This weekend was another exciting chapter in the Dublin saga. It almost becomes ordinary, to see amazing cliffs, ancient scripts, and thrilling pubs. But then again I never lose that wonder of the fact that I am in IRELAND and four thousand miles away from anything I've known for twenty years. That just makes everything a little bit more exciting.
Friday September 19th found us first at the O'Connell house. We started an hour session called "Dublin Your Knowledge" (pun the work of Andrew, not me) which is a weekly partition where any intellectual topic can be discussed in a more informal manner. This week we talked about probability, the Monty Hall problem (google it), and choosing envelopes of money, all of which were tied to God and the concept of destiny. For you that probably sounds quite monotonous, but this was a group of Notre Dame students, graduates, and professors; of course we were going nuts. The discussion was very heated and took some interesting turns. It was a great way to flush out some topic other than “how you doing? The weather sure is nice today (which, by the way, was actually quite true this entire weekend), how are your classes?” that banter can grow old, so I definitely think it was a step in the right direction. After Dublin your Knowledge, a group of us set out for Culture Night. This is a big deal in Dublin; historical and cultural landmarks are all open for free. Features included museums, libraries, pubs with live music, hotels, banks, and government buildings.
We went to the Trinity College Long Room, a very wide open bi-level corridor that houses a collection of over 200,000 scholarly books, most of them bound still in leather and well over two hundred years old. Inside is the book of Kells, an illuminated text lavishly decorated and adorned in a variety of designs and illustrations. The old Latin text chronicles the Four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It was quite beautiful and at the same time a surreal experience to be witnessing a text aged over a millennium. The book had to take the monks decades to complete; just like the walls covering the West coast, one could feel the hours of toil that had been put into this work. It was great. By now we wanted to find some live music and a pub, so we traveled to our favorite, Fitzgeralds! This is by far the sweetest pub in Dublin. Right on the corner of the O’Connell street bridge, it has live music and a great atmosphere. There we spent the rest of the night listening to traditional Irish ballads by the man and his guitar
Saturday rolled around, bringing with it a day trip to the small port town of Howth. Situated on the northeast side of Dublin, this quaint area sits on a peninsula with the Irish sea stretching beyond the horizon in all directions. We took the train out to the end of the line which ended up only being about a thirty minute ride. We took a trail to the summit which ended up being quite a hike. We traversed trails, golf courses, backyards, and streets before finally discovering the real Tramline trail. The path used to hold public tramline cars, the last open air ones in the world before the project was terminated in the early 50’s. Nonetheless, we had a great view of the port and sea behind it, so I took a few pictures.
It is here that my camera battery decided to die. I take full blame for this as I did not charge my battery since I left the states, and the consequence was I could not take pictures of Howth for the rest of the day. Luckily everyone else had cameras, so I stole pictures, making things at least bearable.
We started hiking further up until we reached the summit. It was a neat view of... nothing. Apparently in Ireland, even if you reach the summit you still may have to climb if you want to reach the highest point. Of the 400,000 words in the English language, the one that I deemed least likely to be lost in cultural translation would be summit. No matter, what happened next more than made up for it. While we were taking pictures of our nothing, a small black Labrador retriever decided to bug us. And by bug us, I mean lovingly follow us around as we took some steps. Chris so affectionately named him “Roebuck” (name of our residence), and he became our companion.
As we started walking toward the real summit, Roebuck ran ahead and back, always seeming to stay along but also wanting to forge ahead. We walked to the summit, took a look around, and started down one of the more exotic paths.
Here is where things get interesting.
Roebuck jumps around and through the brush, leaping ahead as we follow. He turns on a small path we likely would have missed otherwise, and we decided to follow him. He led us to a path on the high cliffs that was nothing short of miraculous. There was a small lighthouse, a beach to see, and beautiful Irish water in every direction. Coupled with the wonderful weather, it was an astounding sight.
We decided that sitting on a 300 foot cliff in the middle of a bright day overlooking the ocean was a perfect spot for lunch. We sat down and ate, simply marveling at how awesome this was. And how did we arrive? Because we followed a random dog. The sheer concept still amazes me.
After lunch we did some more random exploring. Chris and I decided to walk out onto random cliffs and over paths in the rock approximately a foot wide with sheer rock falling two hundred feet onto rocks being bombarded by crashing ocean waves.
Oh… if you’re a mom (or more specifically, my mom), don’t read the last sentence.
We got pictures on the rocks which I’ll be putting up shortly and also sang the fight song (though it didn’t seem to help much. Sunshine apparently didn’t feel like throwing the ball to our receivers Saturday). Words simply cannot describe where we all were at that moment. It was surreal and the English language is so incredibly hampering that I can only suggest that you one day visit so that you would know what I am talking about. If you have ever had an experience like nature, Kairos, or something of the sort that is personal to you and those you experienced with, I can only say it was probably a little bit like that.
Eventually we realized that, while our spot carried a certain energy we did not want to leave behind, all good things come to pass and the only thing we can take back is our memories. So we saddled up and began walking along the high cliffs paths back toward Howth. Where was Roebuck you ask? He had found another dog and climbed down to the beach with him. He had moved on, for he had accomplished what he came to do. Chris and I knighted him “Sir Roebuck” and surged on, happy to have been led to something so incredible by a work of fate.
The paths were great and we had many an important discussion along the way. Our group of Cheryl, Jenna, Chris, Sarah, and myself were either basic acquaintances or total strangers prior to Ireland, so talking with them about life experiences, beliefs, and morals was a fantastic bonding experience. We returned to the city and walked around the port area which still houses many fishing ships and fresh seafood shops. Eventually we made our way to several churches, graveyards, and even a castle. By then our legs were all quite tired, so we hiked back to the DART and made our way for home.
It was a great day and even though the Irish lost, we each had a fantastic time.
Pictures should be up shortly, I need to collect from everyone since I don’t have my own… just one more reason for me to go back again. Cheers!
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