By Shelton A. GunaratneƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚©2010

When I first visited Dublin in June 1990, it impressed me as a city that takes great pride in its history and culture.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  While every city has a history and a culture, not many cities can produce solid evidence to support their greatness.

Dublin is the place to visit the haunts of such literary giants as essayist Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), playwright William Congreve (1670-1729), dramatist Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1774), playwright R. B. Sheridan (1751-1816), lyricist Thomas Moore (1779-1852), folklorist Lady Gregory (1852-1932), playwright Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), playwright Bernard Shaw (1856-1970), poet W. B. Yeats (1865-1939), novelist James Joyce (1882-1941) and dramatist Sean OƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢Casey (1880-1964).

Moreover, Dublin is the home of some of IrelandƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s greatest museums, castles, markets and parks.

Dublin is a global city with a metropolitan population of 1.6 million. Thus, about 38 percent of the republicƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s population lives in the Greater Dublin Area that includes Fingal, South Dublin and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown

I arrived in Dublin on a Sunday (June 24, 1990). At the Dublin Airport, I took the express bus south to Busaras (in Dublin city), and then crossed over to Connolly Station to board the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) train for a 20-km trip southeast to Bray, a seaside town of 32,000 people (although the 1990 figure was only 22,700).

The Experiment for International Living had arranged for me to stay with the Hanafin family (Leo and Marie of 16 Raheen Park) for a week while I was attending the annual conference of the International Communication Association at Trinity College. Austin Babrow, a conference participant from Purdue University, was also staying with the Hanafins.

In the afternoon, the two Hanafin boysƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚Daragh, then 12; and Mark, then 22ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚took Babrow and me on a walking tour to the top of Bray Head, which has a large concrete cross, visible from the famous Victorian promenade overlooking the Irish Sea. Carlos, a Spanish boy staying with the Hanafins, also joined us.

After dinner, the Hanafins took Babrow and me for a drive through the Dublin Hills and the Wicklow Mountains. We stopped at Glencree to see the World War II German cemetery and also stopped on the wayside to absorb the scenery of the lakes below.

Such was my introduction to Dublin, which I explored over a week while attending the conference. Since the beginning of the Anglo-Norman rule in the 12^th century, Dublin served as the administrative seat of the Kingdom of Ireland (1541-1800) and of the Irish arm of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801-1922). Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State in 1922 and then the capital of the Republic of Ireland in 1949.

The absorption of Ireland into the United Kingdom for well over a century explains part of the resentment of the Irish against the British. The Irish claim that the English treated them disdainfully from the time that Ireland became the property of the English crown in 1171ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚the year when Strongbow (Richard Gilbert de Clare) and his fellow Normans resentfully acknowledged themselves to be the subjects of Henry II.

After the conference, I joined a ragtag group of Yankee eggheads cobbled together by professor John Sutthof to explore the famous Boyne Valley with Irish commentator John Killeen as our guide. We stopped at Drogheda, about 50 km to the north of Dublin, to see the site of the Battle of the Boyne (on July 12, 1690 in which William of Orange defeated James Stuart to win the crown of England. History buffs can tour the well-marked battlefield. Oliver Cromwell burned Drogheda in the 1640s.

But of greater interest to me were the nearby megalithic passage tombs of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth, which are older than the pyramids of Egypt and predate Stonehenge by 1,000 years. Some 40 passage tombs built by the pre-historic inhabitants of the area are believed to exit. The 4- foot.-high tomb covers an acre of ground, with 12 large pillars surrounding it.

We ate lunch in Slane and proceeded to see the ruins of the 12^th century Mellifont Abbey, the first Cistercian abbey in Ireland. Then we stopped to see Monasterboice, an ancient monastic settlement noted for its intricately carved 10^th century Cross of Muireadach and two other crosses varying in height from 16 to 21 feet.

We also visited the archaeological complex named Hill of Tara, a sacral site associated with kingship rituals, between Navan and Dunshaughlin. This was the legendary seat of ƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚rd RƒÆ’†’ƒ”š‚­ na hƒÆ’†’ƒ¢¢”š¬‚°ireann, or the High King of Ireland. There is an abundance of mythical stories associated with this place of mystery.

DublinƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Best

The preceding background allows me to make the claim that a fascinating aspect of touring Ireland is exploring the countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s rich history, literary and otherwise. In Dublin, those interested in literature can visit:

• St PatrickƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Cathedral, where Swift, the author of GulliverƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Travels and dean of the cathedral from 1713 to 1745, lies buried. SwiftƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s own epitaphƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-He lies where furious indignation can no longer rend his heartƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚appears on a slab near the entrance.
• Trinity College, the oldest university in Ireland founded by Queen Elizabeth I in 1591. Among its famous alumni are Swift, Congreve, Goldsmith, Moore and Wilde. (Incidentally, the Long Room of the Trinity College Library attracts many visitors to see its chief treasure, the Book of Kells, an eighth century manuscript transcript of the four gospels described as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-the most beautiful book in the world.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚)
• The new Abbey Theater, designed by architect Michael Scott, on the site of the original building that the Coole Park pals headed by Yeats and Lady Gregory founded in 1904. The original building succumbed to a fire in 1951 at the close of a performance of OƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢CaseyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s play ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Plough and the StarsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ that end with Dublin blazing in the aftermath of the 1916 Easter rebellion.
• Merrion Square where Wilde lived at No. 1 and Yeats at No. 82. This Georgian square housed several other celebrities as well. It is absorbing to read the historical signs outside the doorways.
• Dublin WritersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ Museum opened since 1991 that features the lives and works of Dublin’s literary celebrities over the past 300 yearsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚Swift and Sheridan, Shaw and Wilde, Yeats, Joyce and Beckett.
• James Joyce Center that houses the Guinness Reference Library, Its ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Ulysses ExperienceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ contains a mural based on JoyceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s most famous novel and incorporates the door of No. 7 Eccles StreetƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚the fictional home of Leopold and Molly Bloom.

DublinƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s share of IrelandƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s greatest museums, castles, markets and parks that a visitor should visit include:

• Christ Church Cathedral, which Viking King Sitric Silkenbeard founded in 1038. This is the Protestant cathedral for the diocese of Dublin. Rebuilt after its destruction in the 12^th century, it has one of IrelandƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s largest vaulted crypts.
• Leinster House, the meeting place of the Dail (House) and Seanad (Senate) since 1821. Built by Lord Kildare, Earl of Leinster, in 1745, it was used as a model for the White House by architect James Hoban of Carlow, who studied in Dublin. (I spent an afternoon in the visitorsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ gallery to watch then Prime Minister James Haughey fending questions from the opposition. The frequent shift to Gaelic both amused and confused me.)
• Mansion House, the residence of the lord mayors of Dublin since 1715. The 1919 Irish Declaration of Independence and the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty were signed in its Round Room. Nearby are the National Museum, the National Gallery and the Museum of Natural History.
• Dublin Castle, where the inauguration of the president of Ireland and related ceremonies take place in St. PatrickƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Hall.
• General Post Office (1818), the headquarters of the Irish Volunteers during the 1916 Easter Rising. Two blocks to the west is the Moore Street Market, which no visitor to Dublin should miss. The voluble fruit and flower sellers supposedly represent the true voice of Dublin. They speak a sort of English that is straight Sean OƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢Casey.
• The 1,760-acre Phoenix Park, within which are the PeopleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Gardens, theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Zoological Gardens, the municipal race course, the Magazine Fort and the residences of the president of Ireland and the U.S. ambassador.

Much of the joy and some of the agony of my tour of Ireland were the result of the company ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  my tour mates comprising John SutthofƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and his ragtag group of Yankee egghead-types. During the tour, we celebrated the 46^th wedding anniversary of two of themƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚Lou and Jean Chrysler. John Killeen, the Stewarts, Bill Todd-Mancillas and Charles Soderstrom were good dinner-time conversationalists. The group celebrated its dissolution on Friday (July 13, 1990) with their ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-last supperƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ at the Court Hotel in Dalkey facing the beautiful Killiney Bay.

Next:ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  On Touring England with a 10-year-old boy: Fire & Joy

(The writer is professor of mass communications emeritus, Minnesota State University Moorhead.)