Summer Wanderings Around Dublin

Tags

Chester Beatty Library, Dubh Linn Gardens, Ha'penny Bridge, Merchant's Arch, O'Connell Monument, O'Connell Street, Spire of Dublin, Temple Bar

This summer, I had the privilege of showing a friend from the US around Dublin for a very short Saturday.  We nearly walked our feet off, but covered a lot of ground!  The weather was gorgeous that day, and I took some pictures of our wanderings to show you.

We started off by going to the north side of the Liffey, then worked our way south. When you cross over the River Liffey, the first thing you notice is the large statue of Daniel O’Connell, after whom this thoroughfare is named.  O’Connell was an Irish political leader in the early to mid 1800s, with one of his main focuses being the emancipation of Catholics.  At that point in time, Catholics were denied many civil liberties, including the ability to sit in the Westminster Parliament.  O’Connell also objected to the joining of Ireland with Great Britain.  He lived to the age of 71 and was an extremely active political leader of Ireland his entire adult life.  For the purposes of this post however, I will stop here and let you pursue more information about O’Connell on your own.

The statue was designed and created by John Henry Foley and completed by his assistant, Thomas Brock. It was widely agreed upon that this monument to O’Connell was Foley’s finest work, and was unveiled to the public at its current location in 1882.  Since taking these pictures, I have learned that it was nicked by several bullets in the Easter Rising of 1916, the marks of which you can still see today.  I’ll have to go again later and see if I can get photos of those scrapes and holes to show you!

Here, you can see the Spire of Dublin in the background, further north along O’Connell Street.  This stainless steel spike is 398 feet tall and stands on the site where Nelson’s Pillar stood until it was destroyed by a bomb in 1966.  Dubliners have mixed reactions to the Spire, with the overall feeling is that it was a ridiculous waste of time and money.  I will say, however, that it does look rather neat first thing in the morning when the sky is grey as it catches the rays of the rising sun!

Turning south, this is the view across the Liffey.

Walking towards Temple Bar, there were many fun side streets we passed, this one being my favorite due to the bright colors.

We crossed Ha’Penny bridge, and entered Temple Bar through the ever-charming Merchant’s Arch.  I swear, no matter how many times I go through this passageway, it still feels like I’m entering another time as I enter one side and come out the other.

While this entire small district is called “Temple Bar,” here is the particular pub by that name.  This portion of land gained it’s name from Sir William Temple, who built his home on a piece of newly reclaimed land in the early 1600s.  A “barr,” later shorted to “bar” was a raised sandbank in an estuary used for as a walkway.  Interesting how it has nothing to do with pubs or drinking establishments as many Americans might at first assume.

Last stop of the day was the Chester Beatty Library and the beautiful Dubh Linn gardens.  When I was first here in late winter, I was surprised to see some plants still blooming.  However, I do admit that the summer color is much more impressive!

I hope you enjoyed the day-trip meandering around Dublin!  It’s quite a city, and well worth visiting!

Dublin’s Ha’Penny Bridge

Tags

Dublin, Ha'penny Bridge, Love Locks

The lines of this bridge are familiar to anyone who has visited Dublin, and its graceful arch is featured on numerous products, all the way from tourism brochures to a prominent place on the Dublin Starbucks mug.  Ha’Penny Bridge was the first pedestrian bridge to cross the Liffey, and indeed remained the only pedestrian bridge until 2000.

As the accepted icon of Dublin, this bridge was built in 1816 and named “Wellington Bridge.”  The much more common name of “Ha’Penny” comes from the toll people would have to pay for the privilege of crossing – a half penny.

Before the bridge was built, William Walsh operated a ferry business transporting people and goods from one side of the Liffey to the other.  However, he did not maintain his ferries well, and people became fearful that they would not make the relatively short crossing safely.  Walsh was given an ultimatum – either repair your ferries or build a bridge.  Being a shrewd businessman, Walsh chose to build a bridge, and subsequently charged people the old ferry toll (a half penny) to cross it.

The toll remained in place until the early 1900s, with turnstiles at either end of the bridge.  Thankfully, today the bridge is free to the public!

Ha’Penny Bridge is a popular spot to place “love locks.”  People write their own name and the name of their sweetheart on a padlock, fasten it to the bridge, and then throw the key over the side.  However, the weight of all these padlocks add up, and were causing some structural risk to the bridge, and last year alone, over 660 pounds of padlocks were removed from the bridge.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, City Quay

Tags

City Quay, Dublin Churches, Gothic Hall, Immaculate Heart of Mary Church

This small Roman Catholic church perched on the very edge of the River Liffey was opened in 1863.  One of its primary purposes was to minister to the dock workers and merchants who lived in this area, as well as to the sailors passing through.

Its design is a simple Gothic hall with a single gable (peak in the roof) facing the street.  The main entrance features some brightly colored mosaic work showcasing an image of Mary.

The exterior was nicely decorated, despite the overall smallish size of the church.  Interestingly, you can see that in the sculptures, the perfect heart of Christ is illustrated by a heart shape with rays coming out from behind it.  Mary is also depicted as having that same perfect heart, placing her on an equal level with Christ.

While I had a hard time discovering any more history about this building, it is apparent that it is frequently used.  There are services here twice a day, every day of the week, and when I visited in the middle of the day, there were quite a few school children working on some sort of program.

This shrine at the back was a tad bit creepy feeling – I found I much prefer unpainted sculptures!

Here is the large window at the back of the church (which looks out over the street entrance), and beside it, the pipe organ. The stained glass seemed quite lovely.

Glad I stopped by this little church!

A Few Lovely Things

Tags

Cats, Flowers, Illinois, Wind Turbine

This is the last of my pictures from the US this summer.  I’ve gotten a bit behind in posting about the wonderful city of Dublin where I now live, and have pics ready to go of Ha’Penny Bridge, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, and Trinity College’s Old Library.

So, just a few more shots of Beautiful Illinois, where the sky is impossibly huge and the corn grows tall.

Dashing through the snow…

Tags

Farming, Hops Plant, Illinois, Sleigh

“Dashing through the snow, in a one horse open sleigh.  Over the fields we go, laughing all the way!”

And so go the lyrics to one the first Christmas songs we ever learned.  Thank you Mr Pierpont for writing such a catchy little tune!  But how many of us have actually seen a “one horse open sleigh”?  I know I hadn’t… until this summer!  Imagine my delight as I rounded the corner in the machine shed to find this little gem just sitting there, waiting for me to fawn over it!

After snapping some pictures, I rushed into the house and demanded to know more about it, namely, why on earth hadn’t anyone told me it was there before!  This sleigh was owned by my great-grandfather.  He and my great-grandmother particularly used it the winters of 1935 and 1936, as the snow was so bad those years that for some weeks, this was the only way to get anywhere.  Of course, the horse which was used to pull a sleigh like this was not the same horse used for pulling the plow.  This horse had to be fast and light, so that he could pull the sleigh fast enough to not break through the crust on the snow.  The field horse, with his massive frame and slower movements, would not have enjoyed his new task, least of all been successful at it!  Turns out the lyre-shaped part that attaches the horse to the sleigh is still in good shape, and is stored in a different shed.

While it’s more than obvious that this sleigh hasn’t been used for years, I loved seeing up close the colorful fabric lining and how they padded it with rolled straw.  This was most definitely a cozy ride, once you put two people into the sleigh!

I love this tangible piece of my family history!  After I was done exploring the barn, I went for a little walk around the rest of the farm.  I’d heard stories about this plant, but hadn’t actually ever been to see it.  This is a hops plant, and it’s probably close to 100 years old.  I was told that my great-grandmother used it to make bread rise.  Of course, being skeptical (and uninformed), I hopped on the internet to see if that’s even possible.

And of course it is possible.  I was surprised to see that the boiled flowers of the hops plant have been used for over 200 years to make yeast cakes.  Turns out, women generally stopped doing this in the late 1800s when commercially packaged yeast became so easily accessible in grocery stores, so I guess my great-grandmother was an early 1900s DIY-er.

Of course, it’s well past the time of blooming, but it’s still so neat to have pictures of this same plant that was already established when my grandfather was a little boy.

Lots of wandering around in the beautiful, early morning light of mid-summer.

When my long weekend came to a close, it was sad to leave this special place, but I know the stuffed bears made by my grandmother will always be watching for my return.

On the Farm

Tags

Farm equipment, Farming, Illinois

On my way to the old machine shed to explore, I got distracted by this truck.  Isn’t it just too fabulous?!  Like the first tractor of yesterday, it is officially retired after years of good and productive use, but still worked when it was parked here several years ago.

Here is the machine shed we’ll go explore.  It was built by my great-grandfather many years ago as one of three new buildings to supplement the older wooden structures.

The original wooden structures are not in great condition these days, but due to some legislation requiring a state inspector to come evaluate the building prior to demolition, it costs a good bit of money to get them torn down.  Therefore, here they still stand.

The machine shed was a treasure trove of farm implements from the past!  Old gates, wire rolls, and even some slightly musty hay.

This nifty machine is one of my favorites.  Any guesses on what it is?

It’s more obvious when seen from the side… it’s a wood cutter!  The blade is quickly spun by a power source attached at the opposite end, and a little metal end keeps the pieces of wood from being too long.  While this isn’t nearly as handy as a chainsaw, it’s pretty amazing!

So many fun implements from the past!  It really illustrates how much farming equipment has changed over the last 50-70 years.

Once inside of the shed, I found another machine – a front loader.

The front loader, along with the various tractors, went through quite a bit of fuel.  That’s why farms have several fuel tanks like these!  As a kid, I was a bit envious that they could just go over to the tanks to fill their cars if they’d wanted… I mean, free gas without going to the gas station!  Then my dad pointed out that they still had to pay for the gas, just all at once.  Oh yeah…

This land is so beautiful!  One more set of pictures tomorrow from the farm, and I have to tell you, I’ve been saving my favorite find for last!

Beautiful Illinois

Tags

Farm land, Farmall, Illinois, John Deere, Land of Lincoln, Tractors

Illinois is well known as the “Land of Lincoln” and to those who don’t live there is broken up into “Chicago” and “Not Chicago.”  While it is true that Chicago is an amazing city, and one that I love, there is a good bit more to Illinois that just the Windy City.

Like corn.  And beans.  And wind turbines.  And… that’s about it… except the great people who have farmed the land for generations.  I am proud to say that there are many farmers in my extended family.  My grandfather was a farmer, and his father before him, and his father before him.  I have uncles on both side of the family who are farmers, and cousins who also are farmers.  In fact, my own father was planning on being a farmer until his high school academics counselor recognized his outstanding strength in math and sciences, and suggested that he might look into engineering.

I had the joy of spending a long weekend with some family on their farm this summer.  The time went by too quickly, but I still managed to grab some time with my camera and explored the well-known place with a different eye.  The farm was originally owned by my great-grandparents, and has been in the family since then.

The tractor you see here was purchased in 1956 by my great-grandfather.  He downsized in 1965 in preparation for retirement, and many of his machines were sold off in a farm sale – this tractor was purchased by his son.  The tractor was officially retired in 2008, but still runs and occasionally is used to haul things around the large yard.

And that’s not the only tractor that was kept busy on this farm!  Here are two antique tractors that are kept out of sentimental value.

The red tractor is a McCormick Farmall.  Compared to the super-tractors of today, this little guy seems incredibly small.  If you remember that it was purchased in the 50s though, this was a pretty hefty machine, and made life a lot easier.  I especially love the tin can sitting on top of the exhaust.  It goes to show that the old guard were so much more into recycling than the current generation!  I guess the perspective is different when one grows up during the Great Depression.

The second tractor here is a John Deere.

John Deere is an internationally know brand, beloved of farmers around the world.  It’s interesting to me to see how straight forward this tried-and-true machine was put together.

Next, let’s go looking in one of the old barns to see what antiques we can find!

The Gateway Arch

Tags

Gateway Arch, Missouri, Monument, Saint Louis

Welcome to Saint Louis, Missouri!  To anyone who has visited, or even driven though this city, the beautiful Gateway Arch is easy to see from its location beside the Mississippi River.  It is 630 feet tall, and is formed of stainless steel.  This ensures that anyone looking at it for too long in the sunlight will be effectively blinded.  Not that that happened to me…

The Arch is set in a lovely park, at the site of Saint Louis’ founding in 1764.  It is part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, and is built as a monument to the western expansion of the US.  Interestingly, the Arch is the tallest man-made monument in the western hemisphere, as well as being Missouri’s tallest accessible building and the world’s tallest arch!

The Arch was designed by an architect, Saarinen, and an engineer, Bandel, in 1947.  However, construction did not commence until 1963, and it wasn’t opened to the public until four years later.  Final cost of the building project was $13 million.

The park was quite lovely, and was a popular picnic spot for visitors.  Additionally, it provided some nice views of the architecture of Saint Louis’ downtown area.

Under the Arch, there is a subterranean museum detailing the history of Saint Louis and the role in which it played in the western expansion of the US.  It also had quite an interesting timeline laid out showing the travels of the explorers Lewis and Clark.  While I did spend quite a bit of time at the museum, I didn’t take pictures inside.

So let’s go to the top now!  In order to reach the observation deck, I had to ride a cable car pod up the leg of the arch.  Here’s the door which gives entrance to the cable car pod.

The pod was pretty cramped for five adults, and I was glad to get out at the top.

The observation deck at the top is quite tiny, but provided fantastic views!

The view looking straight down was a bit dizzying.

The river was also quite beautiful from this vantage point!

The Gateway Arch has been on my bucket list for quite some time.  I would drive by it two or three times a year as I traveled from Oklahoma to Illinois to visit my family.  I’m so glad that I finally had the opportunity to stop here and see the Arch close up!

The Red Covered Bridge

Tags

Bureau County, Covered Bridge, Princeton Illinois, Red Covered Bridge

For the next few posts, we will be taking a short departure from the undeniably exclusive “Irish Things” theme of the last nine months, and will be visiting the US midwest.  This summer, I left Dublin for a month and visited family in Illinois, Kansas, and Missouri – and of course I took my camera!

First stop, Princeton, Illinois.  Princeton is a charming little town with a nice variety of boutique shops along Main Street.  The people of Princeton are proud of this covered bridge, which is located just to the north of town.

While covered bridges used to be much more common in Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois, bridges these days are not constructed out of wood and therefore do not need to have enclosures built around them.  This particular covered bridge is one of six remaining in Illinois.

I don’t know if you can see it clearly or not, but there is a sign above the entrance on each side stating, “Five Dollars Fine For Driving More Than Twelve Horses Mules Or Cattle At One Time Or For Leading Any Beast Faster Than A Walk On Or Across This Bridge.” These people were serious! 🙂

The interior structure is still in really good repair, and this bridge is still open to vehicular travel today.  You can even see the remnants of painted advertisements which were fastened to the supporting beams.

In 1973, the bridge received some tender loving care by the folks of Bureau County, ensuring that it was still safe for traffic.  In 1975, the bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places.  Not bad for this little covered bridge!

It’s easy to see why this well-maintained 148 foot-long bridge has been painted and photographed by so many people.

Best of the Road Trip of Wonder and Delight

Tags

Burren, Castle, Church, Cliffs of Moher, Cork, Dingle Peninsula, Graveyard, Killarney National Park, Lough Gur, Muckross House, Ring of Kerry, RTWD, Ruins, Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral

After finishing the post yesterday, I found that I couldn’t quite bear leaving the pictures from the Road Trip of Wonder and Delight.  So, I decided to revisit all the pictures from the five days and offer my favorites for you.  This time, no commentary, no chronological organization, just the images.  I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I loved selecting them!