Earl of Rosse, who built what was for 70 years the biggest telescope on Earth. With it, he discovered the spiral nature of some of the galaxies. People came in the hundreds to observe the stars with Lord Rosse. We were surprised to learn that Ireland in the 1800s was a world leader in astronomy, with several major observatories.

Later, the Third Earl's son, Charles Parsons, would invent the steam turbine that changed the face of seafaring and led to the invention of the jet engine! The engines of the Titanic were based on his design.

Those are just highlights -- the whole family seemed to be talented and inventive. Lord Rosse's wife Mary was an amateur astronomer and pioneering photographer. His cousin Mary Ward studied nature with her microscope, did illustrations for scientific publications, and wrote educational books. Examples of the family's achievements just went on and on!

The grounds are wonderful, and included a lake, a formal garden, the River Camcor, a waterfall, a Victorian fernery, 300-year-old box hedges that hold the Guinness record as the tallest in the world, garden terraces, a children's adventure area that includes Ireland's largest tree house, and of course the Great Telescope.

It was an amazing place, and we spent a few hours there. Next, we went to the monastery of Clonmacnoise (Cluain Mhic Nóis, meaning "meadow of the sons of Nós), on the River Shannon.

The monastery was founded in 544 by St. Ciarán, who built the first wooden church there. The site grew from an original population of 10 men to some 2,000 in the 11th century. It endured plague, fires, English attacks (at least 40), Viking raids (at least seven), and Norman attacks (at least six).

In the 12th century, The Book of the Dun Cow (Lebor na hUidre) was written there — it is the oldest existing manuscript in Irish. Now the site has the ruins of a cathedral, seven churches, two round towers, three high crosses, and a large collection of early Christian grave slabs.

The three original high crosses are housed indoors now, to protect them against the elements. The four-metre high Cross of the Scriptures is one of the most skilfully carved of Ireland's remaining high crosses. It was carved from Clare sandstone in 900.

After Clonmacnoise, we drove to Athlone (Baile Átha Luain, meaning town of Luan's ford) on the River Shannon. It is the largest town in the Midlands Region. The town is near the geographical centre of Ireland. We walked around a bit, and stopped in a little tea room for coffee and some homemade pastry. Fred had lemon meringue pie, and I had an almond cake, which was served warm with thick whipped cream. Oh so delicious!

Fifty relatives in the cemetery

We picked up our rental car and hit the road with no practice time for the left-hand shifter, the right-hand drive, or the left-hand lanes. Fred did a magnificent job of figuring it all out, and we arrived safely in Tullamore (Tulach Mhór, meaning great mound).

The drive through the beautiful green rolling landscape was just lovely — or it would have been if we hadn't had to concentrate so hard on the whole driving thing.

After getting settled in the hotel, we walked about a bit, then drove to Geashill (Géisill) to see the cemetery at St. Mary's Church of Ireland. This was the highlight of the day. Fifty-five Odlums are buried in the cemetery, and there was an information board with a map and list of names. I have just found the very same information online, so Susan and Stacey, if you are reading this, have a look at the pdf right here!

Many of the stones are so old and worn that the inscriptions are no longer readable. But I took a lot of photos, and perhaps with a little manipulation of contrast, etc. a little more information will be revealed.

After, we headed back to the hotel, had dinner, and put our feet up. With the stress of driving here for Fred, and the emotion of visiting long-dead rellies for me, we are both done in!

Day Three: Cathedral and Library

Our first stop today was St. Patrick's Cathedral, the largest church in Ireland, and the site of the very first performance of Handel's Messiah. How magnificent it must have been to hear it for the first time in such a place!

Jonathan Swift was Dean of the cathedral from 1713 to 1745, and we saw his epitaph, which he wrote himself. He is buried under the cathedral floor. In fact, some 500 notable people have been buried there. There are lots of beautiful stained glass windows, but no ornate statues like one sees in Roman Catholic cathedrals.

The original church, which was dedicated on the 17th of March, 1191, was supposedly built on the site where St. Patrick baptized the first Irish Christians in the 5th century. Legend has it that a well (just perfect for baptising activities) existed in what is now the park adjacent to the cathedral.

The unusual stone statue of St. Patrick (left) is composed of three different parts: the body is from the 13th century, the head from the 17th century, and the base from the 19th. The broken parts were discovered during a restoration of a section of the cathedral in the late 1800s.

The grave slabs (right) give us a look at the ancient history of the site. These are stone slabs that were laid over early Christian graves. Estimated to be 1,000 years old, they show that the site was in use by early Christians well before the cathedral existed.

After the cathedral, we visited the National Library and spent some time in the William Butler Yeats exhibit. It was cool to see drafts of his poems in his own hand. The exhibit is also online, so if you're interested, you can see it here.

We learned that the library had two other exhibits that interested us. One was on WWI, and was almost next door. The other was The 1916 Rising: Personalities and Perspectives — an exhibition of photographs in a gallery in the Temple Bar area. It was getting late, so after seeing the WWI exhibit, we had to decide whether to continue with our plan to see the Dublin Writer's Museum, or walk back to Temple Bar and see photographs of the Easter Rising. We chose the latter.

The gallery was very well hidden, and it took us a while to find it. Then five minutes after we entered, having looked at a handful of photos in the lobby, a pasty, humourless employee informed us that it was 4:45, closing time (!) and we had to leave. Argh! The good thing is that the exhibition can be viewed online, so we will still get to see it. And so can you...right here.

We enjoyed some live music and beverages at a busy pub in Temple Bar, then called it a day. Even though we ran out of time, we enjoyed ourselves, and feel inspired to do further research on the many things that interested us so much.

St. Stephen's Green, Art, and Archaeology

We started the day with a big breakfast, then hopped the tram to town. Much less crowded today, now that the one-day bus strike is over.

Our first stop was St. Stephen's Green — a beautiful little park and an important site during the Easter Rising of 1916. The park's role in the rising is described in a series of information boards around the park.

On Easter Monday 1916, the Irish Citizen Army attempted to overthrow the governing British powers in Dublin, by taking control of strategically important sites around the city. Rebels under the command of Michael Mallin and Constance Mankiewicz seized control of St. Stephen's Green. It was the site of fierce fighting with British army units, and bullet holes can still be seen on the arch at the entrance to the park.

After that, we visited the National Gallery, where we saw works of Van Gogh, Vermeer, Signac, John Singer Sargent, and a number of Irish artists, including Jack Butler Yeats, whose work we liked a lot.

On to the National Museum of Archaeology. We were fascinated by the ancient artifacts — Stone Age tools from 7,000 BC; a 4,500-year-old, 15-metre-long dugout boat from Lurgan, County Galway; Bronze Age gold objects (such as the lunula, pictured below) produced between 2400 and 1800 BC; and perfectly preserved Iron Age bog bodies.

Upstairs, we saw the Viking and Medieval artefacts. We were there for hours, and found it fascinating!

After, we walked to the busy and vibrant Temple Bar area (photo below), where the streets are alive with people seeking just the right place for a pint and some live music. We peeked into a few pubs, but chose a nice quiet restaurant instead, and had an outstanding dinner. For Fred it was Irish stew and soda bread; for me it was chicken wrapped in Boxty, served with a creamy leek sauce. Oh yes!

We got back to the hotel at 8:30 or 9, and put our feet up. And that's when we realized that we'd completely forgotten that tonight was supposed to be the Fringe Fest! We bought our tickets weeks ago, and were really looking forward to it. Oh dear. I guess we'll just have to feel good about supporting them, even though we didn't go!

First Day in Dublin

Nine hours is a long time when you're flying Air Canada. Enough said.

Touched down at 8:45, cabbed to the hotel, and enjoyed a nice breakfast while we waited for our room to be ready. After a nap, we took the 25-minute tram ride to the centre. There is a one-day bus strike going on, so the trams were all full to bursting.

The thing that struck us both is how much Irish we heard on the tram. A group of workers -- guys just knocking off work -- were having a loud and animated discussion at the back. Two teenaged girls standing near us were having and equally animated discussion about something on their iPhones. Other snippets of conversation bounced around the tram and into our ears. But we didn't understand a word!

All the signs are in Irish (first) and English. Even the disembodied female voice announcing the tram stops did so in both languages. Irish is everywhere. It's delightful and mysterious.

We had hoped to go to one of the museums, but the lineups were daunting, the crowds on the streets were awful, the rain was constant, and we were already so tired. So we decided to do our sightseeing tomorrow and the next day.

Took some interesting photos of Sphere Within Sphere (Sfera con sfera) — a bronze sculpture by Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro. But when we returned to the hotel, I realized that I had lugged my heavy camera around for nothing, since I had left the card in the card reader back in our room.

So the only photos I have from today are a rainy shot of a shopping mall (the view from our hotel) or some stools in the hotel bar!!

We'll be heading out on Sept. 23!