Dublin Tour
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Dublin is the capital city of the Republic of Ireland. Steeped
in history, earlier accounts of Dublin go back as far as AD140
when Ptolemy mentioned it as a place of note. Dublin had many
visitors over the centuries, some welcome, others not. These
visitors have left their mark on the fabric of this city. From
the Vikings, who established the first settlement in this location,
through the walled medieval city, to the splendid Georgian architecture.
Dublin is a city of colour and delightful contrasts. All of
this is within a short coach or car ride of breathtaking Wicklow
with its mountains, lakes, valleys and long sandy beaches to
the south of the city. Dublin today has all the charms of the
past and the benefits of the 20th century with its wide range
of tempting shops and boutiques, sporting facilities, pubs and
entertainment.
Abbey Tavern, Howth
The Abbey Tavern bar and restaurant is situated 15 minutes from
Dublin Airport and 25 minutes from the city centre, in the scenic
north county Dublin area. The Abbey Tavern has been in business
since 1879, and has built a reputation in Dublin for fine food,
great atmosphere, traditional Irish evenings and superb Irish
Coffee.
Collins Barracks
Collins
Barracks is the oldest inhabited barracks in Europe and once
one of the largest. In recent years the National Museum of
Ireland has taken over the Calvary Square ranges to display
more of its large collection. On display are artefacts ranging
from weaponry, furniture, folk life, and costume to silver,
ceramics and glassware. The barracks were erected in 1701 to
the designs of Thomas Burgh (1670-1730) and it was his first
recorded building.
Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle is more of a palace than a castle and is currently
used to entertain heads of state. It was originally built on
the orders of King John in 1204. The castle had been used in
a number of ways, it was a prison, and an official residence
of the British viceroys of Ireland. Most of the original castle
was destroyed during 1684 and rebuilt in 1777. Only the tower
built between 1202 and 1258 survives from the original Norman
castle.
Dublin Writers Museum
Dublin
is famous as a city of writers and literature, and the Dublin
Writers Museum is an essential visit for anyone who wants to
discover, explore, or simply enjoy Dublins immense literary
heritage.
At the Writers Musuem, Dublin’s literary celebrities
from the past three hundred years are brought to life through
their books, letters, portraits and personal items.
Georgian Doorways
Located
around Merrion and Fitzwilliam squares. Dublin's Georgian Architecture
tells the story of a medieval town that transformed itself
into one of Europe's finest cities. View sash windows, paneled
front doors and semi-circular fan lights in abundance.
Glendalough
Glendalough
with it's famous round tower is one of the most enduring images
of county Wicklow. It was here that St Kevin founded a monastery
in the sixteenth century. As well as the round tower there
is also a cathedral, stone churches and decorated crosses that
have survived the years.
Grafton Street
Grafton
Street, positioned between Trinity College on the north end
and St Stephen's Green on the south end, is the upmarket shopping
area of Dublin with flagship stores such as Brown Thomas, the
department store catering for a myriad of designer showcases,
both foreign and local. Dublin's largest and most exclusive
jewellers, Weirs, is also here, as well as the most popular
of the famous Bewley's Cafes.
Helen Dillon Private Gardens
A
garden designer, Helen Dillon, reinvented her Dublin garden
replacing the lawn with a striking modern canal. The garden
is littered with huge tubs of camellias and mimosa on the south
facing wall, carpets of cyclamen coum, the rare christmas -
flowering daffodil, Cedric Morris and many more. The Helen
Dillon Garden is one of the finest gardens in Europe.
Hill walking
Wicklow
is a walkers paradise, with the magnificent landscape as a
gem in the garden county that provides the best opportunities
for holiday walking and strolling.
James Joyce Museum
Like
the many other Martello towers around Dublin, the Joyce Tower
was built in 1804 to withstand a threatened invasion by Napoleon.
The French never arrived, and a hundred years later the British
War Department put the tower up for rent. The first tenant
was the poet Oliver St John Gogarty, who moved in in August
1904 and invited his friend James Joyce to stay.
Knowth
Knowth
is a passage mound located 1.3 km north-west of Newgrange,
on the river Boyne. Constructed around 3500 bc, this is one
of the oldest known buildings in Europe. It is aligned on a
minor lunar standstill, with passages aligned with sunrise
and sunset at the equinox. Knowth and Dowth were built around
3000BC making them 1000 years older than Stonehenge in England,
and 500 years older than the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
Liffey Voyage
The
Liffey Voyage departs from a landing station off the boardwalk
at Bachelors Walk and passes O'Connell Bridge, Butt Bridge
and the Talbot Memorial Bridge on a journey downstream, passing
the Custom House in Dublin's Dockland. The cruise reaches the
East Link Toll Bridge and the Grand Canal Basin before returning
up river to Bachelors Walk.
Malahide Castle
Malahide
Castle is very unique in Ireland because the Talbot Family
managed to keep control of the castle for 791 years. The Talbot
Family began their reign in 1185 and ended in 1976 despite
a short interlude between 1649 and 1660, while Cromwell marched
through Ireland. Malahide Castle is set on 250 acres of park
land and in the pretty seaside town of Malahide. The house
is furnished with beautiful period furniture together with
an extensive collection of Irish portrait paintings, mainly
from the National Gallery.
National Gallery of Ireland
Located
on Merrion Square, Dublin, and housing the national collection
of Irish Art and European Master Paintings. The collections
of the gallery cover Irish art from the renaissance onwards,
and the art of other European countries from the late middle
ages to the 1960's.
National Stud and Japanese Gardens
The
Irish National Stud was formed in 1945 and consists of 288
boxes for the accommodation of mares, foals, and stallions.
Situated in Kildare town, forty minutes from Dublin. The Japanese
gardens were created between 1906 and 1910 by a wealthy Scotsman,
Colonel William Hallwalker. The gardens were laid out by the
Japanese Eida and his son Minoru and still carefully preserved
to this day.
New Grange
New
Grange is the earliest and most well-known passage tomb in
all of Ireland. It is located near Slane in County Meath at
the bend of the River Boyne. The actual dates of the tomb vary;
uncalibrated radiocarbon dates give a range near 2500 BC or
3200 BC calibrated. The polypod bowls found at the site give
evidence that the Middle Rhine Beaker people inhabited the
site. In addition, the flint scrapers and varieties of arrowheads
give evidence for the Eastern Beaker people.
No.29 Fitzwillian Street - Georgian House Museum
Everything
in this carefully refurbished 1794 home, known simply as Number
Twenty-Nine, is in keeping with the elegant lifestyle of the
Dublin middle class between 1790 and 1820, the height of the
Georgian period, when the house was owned by a wine merchant's
widow. From the basement to the attic - in the kitchen, nursery,
servant's quarters, and the formal living areas - the National
Museum has re-created the period's style with authentic furniture,
paintings, carpets, curtains, paint, wallpapers, and even bell
pulls.
Phoenix Park
This
is Dublin's playground the largest urban enclosed park in Europe,
with a circumference of 11km (7m) and a total area of 712 hectares
(1,760 acres). Situated 3km (2m) west of the city centre, it
is traversed by a network of roads and quiet pedestrian walkways,
and informally landscaped with ornamental gardens, nature trails,
and broad expanses of grassland, separated by avenues of trees,
including oak, beech, pine, chestnut, and lime. Livestock graze
peacefully on pasturelands, deer roam the forested areas, and
horses romp on polo fields.
Powerscourt Gardens
Powerscourt
is one of the worlds greatest gardens, situated 12 miles south
of Dublin in the foot hills of the Wicklow Mountains. Stretching
over 40 acres,with a sublime blend of formal gardens, sweeping
terraces, statuary and ornamental lakes.
St. Patrick's Cathedral
Saint
Patrick on his journey through Ireland is said to have passed
through Dublin. In a well close to where the Cathedral now
stands, he is reputed to have baptized converts from Paganism
to Christianity. To commemorate his visit, a small wooden church
was built on this site.
St. Stephen's Green
St.Stephen's
Green is a 27 acre park in the heart of Dublin city centre.
A popular lunchtime retreat for many of the office workers
in the area, it was originally open public ground until 1663
when the Corporation fenced the area off. The green was then
sold and the ground was closed to the public. It was during
this time that the Georgian houses around the Green were built.
Temple Bar
Temple
Bar is not only Dublin's Cultural Quarter, but a lively, bustling
and cosmopolitan area in the heart of Dublin City. This small
area boasts a dazzling choice of restaurants, cafes, bars,
hotels and shops to suit all tastes and pockets, all within
easy walking distance of Temple Bar's many cultural centres
and galleries.
Its narrow cobbled streets are pedestrianised and are ideally
suited to a leisurely stroll through the quarter. There are
Area Maps located on every street in Temple Bar to assist you
in locating the many places of interest to visitors to the
area.
Trinity College
Trinity
College was formed in 1592.The idea of an Irish University had been in the
air for some time. A small group of Dublin civilians obtained a charter from
Queen Elizabeth incorporating Trinity College juxta Dublin. The University
in Dublin city center is the oldest University in Ireland. Heritage attractions
available to visitors include "The Book of Kells", a 9th century
manuscript of the Gospels,"The Dublin Experience", which is a major
multi media show, and "The walking tour of campus".
The Spire & GPO
The
Spire of Dublin, a brand new 120 metre high landmark in the heart of Dublin
City, was unveiled in 2002.
The huge, striking, and innovative monument stands in the middle
of O'Connell Street just across from the famous GPO. During
daylight, the light of Ireland's sky over Dublin, the streetscape
and its people is softly reflected in the stainless steel surface
of the Spire.
From its base up to about 10m, the stainless steel is partially
polished in an abstract design to provide a slightly higher
reflective surface than the remainder of the Spire.
Golf - Druids Glen Golf Club
Druids
Glen Golf Resort consists of Druids Glen Golf Course, Druids Heath Golf Course,
Woodstock House and the Druids Glen Marriott Hotel & Country Club. The Resort
is ideally located just 30 minutes south of Dublin in County Wicklow, known as
the Garden of Ireland.
Druids Glen was originally the Woodstock Estate, which dates back to 1600, when
it formed part of Sir Thomas Wentworth's landholding. Woodstock House, the clubhouse
at Druids Glen, was built in 1770.
Golf - Portmarnock Links
Only ten miles north of Dublin, Portmarnock
is a world classic golf course. Understated and enchanting,
ever changing in the most natural of ways, yet full of energy,
intelligence and beauty. There is no reason to expect that
such a course should evolve here. There are more interesting
stretches of links land, and there has been no famous architect
to guide its development. Yet the value of Portmarnock, like
St. Andrews, seems only to grow over time.
Golf - K Club Golf Course
There
are two magnificent 18 hole championship golf courses, the
Palmer Course, and the Smurfit Course. Both are designed by
Arnold Palmer but each has its own characteristics and special
set of challenges.
Golf - Royal Dublin Golf Club
Originally designed by the renowned architect, Harry Colt, 2006 sees the completion
of the final phase of the magnificent programme of improvement by the doyen of
links development, Martin Hawtree. In addition to a radical redesign of the 6th,
7th and 8th holes, over three winters Mr Hawtree has adjusted the architecture
of every hole. His team has raised all of the greens, adding beautiful contouring.
From May 1st, 2006, the course will be open for play in its new and challenging
form. Currently, there are fourteen holes in play.
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