Dublin Day Five: Irish music, bog bodies, Trinity, art and animals – stinking amazing!

Dublin Day Five: Irish music, bog bodies, Trinity, art and animals – stinking amazing! by Ann Treacy

August 1, 2023, 11:00 pm
Filed under: Dublin

Today was like a mom dream vacation. Spent the morning with Kate while Aine slept. Spent the afternoon with Aine while Kate met up with a friend. Weather was spectacular until it wasn’t. We all went to the Sinead O’Connor at the Phoenix Park and quickly ended up at a pub with Irish music. Now if only I had my Lily to hit the nightlife with me to hit the late-night bars! We miss her for more than that – but she has things to do in Montreal. I can only download the day in snapshots and not in order – no transitions today.

Sinead O’Connor Memorial turns into Irish Pub Music

We went to Phoenix Park with high expectations for the Sinead O’Connor memorial after 7pm. We weren’t there long. Clearly folks had put some work into it. We saw two poets who were good but we didn’t understand the connection to Sinead, which clearly was at least half our problem but because we remember when Prince died in Minneapolis, we expect the same reception. It’s early days so it may happen and in the meantime the ground level adoration is admirable but we weren’t feeling it. (Also speaks volumes to the messages Sinead tried to relay!) So. two tired girls and I ended up at a bar on the quays playing very loud Irish music but serving food. Loud Irish music was exactly what one girl wanted – apparently. The band played Weela Weela Wayla and both girls were over the moon. Kate went so far to request a song (Ragland Road) in part I think to spite the New Jersey folks who requested Danny Boy. By the time we left it was pouring rain. I offered to call the Uber but we walked. I’m soaking wet typing this – but basking the glow of a good day.

Bog Bodies

Kate and I visited the bog bodies of Ireland; the girls and I have always enjoyed the creepy and cool on our adventures. It’s funny to see how creepy impacts a 20-something versus an 8-year-old, but I still got Kate to compare bog hand to her hand. A bog body is human remains that have mummified in a bog. The remains in Ireland date back to 400 BC to 400 AD – or I here up to 2000 years ago! They are still being found today – well by today I mean 2003, but in the scope of history, that is a blip. Going by the stories, it seems like some people may have fallen into the bogs, while bog dumping was also the last part of a sacrificial murder of some sort. It is amazing to see the detail that is preserved. (Years ago, we went to the Bog of Allen. Another creepy but cool and very messy. It’s the closest thing to quicksand I ever want to experience.

Trinity, Art and Animals

Aine and I had a leisurely vacation day after she tromped all over town yesterday. We walked through Trinity College, a well-worn route to the bus stop back in the day. We tried to sneak into the library, no luck. But we walked through the cricket fields, which brought back memories. We popped out by the National Gallery, which gave us an excuse to go through for a second visit. (We spent a lot of time there when they were kids.) Next we went to the “dead animal zoon” aka Natural History Museum. A highlight for me was the basking shark. I have been obsessed with basking sharks since I saw a TEDx talk about them in 2010.