By Corey Sandler

Dublin’s Fair City, memorialized in song, is a lovely place to stroll. It includes several of my essentials: a river, handsome buildings, and a university. Oh, and a brewery.

Today was a glorious day in a beautiful city and we went to explore grand sights outdoors and indoors: Grafton Street and the National Gallery amongst them. Amongst the things I explored were ghost signs from times past. Here is some of what I saw through my lenses today:

You can read more about Dublin on various visits by clicking on the tag at the bottom of this blog or on this link: http://blog.sandlerbooks.com/2019/08/20/20-august-2019-dublin-irelandnot-fade-away/(opens in a new tab)

Trinity College in Dublin

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

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Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

By Corey Sandler

Dublin’s Fair City (where the girls are so pretty)* is just that, a vibrant university town with some high-tech industries and an historic brewery that makes a drink that is pretty much in a class of its own. I went today with guests for a pilgrimage to the Guinness Storehouse, a brewing “experience” that tells the story of this company and culminates with a “jar” of stout beer.

*The opening lines of the iconic song, “Molly Malone.”

Here is some of what we saw:

Trinity College

Queen Elizabeth I of England established Trinity College in 1592 as a solely Protestant university. She also ordered that the Catholic Saint Patrick’s and Christ Church cathedrals be converted to Protestant.

These are among the many seeds of The Troubles.

Trinity is a handsome place, a bustling city of students. And it is surrounded with cafes and shops, most of them filled with young people. The college and its parent University of Dublin has about 15,000 students.

Today Roman Catholics and indeed all other religious denominations are allowed to enroll.

The chapel bears the tattered standards from many battles; the flags are not restored and the intention is to leave them in place until they disintegrate.

It would seem appropriate to hope that the Troubles of Ireland will similarly fade away.

All photos and text Copyright 2019 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved. See more photos on my website at http://www.coreysandler.com

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE ANY PHOTO OR AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

By Corey Sandler, Destination Consultant Silversea Cruises

Dublin is the capital of the Republic of Ireland, the independent nation that shares the 32,600 square mile (84,400 square kilometer) island of Ireland with Britain’s Northern Ireland.

On this visit we went to two of the cultural highlights of Dublin: Trinity College, founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I as the mother church in Ireland for the Protestants (but now embraced by the predominantly Catholic population of Dublin) and Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, founded in 1191 and now the National Cathedral of the Church of Ireland, which straddles Catholicism and Reformed sects.

Trinity College is the home of the 10th-century Book of Kells, but for me the treasure is the spectacular library of other books nearby. Indeed, Trinity is the repository of books for the Republic of Ireland.

TRINITY COLLEGE LIBRARY

SAINT PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL

All photos by Corey Sandler, 2018. All rights reserved.

Dublin has a rich and diverse literary history, having produced many prominent literary figures, including Nobel laureates William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw and Samuel Beckett. Other influential writers and playwrights include Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Swift and Bram Stoker, the creator of Dracula.

It is arguably most famous as the location of the greatest works of James Joyce, including Ulysses, which is set in Dublin.

Other renowned writers include Seán O’Casey, Brendan Behan, and Maeve Binchy.

Guinness tankers at the dock in Dublin. Photo by Corey Sandler

One of the more famous women of Dublin was Molly Malone, although she’s a symbol and not a real ancestor.

The folk song “Molly Malone,” also known as “Cockles and Mussels” or “In Dublin’s Fair City”) is set in Dublin, and it is an unofficial anthem of the city.

The song tells the tale of a beautiful fishmonger who plied her trade on the streets of Dublin, but who died young, of a fever. In some tellings she also worked nights, if you get my meaning.

However, there is no evidence that the song is based on a real woman, of the 17th century or any other time.

But the song persists, as does a commemorative statue on Grafton Street, unveiled during the 1988 Dublin Millennium celebrations.

All photos and text Copyright 2018 by Corey Sandler, all rights reserved.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS

————-

Now available, the revised Second Edition of “Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession” by Corey Sandler, for the Amazon Kindle. You can read the book on a Kindle device, or in a Kindle App on your computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please see the tab on this page, “HOW TO ORDER A PHOTO OR AUTOGRAPHED BOOK”

Here’s where to order an electronic copy for immediate delivery:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IA9QTBM

Henry Hudson Dreams and Obsession: The Tragic Legacy of the New World’s Least Understood Explorer (Kindle Edition)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PURCHASE AN AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF ONE OF MY BOOKS, PLEASE CONTACT ME.

SEE THE “How to Order a Photo or Autographed Book” TAB ON THIS PAGE FOR INSTRUCTIONS