Dublin Day 1 - Trinity College

We landed in Dublin on Sunday, which meant I was out sight seeing first thing I could Monday. It just doesn't seem right that Brad had to go to work! I won't gush, but suffice to say, I think I have the best husband in the world :-)

I bought a hop on hop off two day dublin bus tour. I snapped pics as I went. 

One of the first places it stopped was at Trinity College. 

The college was founded in 1592 by letters of patent from Queen Elizabeth the first. Obviously she was protestant and wikipedia says that it was seen as the university of the protestant ascendancy. It was also establish to consolidate the rule of the Tudor monarchy. For example, only from 1873 could Catholics or dissenters become professors or fellows or receive scholarships. Then again, the Catholic Church in Ireland forbade its members to attend the university without permission from the Bishop, until, get this...1970! Pretty crazy!

Main Square

The first provost was Adam Loftus, Archbishop of Dublin(protestant church), who didn't come from Dublin but England. His property for his own home, Rathfarnam Castle, was actually given to him by Queen Elizabeth. Clearly he sat in the protestant camp. Unlike other homes, Rathfarnam has not survived the years in tact. Frankly it seems the property was somewhat of a symbol of political and religious oppression, but I digress.

Rathfarnam Castle...it's called a castle even though now it looks like a house because it has four  tower like structures , one on each corner which had battlements in days gone by from which one could defend the castle. 

Back to Trinity...

From the main entrance towards the main square called parliament square.

The statue of former provost George Salmon and the Campanile

After Trinity, I hopped back on the bus and headed further along the tour route. It was running late so I just snapped a few pics from the top level of the double decker open top bus.
The bus went past a number of famous places, one being the Guinness Factory. Pictures of the Guinness Family Country Estate to follow in a later post, as well as some more details about Guinness as a company.

Tower at Guinness Factory

The largest public park in Europe, Phoenix Park, is in Dublin. One of the residences that still exist in the park today, is the home of the Irish President. The American ambassador has a residence within the park too. I can't help but see the irony...he lives next door to the american ambassador and his house almost looks like a mini version of the white house in Washington :-)

Áras an Uachtaráin - official residence of the Irish president

Another place I caught a snapshot of from the bus, was Christ Church Cathedral. 

It actually extends over the road. There is a somewhat Venetian looking bridge that connects the two sections.

Further sights in the next post.