Upon arrival in Dublin, we took a whirlwind tour of St. Stephen’s Square and Trinity College. Old cathedrals are an amazing place to really see the majesty of architecture, because so many resources and the greatest marvels went into building them. Christ Church apparently houses the Magna Carta. A city, especially one with Viking roots, acquires a lot of significance in 900 years.

Our second day here, we visited St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The woman who sold us our tickets was on a banner outside. The church is visble from M’s room. And I did hear my fair share of church bells this morning.

After St. Patrick’s, we visited neighboring Marsh’s Library, a preserved 18th-century library where Bram Stoker did his research. The books in Marsh’s library are older than the United States of America.

Granted, that’s not nearly as old as the book we saw later that day. In the afternoon, we saw the Book of Kells. It’s beneath a screwed-down glass plate inside a glass cube. It’s open to a page from the Book of Matthew in the New Testament. The hall outside the dark room where they house the manuscript has some explanatory material. They also had reproductions of some of the pages. They also went through how to make vellum and what materials they used to create pigments and inks. The manuscript is 1200 years old. In Ireland, that’s not that old, but that’s old for a book!

The next stop after the Book of Kells is the Book of Kells Experience– and that takes you into a room where you can interact with busts of famous authors (that freakishky bat their eyes and talk) or use the QR codes to read academic background on various significant figures. Because I mentioned Bram Stoker above, I’ve included him here as well.

We stepped into Trinity College’s Long Room, which won’t have books in it for much longer. They are doing some restoration work. The room features the art installation Gaia, Ireland’s oldest surviving harp, and the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. And it’s a majestic space.

Trinity College was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I, and M’s family member who attends here told us that the main green field on campus was designed specifically not to be big enough to play traditionally Irish sports.

In every neighborhood in each city we have visited, we have seen multiple bookstores. Near Trinity, we stopped in at Hodges Figgis. They had an entire room of Irish history and Irish fiction. It took all my self control not to buy exorbitant amounts of history books.

Since 1768, Hodges Figgis has been at the forefront of celebrating Ireland’s rich literary heritage. From timeless classics to contemporary masterpieces, our shelves are adorned with a diverse array of Irish books spanning every genre. Whether you’re a seasoned bibliophile or a curious newcomer, our expert booksellers are here to guide you on a journey through Ireland’s vibrant literary landscape.

This was where I also confirmed that my debit card would only work in certain places with certain processors. Elavon, the same processor I use for Parisian Phoenix, services some of the shops here. Those shops can take my card. I had completely forgotten that Capital One switched to the Discover network and now the card I have used all over the world is fairly useless. Sad really. I had that bank account specifically for travel and it has been used in multiple locations in Europe and in Africa.