Dublin sights

Our second day in Dublin was a bit of a blitz trip.



We started at Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. This really was an incredible moment to see the book that was writen over a thousand years ago with the 4 gospels written in Latin and beautifully illustrated. They think it was produced in the early 9th century by the monks of the island of Iona at Iona or Kells. One of the things I am constantly touched by is how God preserves his people (there is always a remnant) and his word. We can believe in the accuracy of scripture as again and again we find exact copies. In this case, because Ireland was a little wild and just a bit farther than England, the Roman Empire didn't stretch that far. Because of this, when the Roman Empire pulled back and ultimately fell, plunging Europe in the Dark Ages, Ireland was largely untouched and able to continue it's work and the Book of Kells was preserved coming to Dublin around 1653 for security during the Cromwellian period. Very cool!



From there we went to the National Museum of Ireland which mostly contains items of archeological significance. It's hard to sometimes see one more rock or piece of pottery, but Jen hung in there. I lost her, however, at the special exhibition about kingship and sacrifice. (She finally just got grossed out and left.) I, however, found it absolutely fascinating! I had just read in a Time magazine on the most important historical and scientific discoveries in the last hundred years (Yes, I am that dorky!) about the bog people. These were people that had been preserved because they were thrown into the bogs. They were able to tell how they died, what their diet was for the last 4 months (because of their fingernails), and even what they had eaten the day they died. Their clothes were preserved and you could see the style and coarse weave of the preserved fabric. One man's hair was even analyzed to find a hairstyling gel that was from France or Spain. All in all, it is an amazing glimpse into that Iron Age culture.

After that we went to the National Gallery of Ireland. We both enjoyed some of the Rembrandt paintings "Escape to Egypt" and the Vermeer "Lady Writing a Letter" and Velazquez's "Kitchen Maid with the Supper at Emmaus."

From there we went to the National Library of Ireland. We visited a W.B.Yeats exhibit and were sad to find that although he had some beautiful poetry, he was also a womanizing occultist. It kind of ruined him for us.

Of course no stop in Dublin is without going to the Temple Bar area where we visited a cool music shop. Then back to our B&B for the night.