Bog Bodies and Revolutionaries

Irish history began with human sacrifices and after millennia of the Irish oppressing each other the English took over and oppressed the Irish properly. With the English gone the Church tried to fill the vacuum. In 2016 Dublin is worrying over the centennary of the Easter Rising.

(There you go - a history of Ireland in less than 50 words.)

Lyn started the day in the hotel gym.

I started the day in the National Archaeological Museum which has a lot of golden jewellery and church vessels but the real treasures are the amazing things retrieved from peat bogs. Amongst these are some sensitively displayed human remains. These people were victims of violence and look it. There were fish traps, wooden tools, clothing and an amazing boat. The stone tools were beautifully crafted. 

I liked this weird two-faced sculpture

...and whatever this is.

Arriving at the museum, I'd thought the police presence outside this unassuming museum was a bit over the top. Leaving, it all made sense. 

I then rang Lyn who had been shopping and met up with her in Grafton Street. Off we went to the Little Museum of Dublin for a guided tour through 20th century social history. It was pleasant enough. 

We had lunch at Peter's Pub and then Lyn wanted to see Dublin Castle, which was dull,  and I wanted to see the Chester Beatty Library, which was amazing. Chester was an American book collector with taste and money. It had everything from books to Chinese snuff boxes. If we hadn't been so wrecked we would have stayed longer.

I decided I had neither the time nor the inclination for Kilmainham Gaol and its tales of sacrificed revolutionaries. We'd just been to Dublin Castle where thousands of wounded Irish soldiers were treated during the Great War... In history context matters.

This is our last night in Dublin. Our driving adventures begin tomorrow.