Ireland - Day 2 - June 6, 2013

How do you sleep when the sun doesn't go down until 10:00 p.m. and comes up at around 5:15 a.m.?  You have to be extremely tired!  Well, I was since I was out like a light, but I was wide awake about 2.5 hours after going to sleep.  I woke up at 1:30 thinking it was 7:00.  I actually was disappointed that it wasn't!

When the day started, I was off to find 49 Merrion Street and meet with the historical speaker (lecturer) who was going to deliver a talk regarding the Civil Rights Movement in Ireland.  I'm usually pretty good with directions, but I don't think I've ever been so lost and have been within 1/2 mile of where I need to be.  I was told to walk straight down Merrion Street until I found #49.  Well...we cross the street and the numbers went from 31 to 62.  Now, I'm not that good in math, but I do believe there are numbers between 31 and 62.  Finally, we figured it out.  Irish Streets are very random!  They are not like what we are use to in America to say the least.  30 minutes late, we finally found the place, profusely apologized and began our lecture.  Dr. Meehan made the students feel very at ease and they asked GREAT questions.

The afternoon brought us to St. Patrick's Cathedral and Christ Church for tours, but first a couple of free hours to enjoy St. Stephen's Green and grab lunch.  A few of the students were fortunate enough to catch a "Romeo and Juliet" abridge parody.  Instead of Juliet dying by the dagger, she died by the spoon.   Others took in a street performer balancing on a nine-foot tall ladder, juggling flames and swords.  Grafton Street really is quite interesting in more ways than one!

St. Patrick's Church was much bigger than I expected.   I was thinking it would be something near the size of National Cathedral in D.C., but not quite.  The sad part was that it seemed dirty and in need of repair.  The fortunate side is that there was construction going on and they are indeed beginning a repair. It's a beautiful church!  However, I did favor Christ Church more.  It was absolutely beautiful.  Christ Church is 983 years old.  Unbelievable that a church has been on that site for almost 1,000 years!  Within the church you can see 13th Century and 21st century side-by-side.  The tiles on the floor are actually replicas of the 13th century.  While doing repair work many years ago the workers actually uncovered the tiles and replicas were made.  There were many beautiful things, but the most was being able to hear the choir rehearse for a service that night.  I think some of the most beautiful music is hearing an organ being played and a choir signing in a cathedral.  The acoustics are awesome!

The most interesting thing today doesn't really have to do with history or our tour, but something found in Christ Church - Tom and Jerry were found in the pipes of the organ upon replacement.