We are staying at a lovely hotel that Jeanette found called The Davenport. It is near neighbours to Oscar Wilde’s home which is now a museum. A short walk across the road is a park with a statue of the famous author.
It was from outside this park we caught the hop on bus for a tour around Dublin to help orientate ourselves for further more detailed exploration.
On the edge of the city there is Phoenix Park which is the largest park in Europe. It is enclosed by over 10 miles of stone walls and was originally a Royal hunting reserve.
I was taken by the Wellington Monument there. You can get an idea of its size by the tiny people around its base. The metal panels around the sides were cast from melted down French canons taken at the Battle of Waterloo.
After the tour we had a walk around some Dublin’s streets looking for a place for lunch. We wound up in a nice pub called the Bailey. Plotting our next move, we decided to visit the Guinness Brewery so Jeanette got on line to book us in which we managed for the 2:45pm tour.
The Brewery is a vast complex. That’s Jeanette in the distance in front of the famous Brewery gates. The founder got a 9,000 year lease on the site from the church in the 18th century at a rental of 45 pounds a year.
They have converted their old production facility into a visitors centre. It is an amazing 7 storey building and you can see the old riveted steel construction.
The absolute highlight for me was on the fourth floor, hidden away in a corner away from the flashy Audio video displays was a surviving Guinness Steam Locomotive. Designed by the Brewery’s engineer Samuel Geoghegan when they couldn’t find a suitable loco in the market, they proved a success and 18 were made between 1882 and 1921 (17 of which were built locally at the Cork Foundry).
We finished our tour of the 7th floor and sampled a Guinness while looking out over the city.
Hardys’ Travels 