Castles & Gardens Ireland & Wales: Dublin Ireland & Killruddery House & Gardens

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

Nice weather again today but cooler and some overcast sky. What a busy day. We started the morning with a bus tour of Dublin with stops at Dublin Castle and St. Patrick church. We realized that would need to come to visit Dublin again as there are many wonderful things to see and do here. There is 1.25 to 1.5 million people living in Dublin and half of them are under the age of 28 years old. The place is crawling with them and most are very fashionable dressed.

We toured the 5 Georgian squares. All are row houses with three stories and each with their own unique door. Our first stop off the bus was a Dublin castle. The central square was very large. Inside the castle it is nicely decorated and we were allowed to take photos but no videos. Lots of no video policy... This castle was the seat of English rule for 700 years. The Brits handed power to the Irish in 1922.

Dublin Castle

Next stop was St. Patrick's Cathedral. The core of the Gothic structure was built in the 13th century. Jonathan Swift is buried in the church. It is hard to believe that they built such buildings without cranes and other modern day equipment. The craftsmanship is superior.

St. Patrick's Catherdal

We drove through Phoenix Park and zoo. All the plants are 6 weeks behind as they had the coldest winter in one hundred years. They have hundreds of Chestnut trees in the park which are all flowering right now.

Back to the hotel to have a quick lunch and then off to Bray to visit Killruddery house and gardens. Inside the house no photos were allowed but outside was fine. Killruddery is home to the Brabazon Family - The Earls of Meath. The Gardens at Killruddery are the oldest in Ireland still surviving their original 17th century unique style with 18th and19th century additions

We arrived back at our hotel with no planned suppers or group activity this evening. Kevin and I headed downtown to St. Stephen's park, then to Grafton Street, Trinity College and back to the hotel by the way of the Georgian buildings.

Trinity College