Good morning all! The first part of this blog is on 9/28.
For breakfast, I had a small Irish breakfast. The full one is twice as large. I skipped the black pudding. Just in case you don’t know, it is almost black because it is made with blood. It has all the same ingredients but no blood. The round sausage-looking thing is white pudding; I had never heard of it until this trip, so I decided to try it. It was actually pretty good.
I said goodbye to the Dingle Way and had about a five-hour trip back to Dublin - only one bus change. About midway, our bus broke down. The brakes were acting up. Since I was in the front seat (my favorite spot), I was glad we didn’t continue on. We had to wait over an hour for a new bus. Oh well, stuff happens.
I made it to the main bus terminal in Central Dublin and decided to walk to my hotel since it was a 9-minute walk. I had to cross a river, and the bridge had steep steps going both up and down. I was struggling with a large suitcase, my under-the-seat travel bag, and my backpack when a very nice gay man gallantly took the large suitcase. There are Camino angels everywhere.
I was a lazy bum this morning (9/29/26)because I had the day off. My first stop was Christ Church Cathedral.
Dublin's oldest cathedral began life as à smalt church founded by Dúnán, the first bishop of Dublin, with funds from the Norse king of Dublin, Sitriuc. After the Anglo-Normans captured the city in 1170, their leader, Strongbow (who is buried here), planned a great cathedral with the Archbishop of Dublin, Laurence O'Toole. They completed their vision in the 1230s. Following the Reformation, Christ Church became a Protestant cathedral and 'Romish' relics, such as St Patrick's crozier, were burned in a huge bonfire. The cathedral underwent extensive restoration in the 1870s. Its atmospheric medieval crypt is one of Dublin's oldest surviving structures.
Thought to be Dublin's oldest street, Fishärnble Street hosted the world premiere of George Frederic Handel’s 4 Vessjah', one of the greatest choral works of all time in April 1742. The cathedral
choirs of St Patrick's and Christ Church performed, while the composer himself played the organ. Some 700 people crowded the Music Hall, whose archway is still visible. Advertisements asked ladies to wear dresses without hoops to ensure there was enough room in the hall!
A bronze replica of the Cathedral, which is Anglican and not Catholic.
The cathedral is huge and extremely long from front to back.
Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a nut magnet. Well, it happened again. As I turned to look back, this woman, sitting on the front pew, wearing big glasses with rhinestones all around them, lit into me about not taking a photo of her. (I didn’t, and I didn't want one.) She claimed that we (Americans) all worship Trump (granted, some do, but I am not one of them), a thief, a liar, and a pedophile. She told me Ireland was still a moral country where criminals went to jail and that we should all just go home, and on and on, until I walked away. I couldn’t have gotten a word in edgeways if I had wanted to. This has not been typical of my visit in any way. The Irish people have been lovely, everywhere I have been.
There were so many gorgeous stained glass windows.
Two of the cathedral's most famous residents are the mummified Cat and Rat. They were discovered trapped inside the organ when it was dismantled and moved during the restoration of Christ Church in the 1870s. They probably got stuck after a chase around the cathedral, in which the rat dived into the organ to escape, and the cat followed. They were naturally preserved and mummified due to the lack of oxygen inside the organ case. If you look closely, you can still see the cat's whiskers. The Irish author James Joyce makes reference to this unusual pair in Finnegan's Wake, written in 1939, in which he refers to
someone as 'stuck as that cat to that mouse in that tube of that Christ Church Organ.'
Christ Church Cathedral serves as a historic and modern waypoint on the Celtic Camino route to Santiago de Compostela. Saint James’s Gate was a traditional starting point for medieval pilgrims commencing their pilgrimages from Dublin to Santiago de Compostela. Traditionally, pilgrims would have landed in the northern Spanish ports of A Coruña and Ferrol before walking or traveling on horseback to Santiago. For those who traveled from Dublin, Christ Church Cathedral would have seen many medieval pilgrims before they set sail for Spain.
The tribute outside the Cathedral is an Armenian Genocide Memorial featuring a traditional carved stone cross, known as a khachkar. Artak Hambardzumyan, who carved it, was there and was telling a group of tourists about it. Sadly, I got there as he was finishing up. It is dedicated to the 1.5 million Armenians who lost their lives as a result of genocide in about 1915.
"Homeless Jesus” is a bronze statue by Tim Schmalz, located on the grounds of Christ Church Cathedral. Jesus is portrayed as a faceless, cloaked figure lying on a park bench. The identity of Jesus is revealed only by the crucifixion wounds on the feet. It represents Matthew 25, suggesting that Christ is found among society's most marginalized. Apparently, over 100 casts of the same figure are dotted around the world. It does give food for thought. If a dark-skinned homeless man entered our middle-class and above churches today, how would we greet him?
For my friend Mary P: a creaky door with spider webs just outside the Cathedral grounds.
Much of the sidewalk art portrays ships, honoring Ireland's rich history at sea.
I had dinner at The Bull and Castle on Lord Edward Street opposite Christ Church Cathedral is a historic Dublin institution that evolved from an 18th-century coaching inn and grocery store into a renowned modern steakhouse and craft beer pioneer. It was rated one of the top restaurants in the area.
I am not much of a steak person, nor a beef person for that matter. But when in Rome... I ordered the F.X Buckley 8oz Burger, described as "Bone Marrow, American Cheddar, Pickles, Salad, Brioche Bun, Served with Beef Dripping Chips.” It was an outstanding burger, and we do have equally good burgers in the US, but the Irish kick our butts when it comes to fries or chips, as they call them here.
So I also have tomorrow off here in Dublin; don’t worry if you don’t get a post from me.
Good night and God Bless!
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