Trinity College, Dublin

My apologies for the lengthy travel posts lately. I have so many wonderful photos from the amazing places we visited on our trip and this summer is so full of weddings this year, that I know there isn’t going to be much time for me to share these here (or edit them in general). So with all that said, here is another post from our trip.

We took the ferry from Holyhead to Dublin on the third day of our trip. We had gotten up super early after getting to our hotel rather late, so we both ended up passing out on the ferry. Dublin was a really nice city and driving around it was actually really easy, especially when compared to where we had been driving the previous day. Once we found a place to park, we did some souvenir shopping and then toured Trinity College. Just as we were arriving, a tour group was starting so we decided to take part in that as it was only a tiny bit more than the regular admission for the big attraction at the college (the Book of Kells).

Our tour guide was George and he did a really good job. He, of course, had lots of stories to tell about the college starting with a previous Provost (Dean) of the College who didn’t want women to attend the college. He eventually agreed to allow women, but he did so begrudgingly saying, I agree with my hand but not with my heart (he was shaking the hand as approval). He has a statue near the front of the college in front of which a great deal of female graduates now have their portraits taken.

George also told us about these magnificent trees. They are maple trees and were imported from North America, they also happen to be the largest of their kind in the world. Some say that this is because they are planted on the graves of the monks who used to inhabit this area, but it is actually because they have little to no competition due to the presence of the buildings and the rest of the city, they are protected from a lot of the harsher elements from the surrounding buildings and this area has a very high water table.

Eventually the walking tour ended and we walked through the Book of Kells exhibit (not before first shooting this big golden globe that sits outside the modern library). The book was gorgeous! There was a story of the book haven been stolen shortly after it being made. All but the gold wrapping that used to be around the book was found. It is thought the the thief didn’t want the burden of haven stolen a holy book so he ditched the religious portion of it in a farmer’s ditch where it was found and given to a church. It eventually found its way to the College where it has been ever since. The unfortunate part of this exhibit is that it is very popular and not every culture in the world has the same thoughts on politeness. We were constantly cut off and bumped plus people were standing in front of us despite the fact that we were obviously reading things before they had gotten there. Eventually the rudeness and the crowd got to me and I started feeling really claustrophobic (Dave says it had much more to do with the fact that I don’t like people in these situations). We left the Book of Kells area and entered this long library (called the Long Hall).

This area was absolutely amazing and we spent a great deal of time shooting away. These books can be accessed by select students of the college (depending on what major you are in). It was really amazing to think of actually being able to read and learn from these books as they are so old and beautiful.

Like I said, Dublin was a beautiful city, so much so that it was actually one of the few cities that I wish we could have had more time in.

Also, I would like to thank Heather for recommending Trinity College to us, it was a great stop.