THE HEART OF THE HIBERNIAN METROPOLIS . . .

Well . . . we have another full day pretty much behind us, despite the still daylight-bright sky at 10:00 pm. . . .

We started our day together with a tour of our home base, Trinity College Dublin, beginning at 10:45 this morning. Trinity has a fascinating history--it was founded by Queen Elizabeth I--and many great traditions and lots of lore: our tour guide, a current student at TCD, did a fine job of entertaining us and informing us, though as a graduate of crosstown University College Dublin myself--like James Joyce and Flann O'Brien--I tried not to be too impressed. . . .

Eventually we ended up at the old Library, which houses the legendary illuminated manuscript The Book of Kells. It is on display under glass--literally a sight to see! TCD has done a good job of providing a lot of background and interpretive information in an anteroom. We all came away "illuminated"! From there we strolled about a quarter of a mile up Dame Street to Dublin Castle. Robert remembered visiting there a long time ago; I don't think I've ever actually set foot on the premises, though I've wandered past many times in the past. I think that we all agreed that, frankly, there wasn't a lot to see that dovetailed with our reading. The Castle was the seat of the British colonial administration in Ireland up until the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1922. Then it became the seat of administration for the Free State government. . . .

Next we headed north, crossing the Liffey on the Ha'penny Bridge and then making our way along O'Connell Street where we stopped for a few minutes at the General Post Office, which was the headquarters for the Easter Rising of 1916: the Proclamation of the Republic of Ireland was read from the steps of the GPO on Easter Monday morning of 1916. And the rest is history. . . . And that history is commemorated inside the GPO by a statue of the principal hero of ancient Irish legend, Cuchulainn.

We then paused for a group photo across the street from the Gresham Hotel, where Gabriel Conroy experiences his "epiphany" in Joyce's short story "The Dead."

At that point we were starting to get hungry, so I took on the role of fearless leader . . . and fearlessly led everyone to a bar/restaurant across the street from James Joyce's old "high school," Belvedere College--but it was closed for the day; undaunted in my fearless leadership, I then led everyone to . . . a now-nonexistent coffee shop that I remembered from a visit to Dublin two years ago. Still undaunted, I then led us to an underground food court where everyone enjoyed--really!--very affordable all-you-can-eat meals of African, Indian and Asian origins. "When in Dublin . . ."

After eating our fill, we strolled up to the Dublin Writers Museum--which is just what it sounds like: it displays both books and personal items associated with a wide array of Irish writers from the 18th century to the present. We spent close to two hours there, fully engaged by what we found, including Patrick Kavanagh's typewriter. . . .

By that point, everyone was exhausted--not only by the day's walking but also from lingering jet lag--so we trudged back to our digs at TCD where we left each other to our own devices (literally in the case of me and my iPad). I managed to scoot over to the Hodges & Figgis bookstore just before closing time to purchase my first book of our visit to Ireland--a hot-off-the-press novel by Paul Charles titled The Last Dance. I had read a bit about it before leaving Boston--so I'm giving it a chance. . . .

Lots more on the menu for tomorrow. Stay tuned for the next report from deep in the heart of the Hibernian metropolis!