Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Ulysses
to a sticker proving that discount airline Ryanair once provided something un-
thinkable today—business class seating. Other displays cover local rock band U2 and
Muhammad Ali's 1972 fight at Croke Park. History buffs linger at sly Eamon de Valera's
five-part memo to his fellow Irish rebel Michael Collins. In part one, he gives Collins
complete authority to negotiate with British officials over Irish independence—and then
waters down this authority over the next four parts.
Cost and Hours:
€6, daily 9:30-17:00, Thu until 20:00, tours on request, 15 St. Steph-
en's Green, tel. 01/661-1000,
www.littlemuseum.ie
.
Built on the spot of the first Viking fortress, this castle was the seat of English rule in Ire-
land for 700 years. Located where the Poddle and Liffey rivers came together, making a
black pool (
dubh linn
in Irish), Dublin Castle was the official residence of the viceroy who
implemented the will of the British royalty. In this stirring setting, the Brits handed power
over to Michael Collins and the Irish in 1922. Today, it's used for fancy state and charity
functions.
Standing in the courtyard, you can imagine the ugliness of the British-Irish situation.
Notice the statue of justice above the gate—pointedly without her blindfold and admiring
her sword. As Dubliners say, “There she stands, above her station, with her face to the
palace and her arse to the nation.” The fancy interior is viewable only with a 45-minute
tour, which offers a fairly boring room-by-room walk through the lavish state apartments
of this most English of Irish palaces. The tour finishes with a look at the foundations of the
Norman tower and the best remaining chunk of the 13th-century town wall.
