Day 22 - July 28

Out early to grab a coffee and muffin before getting to the Guinness Storehouse for a tour. Very interesting tour about the brewing of stout but to be honest I found the whole section (real movie footage) about the making of the barrels or “coopering” the most interesting. It is now a lost art but even as the company was transitioning from the wooden barrels to steel ones, they kept on the coopers and had them make useful things out of the wood until they had all retired. 

Home of Albert Guinness

We went up to the Gravity Bar to have our free pint and take in the 360 degree views of Dublin and the Wicklow Mountains. 












After this we hopped on our bus to get close to St Patrick's Cathedral again. We ate our picnic lunch in the park and then went to Marsh's library. This was the first public library in Ireland founded in 1701 by Archbishop Marsh. 

The library is exactly as it was 300 years ago. It smelled of old knowledge and musty books.  No one is allowed to touch the books but it was fascinating to see the books and the topics that had been written about. 




After some time in the library, we were back on the bus to go to St Michan's Church. A church had been on that site for over 900 years with the present building there since about 1685. The organ is still in use and is one of the oldest in the country. It is believed that Handel practiced his Messiah here before it was performed in public. Our tour started soon after we had wandered around the church and we were taken down into the crypt to see the mummies. 



The vaults with doors on them were off limits but those with the doors gone showed caskets lying every which way and you could see the skeletons of some while you could see the skin and nails of others. The bodies have been well preserved down there (300 + years) due to the combination of CO2, Methane and limestone. The bodies we could see had stories attached to them - the nun, the thief (missing a hand) and the Crusader who stood at least six and a half feet tall 300 years ago. His legs had been broken so he would fit in the coffin. All interesting but not for the faint of heart! Sorry no pictures allowed.

Back to the hotel to clean up and then out for dinner to a tapas restaurant. Really good food and a chance to talk about our past three weeks and the time to come. 
Back to pack and bed early for our early wake up.