UK and Dublin: Day 11: Dublin, Ireland - EPIC The Irish Immigration Museum July 31, 2024

 My husband K got up at 6:45. My daughter J and I were able to sleep to the alarm at 8. It was a pleasant surprise to look out the window and see sun.

K had found out at check-in that the breakfast buffet was included due to the ClarinetFest. This was a nice perk and meant we hadn't had to go shopping for food last night. We went down at 8:45. I put together my favorite European breakfast: fruit compote with natural yogurt and granola; meat, cheese, and bread; orange juice; and two pastries. K went for the full Irish breakfast, which is similar to the full English. J's meal was similar to mine, especially since I'd grabbed pastries for her, but she had apple juice. 

After breakfast, we washed up and got our things for the morning. We left the hotel at 9:25 and just four minutes later, we were at our first destination- EPIC The Irish Immigration Museum. We were excited to go here, especially me. That is because I am one quarter Irish, which makes J 1/8, since K has no Irish heritage. My maternal grandfather's father was an immigrant and we know his mother was also at least of Irish extraction. I've heard about the German part of my ancestry, but little of the Irish. K has been working on the family tree and has found hundreds of his ancestors. We're rather lacking in folks on my side. Plus, as a German teacher I know about German emigration and the reasons for it. Other than the potato famine, I don't know much about the Irish. The museum would help with this. We had found out that they had genealogists that you could pay to work with. K though this a good idea and we paid for an hour starting at noon. I'd brought from home all the info we could find on my grandfather's parents. In the course of gathering it, I'd found out he was born here, although we'd always been told he was born in Ireland.

 

J had paid for our tickets to the museum back home. So, we skipped that line and headed in. The museum was on the lower level of the building. You picked up a passbook and stamped it as you finished each room.

There were physical objects, but also a lot of signage. There were clever videos with actors portraying emigres and telling their life story. More than once I found myself tearing up.

 

This sculpture was particularly impressive. It showed all the modes of transportation the Irish had used to emigrate from currachs (an ancient boat) to Boeing 737s over the past 1500 years.

Here's a sobering fact: More people of Irish descent live abroad than in Ireland. Here are some of the questions that the emigrants were asked, when they arrived in other lands.

So, why did they leave Ireland? Well, one reason was religion and the spreading thereof.

Another reason was education, whether to seek it or spread it.

There were other reasons, such as wanting something new or not being able to stay.

Some left to do things that were just terrible.

Of course, they were not always welcomed with open arms. I'm looking at you, USA, in the late 1800s.

Another reason people left were oppressive laws. Many of those occurred under British rule. In the late 12th century, Ireland experienced an Anglo-Norman invasion on behalf to the English king. Over time the English came to rule the entire Ireland. That is, until the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921 ending the Irish War of Independence.  When we toured Ireland in 2009, our tour guide was still bitter about British rule.

 

Part of the oppressive laws were the ones aimed at Catholicism. During the Protestant Reformation, you couldn't be Catholic in Great Britain. Obviously, they weren't keen on it elsewhere in their realm.

 

As is true in so many places,including the US,  women faced their own discrimination.

 

After all of that gloom, they moved on to more positive topics, like the contributions of the Irish. They started out with sports. For each Irish sport they discussed, they had a locker with a uniform and equipment. There was camogie, handball, hurling, Gaelic football, and Gaelic Games. 

Oh, and did you know that in the original Tin Pan Alley version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" the verse we currently sing was the chorus??

The next section was on discovery and invention and here it became evident that the museum would not focus on just the emigrants, but also their descendants. For example, both Robert Fulton and Guglielmo Marconi were of Irish descent, as was the guy who developed the first typhoid vaccine. But, the guy who invented the airplane ejector seat- Sir James Martin- was from Down in Northern Ireland. The area was introduced by this cool light sculpture.

The museum did not shy away from noting that not all the Irish who emigrated did good things.

The section after that was chock-a-block full, probably because the Irish and their descendants have been so prolific in it- music and dance.

 

The panels that followed were full of interesting information.

 

  

Then, they started getting into people I've heard of or whose performances I've enjoyed.

 

When they moved on to pop and rock music, I knew even more. I was really excited to see the Irish Rovers' album there, because I have it. All of these folks were Irish or of Irish descent.

 

One thing folks know for sure is Irish is Irish dancing, specifically that seen in Riverdance. They had videos and they had footprints on the floor if you were crazy enough to try it. It has led to a great interest in Irish dancing. K's 7th grade English teacher, who was later vice principal at the high school where we taught, actually travels all over judging competitions.

 

Next up was eating and drinking, specifically the Irish pub. I've even seen them in Germany. There was a pub trivia game and I did quite well. I was thrilled to see my hometown mentioned. And I loved the attitude expressed. I could hear it in an Irish accent.

 

The next displays covered some contributions from the Irish and their descendants. For example, the White House was designed by James Hoban, who was later honored by stamps from both the Ireland and the US. Irish-American Cedric Gibbons designed the Oscar statuette.

 

The concept of storytelling was illustrated by famous Irish and Irish-descended actors and actresses. I could have guessed some of these folks, others I knew (especially Pierce Brosnan), and others were a surprise (John Wayne has Irish ancestry!).

 

There was some discussion of Irish literature, but I didn't recognize many names. I was surprised to hear Margaret Mitchell was of Irish descent and Catholic, but that might explain some aspects of Gone with the Wind.

There were a series of pictures showing famous places in the world celebrating St. Patrick's Day by lighting up in green.

Finally, at the end of the route, there was a sign telling about the building we were in.

When we finished shortly before noon, I felt proud of my Irish heritage, which was good, since we were going to see the genealogist. 

Our appointment was for 12-1. The lady dove right into the papers I'd brought and started searching some of the same data bases, but also Irish ones that I couldn't have accessed. She copied web addresses into an email for me. So, I didn't have to take any notes in the cute little notebook I'd picked up in the waiting room. We noticed that the receptionist signaled her that the time was coming to an end, but she was involved and continued until 1:20. She found a possible town, that she thought we should visit, but I was concerned about being able to get back to Dublin. Nonetheless, she'd given some good starting points for us.

It was time for lunch and we found some cafes in the center part of the first floor of the building. We chose Seven Wonders, which may have been a mistake, based on how long it took to get food. Luckily, we there were tables outside of the shop, because the shop was packed with its line and the few tables it had. I ordered the quinoa and goat cheese salad for €8,45.  K got the Avocado Salad with dried cranberries, pecans, mesclun greens, and fresh balsamic dressing for €8.45. Coke Zero was €2.45 +0.15 deposit. K's coffee was €3.50. J's Ballymaloe Chicken Bagel was €8.65 and she got Coke. The food was good.

Then, it was time for the museum shop. I found this great quote from William Butler Yeats.

K went off to the Convention Centre to check-in for ClarinetFest. J and I were in the hotel by 2:45 to recharge.

When J and I left at 4, we saw these interesting contraptions on the other side of EPIC.

 Digging, I found out they are Scherzer lift bridges and Wikipedia explained:

The rolling lift trunnion (sometimes a "Scherzer" rolling lift)[ type of bascule bridge], raises the span by rolling on a track resembling a rocking-chair base. The "Scherzer" rolling lift is a refinement patented in 1893 by American engineer William Donald Scherzer.

We continued along our side of the river. We did have a destination or two planned, but that didn't stop continued sightseeing.

The next thing we saw was the Famine Memorial called "Famine". When we were here in 2009, we just saw it from a tour bus. Now, we could walk along it or even in it. It is along Customs House Quay and pays tribute to those who experienced the Great Famine or Great Hunger, which caused the island to lose more than 1 million people to starvation and related diseases and more than 2 million to emigration. In the US, you may have heard it to as the "Great Potato Famine" or the "Irish Potato Famine"in the mid-1800's.  The potatoes that the Irish grew for their food was hit by a blight. Meanwhile, 75% of the land was given to crops that were shipped abroad, mainly to England, while the Irish starved. 

The Great Famine is obviously still remembered in Ireland. There are websites and at least one museum. You can even follow the path that some trod to reach this point to try to emigrate.

That's a bit hard to shake, but moving down the quay we saw signs about some of the sights around us.

Looking across the river, we noticed a tanker truck, but rather than being full of gasoline or milk, it was full of Guinness!

Also across the river was a group of kayakers. They were the only folks we saw on the water.

We saw one of Dublin's modern trams, but it was not going where we were going.

Very near the O'Connell Bridge, we saw a monument to the man himself, Daniel O'Connell, who was a nationalist leader. Absolutely massive.

It wasn't long before we could see the lovely cast iron pedestrian bridge called the Ha'penny Bridge by everyone, but really the Liffey Bridge. It was toll free its first 10 days in 1816 and then they charged. It is now free and we crossed the river here.

 

J chose to cross here, because it was near one of our intended destinations, Temple Bar. In point of fact, she needed to go to The Temple Bar, because my teetotaler daughter needed to buy a specific alcohol for a friend back home. The bar looks really nice from the outside and the liquor shop part of it is small.

 

To reach our next destination, we had to go several blocks south and east. Along the way, we were surprised to see a Friends Meeting House and then rainbow flags drawn on the four parts of the street at the corner in front of a Spar.

 

I was really surprised when we saw the statue of Molly Malone on a quiet corner on Suffolk Street. I was surprised, because the last time we were here, she was at a busy street corner near shopping. Evidently, it was moved to make room for tram tracks. She's now outside the Dublin Tourist Office. The song "Molly Malone" is the unofficial anthem of the town. And, yes, the statue is often referred to as "the tart with a cart".

 At5:17, we reached our next destination- Murphy's Ice Cream on Wicklow Street. Their tagline is "Made in Dingle", which is on the other side of the island. We'd heard about the place on the TV show Somebody Feed Phil and had decided we had to go. You know it is a destination, when you walk in and there is an Instagram-worthy selfie wall.

 

We'd been lucky enough to get there, when the line was manageable and there were some tables available. The clerk was terribly kind, even offering to let us sample before ordering. What needed to be sampled was an ice cream Phil raved about- Irish Brown Bread. Now, J and I had had bread ice cream in Iceland. So, we knew it was a thing, but you can always be leery. The sample sold us. 

We both ordered a €7.50 medium cup in order to get a scoop of two different flavors. J got Chocolate and Irish Brown Bread, while I got Dingle Sea Salt and Irish Brown Bread. So good! We sat at a table in the back enjoying our ice cream and watching the line as it soon stretched out the door.

We were finished at 5:43. Having had dessert, it was time for dinner. We went back up to Suffolk Street to O'Donoghues. Outside was pretty busy, but there were tables inside.  Evidently, pub tables are just naturally small, because this one was small like the one last night. J ordered an orange Fanta for €3.50, while I tried the Rockshore Cider for €7.25. It was light and refreshing, and the alcohol was imperceptible, just like I like it.

 

Figuring the alcohol was cooked off, J agreed to their Famous Homemade Beef and Guinness Stew for €16.95. For the other entree, we ordered Chicken Goujons for €13.95. Both were good, but I liked the stew best.

 

We finished at 7 and stopped by a Spar to pick up a few breakfast items, because we have to leave too early for breakfast tomorrow morning.

The sunset wasn't quite a sunset yet, but the sky looked nice over the river.

When we got back to the hotel at 7:58, we ran into a former president of the International Clarinet Association, Bob S, and his wife. These folks always recognize me and remember who I am. I often recognize faces, but am grateful for their name tags.

My phone registered 8,816 steps for 2.9 miles today.