Day 9: Dublin Awaits!

Day 1 in Dublin!

We left the hotel at 4am to make it to our 8am flight. May sounds crazy but it was a good thing we did. We took a taxi (20 minutes) to the shuttle (+1 hour) to the airport where I stood in the longest line of my life, and I’ve been to Disney World. Also, if you ever fly on RyanAir, just a heads up that they mean NO LIQUID. AT ALL. Or even anything that looks like it could possible hold liquid. My bag was searched (another 30 minutes) and they took out my mascara, solid lip balm, and foundation to be searched again. We finally got to the terminal and the entire flight took about 40 minutes. And I am in Dublin!

Today was jammed packed as always. We started with an authentic English brunch of cottage pie and chips, before walking the famous Temple Bar area.

We magically found the National Leprechaun Museum on our walk and knew we couldn’t resist. This was a new kind of museum then most I have been to. It was interactive by putting you in rooms where you felt miniature like a Leprechaun, then told us stories of Ireland’s folklore and legends on, of course, the Leprechaun, but also other creatures that are not as famous. It was a great time and I have developed a new interest in exploring Irish folklore.

Leprechaun's pot of gold

 I could only think of a few things that could top a Leprechaun museum, and that just happened to be our next stop. To the Jameson Factory!

 Jameson Irish Whisky use to be made here in Dublin until the 1970’s, when they moved the factory to Middleton. But it still stands here and has become a museum. One thing I have noticed with the museums in Ireland is they have all started with a video, explaining the past or giving explanations for common questions, I guess so the tour guide doesn’t have to say it 100 times a day. In this case, I believe I prefer London’s more personal tour guides. Anyway, back to the whisky!

 Jameson distillery was very interesting, although I do wish they would have dumbed it down for those who don’t know much about alcohol (me). They went through the process of germinating the barley, mixing it with water, collecting the evaporation, etc. and while I did learn a lot, I still am unsure of what exactly goes on. I do know that Jameson’s pride comes from the fact that it is triple distilled, meaning the alcohol is burned off through evaporation and then recollected and done twice more, making it very smooth. That is literally all I understood for sure so don’t expect me to explain anything else.

At the end of our tour volunteers where called to the front and you know how I like to volunteer. So to my surprise, Allyson and I were chosen among others, to be a whisky taster. How exciting right?? Haha I have little to no experience with whisky so I thought I would be a good candidate. Our three options were Jameson (duh), an American whisky (Jack Daniels, distilled once), and a scotch whiskey (Johnny Walker Red, distilled twice). Yeah, I think I am making a few of my dad’s friends jealous right about now. I tried them all and Jameson won fair and square. It really was a lot more smooth than the others. So after our tasting, we were presented with certificates for being official whiskey tasters by Jameson. Best souvenir ever right?? Definitely going on my wall.

Fun fact! Scotch whiskey gets its different taste because when roasting the barley, they use peat, which leaves a Smokey residue on the barley verses Jameson that uses natural gas so there is no reside after roasting.


Many of you are probably saying, ‘Kalee, didn’t you go on this trip because of school? Where is all your school-related activities?’ and I don’t want to disappoint those people. Our final stop of the day was the Kilmainham gaol (old name for jail).

I mentioned earlier that a part of my blog requirement is to write about a visit to a park, a History museum, and an Art museum. I chose Kilmainham gaol as my history museum. 

This prison was built in 1796 and closed in 1924. Between that time it held very famous rebellion leaders and political members of Ireland that I am fairly sure no one reading my blog knows of. Kilmainham gaol was a very harsh place to serve time. It was created as a Reform prison (and I was excited because I studied those and actually knew what the tour guide was talking about!!).

The reform system believed that prison should change the person, rather than just punish them. Instead of just hard physical labor, the reform system believed in total silence, as much solitary time as possible, and a push for better Christianity teamed with hard labor. For example, the cells were built using the reform method; it was small, all walls were brick, the door did not allow views of outside, and the only window was high above where the prisoner could see out of it, but allowed light into the cell (this was so the only thing to really look at was above the prisoner, causing them to constantly look up and hopefully they eventually use it to pray to God).

Kilmainham housed everyone- men, women, children, murders, thefts, and homeless. And of course with all prisons, there was constant overcrowding and no real separation between prisoners. For much of the prisons history, it was a crime to be homeless or beg for food, and a large number of the prison population’s crime was being in debt. The youngest child incarcerated was a 5-year-old girl who did not have a train ticket when asked. During the potato famine, prisoner population skyrocketed, both from people stealing food to survive and also people committing small crimes simply to get into the prison, where they were at least promised a small amount of food.

  It was incredible to see the original cells, doors, and hallways. Incredible but spooky. I toured this on an average weather day, probably around 75 degrees, and the prison was freezing. I couldn’t image trying to survive in one of these rooms if it had been winter. 

I learned that when mug shots could be taken, the person stands next to a tilted mirror so that the camera can capture both the front of the face and also the side, all in one photo. Simple improvements that makes things easier; think smarter not harder.

Hard labor included breaking stone, picking oakum (type of hemp fiber), and shot drill. Shot drill was the passing of heavy cannon shot down a line of men to a pile, then passing back down the line to form another pile. Fun fact: Shot drill was discontinued in 1862 after the Governor was seriously injured when a prisoner threw one of the iron balls at him. 

I ended the night walked Temple Bar once again. It is a completely different place at night. Absolutely awesome. Live bands in every bar and street performers using construction cones and such as instruments. I ate dinner at a traditional Irish bar and restaurant, having a seafood chowder and some form of beer the waiter said was a ‘smooth red’. The soup was fantastic and the beer was pretty good.

And the best part of the night? Allyson found ranch dressing!!

 I then promptly returned to the hotel to pass out. Day 1 in Dublin was jam-packed and so much fun. What could day 2 possible hold??