In the ‘old days’ you could wing it when you travelled, but now you must plan ahead if you want to see the popular sites. And so we had pre-booked again for todays activities.
After left-over pizza (ya!!) and our regular breakfast spread, we hopped on a bus for the Glasnevin Cemetery where we had booked a guided tour. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and passionate about Irish history and those buried there. At times he was actually choking up with tears in his eyes. He told us many stories of those buried there. But the real highlight of the cemetery is the story of its originator, Daniel O’Connell. He was a champion of Catholic rights and in 1823 he started a campaign for the opening of a cemetery where both Catholics and Protestants could be buried with a proper funeral service. Until that time, Catholics did not have a cemetery where they could legally bury their dead with a service. The Glasnevin Cemetery opened in 1832. Daniel O’Connell has a crypt in the cemetery along with a tower marking his gravesite. It is also the final resting place of about 800,000 people in unmarked mass graves due to the Great Famine and cholera epidemic. Many of the leaders of the Irish Civil War are buried there including Michael Collins whose grave is the most visited in Ireland. And as a sign of its times, there are watch towers around the central old cemetery so as to guard against the bodysnatchers of the early 19th century.
From there we hit the neighbouring John Kavanagh the Gravedigger pub which had been recommended by a couple of locals. It certainly was a classic Irish pub with a drinking side (which was full) and a food side (where we ate). We took a peek inside the drinking section where the tables were all sectioned off with high, dark, wooden panels. It created quite the atmosphere!
After lunch, we headed back to our neighbourhood for the Jameson distillery tour. It is amazing how many people they can cycle through the tour machine. They have it down to the minute – as we learned when we tried to enter a staircase a minute early from the scheduled entry time. It was very well done though. They got you started with a drink as part of your ticket – a selection of basic whiskey or mixed cocktail. Then we were lead through a joint video / guide presentation of the history of the whiskey. Apparently Jameson’s’ are a great employer. Almost unheard of, they paid staff during a 2 week country shutdown which occurred during ‘the troubles’. The pre tasting room had samples to sniff of the ingredients and barrels. The tasting room gave us 3 tastes… Standard Jameson, Crested, and Black Barrel. We liked the Crested best and ended up purchasing some at the duty free before heading home.
Finally back home for cheese & crackers and fruit plate with our traditional card games and bevvies. Another very fun full day!
