Final Day in Dublin

Today, Tuesday, was our last full day in Ireland. We’ll fly home tomorrow. So it was our last opportunity to visit some Dublin places still on our list. Trinity College was the first, just across the River Liffey from our hotel. This college was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I and among its graduates are Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker. We had decided that we didn’t especially want to see The Book of Kells in the college’s library, which required purchased tickets. We just looked around the campus on our own. It was a beautifully sunny morning to do that.

Parliament Square on the campus of Trinity College

Next on our list was to visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral. We walked to this Anglican Church which was first built in 1220 and underwent significant restoration in the 1860s, funded by the Guinness family. We went on a very interesting 45-minute guided tour inside, from which we learned that Jonathan Swift had been an 18th century dean and pastor in this church and was buried here.

Exterior of St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Jonathan Swift’s bust and epitaph
The nave of the cathedral
The choir area with helmets, swords and flags of the Knights of St. Patrick

Lastly, we wanted to visit the Guinness Storehouse, an exhibit housed next to the St. James Gate location of the Guinness brewery. We had to walk some blocks further to reach it. Along the way, we stopped for a leisurely lunch in an Italian restaurant. Once we had entered the Storehouse, we started a self-guided tour that went past explanations of the beer’s ingredients, brewing and cooperage processes, plus the various advertising campaigns from the past. We learned that the brewery was founded by Arthur Guinness in 1759 in Dublin. At the end of the tour, everyone is rewarded with a free pint of Guinness (or a soft drink) at the Gravity Bar on the 5th floor. From there we had a good view of the city.

The start of the Guinness Storehouse tour
One view of Dublin from the 5th floor bar, which we viewed with a pint of Guinness in our hand

We returned to our hotel by taxi for a short rest. Then we went out for a dinner of traditional Irish food at the Quays restaurant in the Temple Bar area. Gary had some bangers and mash which he had been wanting to try, while Caroline ordered beef and Guinness stew. I had seafood chowder and Matt requested their salmon and spinach pasta. We all enjoyed our food at this final Dublin meal.

We’ll fly home tomorrow, taking off just after 12 p.m. It’s been a very enjoyable family vacation!