September 8 and 9, 2016. Dublin; Dublin to London

Before getting into Thursday’s events (September 8), I need to give a little more background on the Easter Rebellion (Easter Rising) of 1916 – which I’ve given rather short shrift in previous notes – and which is the backdrop for nearly everything discussed in Ireland – especially now as Ireland celebrates its centennial and reflects on its hundred years as a republic.

The Easter Rising was an armed insurrection that took place during Easter time in 1916 – launched by Irish republicans as an effort to end British rule and establish a republic. It took place while the UK was involved in WWI and was organized by a seven men who formed the Irish Republican Brotherhood… They were joined by the Irish Citizen Army and also several hundred women and together over just 6 days (at least this is what I think the story is) they seized many locations in Dublin and they proclaimed the start of the Irish Republic. The Brits had thousands of soldiers who were deployed to Ireland and lots of armament… Much of the fighting was on the streets and on roads leading into the center of Dublin where the rebels put up a strong resistance (and inflicted casualties on the British). Eventually, the rebels were surrounded and bombarded by the well-armed British and the Rising was squelched. More than 3,000 people were taken prisoner and about half were sent to internment camps. The leaders were executed (hence the Kilmainham Gaol). But popular support for Irish independence continued.

One of the jail’s most famous prisoners was de Valera who was there three times. He was an independence leader who was born in NY to an Irish mother who died and so he went to Ireland and later joined the Irish Volunteers. He was sentenced to death for his role in the Easter Uprising, but his sentence was commuted and he was actually the only leader of the rebellion who was not executed (maybe because he was actually a US citizen?). He wound up in several different jails in England and then released on some kind of amnesty. Eventually he became the last political prisoner to walk out of Kilmainham Jail in the mid-1920s… Ironically, he later became the Prime Minister and then President of Ireland.

About 500 people were killed in the 6 days of the Easter Rising and of those dead more than half were civilians. About 3,000 were wounded. Many of the civilians were caught in the crossfire of the street fighting. The whole activity left many parts of Dublin in ruins. While we didn’t plan our trip based on this centennial, it’s obviously been a backdrop as we walk the streets. There are great huge photo blow ups of 1916 in several of the parks; last night we attended a concert in the National Concert Hall called “Composing the Island” – a sort of retrospective of the past 100 years of classical Irish music. The first half, which I think covered compositions from 1916 through the end of WWII, was all very heavy. The second half of the concert was a bit more uplifting. (The intention was to head to a pub to hear folk music after the concert, but it ended late and Richard and Elizabeth had an early flight this morning, so we headed to the hotel where there was a not-very-good singer/guitarist and a very noisy bachelor party in the bar.)

OK.. history lesson complete. Apologies.. but the visit to Killmainham was really powerful – seeing the cells where these resistance leaders were held and where they were executed. By the way, “The Italian Job” and several other films were shot at the prison… which offered itself as a location for major films and also for concerts in the years between its closing and the opening of the jail as a tourist venue.

Started out on Thursday walking to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells (an obviously popular tourist attraction with long lines).. Have to be honest, the powerful experience there is seeing the amazing library and the famous Long Room where the Book of Kells is kept. The library and the room are from the 1700s… and expanded in the 1850s. It’s about 200 ft. long… and is filled with shelves holding every book that has ever been published in Ireland and Britain.. It’s lined with marble busts of philosophers, writers, etc.

From Trinity we hiked to the Photographic Archives to get a better look at the images of 1916 (which is remarkably documented), and then a bit to eat in a pub (still a little queasy so focused mostly on soup. Then Mike headed to see the Liebeskind building that we had already seen and Elizabeth and I strolled to check out neighborhoods and also some Irish Design stores and a look at Powerscourt Center (an elegant Georgian house that was home to a viscount in the 1700s.. He and his wife bought the giant townhouse (which is a bit like Downton Abbey in scale) to entertain guests when they were in town during “the season.” It’s huge with a central court that is now glazed over… and the house and space are now home to dozens of shops and restaurants. Also walked by the big tall spire, apparently built for the millennium…

Final interesting points of note:

• Dublin taxi drivers have successfully fended off Uber (good for them!)
• There was a bus strike for the last two days so traffic is totally snarled.
• Unemployment is currently at about 9% in Ireland (or maybe that’s Dublin) which they think is good, given that they had been at 17% a few years ago during the economic crisis.
• People living in Northern Ireland are now actively seeking Irish passports in light of Brexit. (apparently Irish can choose to have a passport from the Republic of Ireland (EU) or from Northern Ireland (UK).
• It’s been raining for the past two days while in Dublin.

Taxied to Dublin Airport—to catch 5:00 pm flight from Dublin to London City Airport (like flying into Burbank instead of LAX)…

Just finished dinner with god-daughter and her husband; they’ve been living overseas for many years… Went to a little tapas place called Taberna do Mercado – in Spitalfields Market.. Very good, and we closed the place down and then came to our hotel which is nearby for drinks..

It’s about 2 am.. and I’m fading. See you all stateside in about 36 hours.

Fern