Air, Landier, and Sea

Before my parents and brother made their way back to the States, we made sure to get in some more of historical Dublin.

We visited Trinity College, where the Book of Kells is located.

The Book of Kells dates back to about 1100 AD and is a handwritten translation of the four gospels, done by four different monks. It’s really more of a work of art, rather than a book- each scribe had his own style and added his own flourishes to it.

The librarians turn one page of the book to display a different one each day.

Following the Book of Kells is the old library, which has served as a set for Harry Potter and inspiration for the Jedi library in Star Wars.

It, too, is quite beautiful to look at. Although it’s historic, it’s also a working library.

We next visited the Museum of Archeaology. I will say we definitely missed Mark here. While it was cool too see the gold collars and ancient chalices that have been discovered in Ireland, the museum didn’t have a ton of written information so it was more a browsing tour than a learning one.

After lunch we made our way to Dublin Castle and Christ’s Church.

Although Bryce and I had been to Dublin before, we’d never been to Dublin castle.

It looks more like a parliament building from the outside, which we learned was due to reconstruction following a fire.

The castle was once a castle as you would imagine- built for defense.

Originally, the Normans constructed it, around 1204.

Eventually, the Viceroys occupied it, which was the first introduction to British rule in Ireland.

Unfortunately, it caught fire in the late 1684 and much of the castle was destroyed. Some believe it was caused intentionally by the current viceroy who really preferred a palace to a cold castle.

While some of the old castle is preserved, including the church on the grounds, the majority is the newer building.

Dublin Castle holds many events, including the presidential inauguration every seven years.

The last part of our day was visiting Christ’s Church, which is currently an Anglican Church (although it’s switched from Anglican to Catholic and back again throughout its history).

The church itself is quite beautiful, but what we found most interesting was the crypt in the basement.

This crypt has served as the set for the HBO show The Tudors, as well as houses some church relics and tombs.

One of the most fascinating (although a little gruesome) is a cat and a mouse.

The cat chased the mouse into the organ and they both got stuck, mummifying them both. It was incredible to see how persevered they bothered were- you can still see the whiskers on the cat!

One of our goals throughout the trip was to find a business with Mullen in the title.

We thought it would be cool to visit a Mullen-owned business in Ireland.

And what’s the first thing that comes to mind when you imagine a Mullen-owned business in Ireland?

That’s right! Karate!

Yup! The one business we could find with Mullen in the name was Mullen Sports who specializes in martial arts equipment.

While this trip was a gift for my dad, the second part of our trip is a 21st to my cousin, Jake. He and his best friend, Kaden, joined us for our last couple nights in Dublin before heading off to Croatia.

So, where do you take two (nearly) 21 year olds on their first night in Dublin with their grandparents present?

Temple Bar, of course.

A huge treat for Bryce and me was learning that it was Kaden’s first bar he’s ever been to! Talk about setting the bar high!

We had a great time cheers-ing to their arrival and their first European trip and to being 21. It was really cool for Jake to share that moment with his grandparents.

It was also really cool when we walked the grandparents out and then went right back in for more celebrating- including being invited behind the bar, Jameson and Guinness, and enjoying a sing-along with fellow tourists and the awesome band!

All jokes aside, we had a blast ringing in the boys’ first night in Ireland and sharing that with our wonderful family.