Day 34, August 1, 2012

As more days pass, I'm beginning to realize what a long "holiday" this is. When we tell the locals that this is our fifth week in Ireland, they are amazed. We have been able to meet many people along the way, and to me, that's what traveling is all about. Yes, it's great to see new sights, but meeting people and learning about their experiences adds a wider, more rewarding dimension to our travels.

Today, we turned in our rental car that we've had for the past two days. It was another successful driving adventure on Irish roads and we were glad to return another vehicle that was no worse the wear. The Avis rental building was within walking distance of the Kilmainham Gaol, or Jail, the most famous prison in Irish history. Since this was a British prison, many of the leaders in the fight for Irish independence were housed here between the years 1798 and 1922. They also executed a number of political prisoners which eventually turned the tide of public opinion to press for independence from England.  We had a very informative tour that lasted about an hour.

We then took a taxi to the Glasnevin Cemetery, where we also had an excellent tour. This one, however, lasted 1 1/2 hours. There were many notable people buried here including Daniel O'Connell and Michael Collins. The Memorial to Daniel O'Connell, who to the Irish would be like Abraham Lincoln is to Americans, is a 168 foot tower. A number of years ago, radicals placed a bomb in the tower which destroyed the spiral staircase which asccended to the top of the tower. The tombs were largely unaffected by the blast. They hope to have the stairway reconstructed by 2016.

We ate lunch at the Gravedigger's Pub near the cemetery, which is one of the ten top pubs in Ireland. In the evening, we went to a dinner show called "Food, Folklore, and Fairies" at the Brazen Head Pub, also one of the top ten in Ireland. The pub has been located at it's present site since 1198, although the present building only dates back to the 17th century. We had a nice 4 course dinner interspersed with storytelling and music. The storyteller talked about the Irish peoples' belief in fairies and how that affected their lives. It was a most interesting evening. Most of the people who attended were from American but their were also people from Canada and Wales in the room.