Day 14: Entering Dublin in Ireland
The journey begins in London, England. We then proceed west through Southern England before crossing into Wales. The religion of England and Wales is Protestantism and the currency is the pound sterling.
We then take a boat west to enter Ireland. Ireland is a very independent nation where the main religion is Roman Catholicism. Their currency in Ireland is the EuroDollar. We travel through Ireland, including their capital city of Dublin.
We proceed north crossing into Northern Ireland, an important part of the United Kingdom where the primary religion is Protestantism and their currency is that of the United Kingdom which is the pound sterling.
We then travel by boat east to the Island of Great Britain (which is the countries of England, Wales and Scotland) back into England before proceeding north to Scotland. The religion in Scotland is Protestantism and their currency is the pound sterling.
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Before we left for Dublin in the country of Ireland, we took a taxi tour of the city of Belfast in the country of Northern Ireland. I do not have time to mention in detail about Northern Ireland 50 years ago, but I will say I learned so much more in our tour about the conflict between the Catholics and the Protestants in Northern Ireland and the plight of primarily the Catholics in this country ruled by the English (which are Protestants) as shown by the death of so many Catholics and the destruction of their homes and businesses.
Taxi Tour of Belfast, North Ireland
Arriving in Dublin, Ireland
Trinity College
Trinity College in Dublin is over 500 years old. They also have artifacts and past publications, like the bible written in the 500s, on display in their library. They have hundreds of other books on display, books that are hundreds of years old.
But in their library, they also have a gigant globe that rotates. We a great first visit a group of us took on after arriving in Dublin for our first period of free time in this city!
This college reminds me of UCLA when one can see buildings that are hundreds of years old right next to modern buildings!
You can see below a box of 34 small photos. You can also see only 34 photos, but click on the #1 to #2 to view the next 34 photos. You can click on any photo to see it enlarged OR just click on the 1st photo and wait....it will present a slide show of all 43 photos that advances every 5 seconds.
Taxi Tour of Belfast, Northern Ireland
You can see below a box of 18 small photos. You can also see only 18 photos, but click on the #1 to view the next 18 photos. You can click on any photo to see it enlarged OR just click on the 1st photo and wait....it will present a slide show of all 20 photos that advances every 5 seconds.
Free Time in Dublin, Ireland
You can see below a box of 27 small photos. You can also see only 27 photos, but click on the #1 to #2 to view the next 27 photos. You can click on any photo to see it enlarged OR just click on the 1st photo and wait....it will present a slide show of all 39 photos that advances every 5 seconds.
Trinity College in the University of Dublin
Gate that separated Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods in Belfast that were set-up in the late 1960s and 70s.
Wall that grew to be 40 feet tall and separated the Catholics from the Protestants. The wall grew to be so tall because Protestants threw bombs, etc. over the wall to penetrate the neighborhoods of the Catholics.
Left...Bombay St. of Catholics in Belfast destroyed by British troops. Right...Bombay St. today in Belfast completely rebuilt.
It took us only 2.5 hours to travel from Belfast in Northern Ireland to Dublin in Ireland. Yet we could see that there was also conflict between the Catholics and Protestants in this city. We will get a tour of Dublin tomorrow. In the meantime, we did see a beautiful new bridge that cross the river! It is based on the design of a harp and is called the Samuel Beckett Bridge.
When we arrived, we had a few hours of free time. A few of us went straight to Trinity College in the University of Dublin. This college has been in existance since the late 1500s. What a great tour we took of their library!
Please see additional photos of this area down below.
Many signs and posters on the wall separating the Catholics and the Protestants.
These color portions of the metal wall are where fire bombs had hit the wall and not made it over to the Catholic neighborhoods.
After some free time in the city, we checked in to our hotel rooms for a couple hours before we went on to a show of Irish song and dance!
