Belfast & Dublin

This was our second city break in 2024 but this time we challenged ourselves with two cities in the one trip. We had booked 2 nights in Belfast and 3 in Dublin although this really only gave us one whole day in Belfast. The main purpose for the trip to Belfast was to visit the Titanic museum. The city was of secondary importance as we admit we were still apprehensive about visiting the ‘troubled areas’. But we now have absolutely no reservations and so, one day, when we return to Ireland in the motorhome we will also return to Belfast to ‘do the city justice’.

Belfast

We’d had our grand children for a few days and dropped them back home, then our son took us to Eastleigh airport for a late evening flight on the Tuesday the 10th. We thought we’d try getting an Uber taxi from the Belfast airport, but were very disappointed as we failed to get a booking. We later discovered from another taxi firm that Uber doesn’t tend to get out of the city to the airport. FonaCAB’s service however was great, so we would recommend this company if you find yourselves in the same situation.

Wednesday 11th September

We spent over 2 hours in the museum which continues from building, launch, maiden voyage, sinking, passenger list and finally the finding of the Titanic in the vast depths of the ocean. Highly recommended.

We then took the customary tourist trip on the ‘Hop-on, Hop-off’ bus which for the next few hours would cover the city including the ‘troubled regions’. The driver was absolutely brilliant – full of knowledge and very amusing, unfortunately this meant we didn’t leave the bus until the end of the trip.

The trip covers the City, ‘Falls Road’, ‘Shankhill Road’ and the ‘Crumlin Road’. The following slideshow of images covers the ‘outside city’ portion of the journey…

Between the ‘Falls Road’ and the ‘Shankhill Road’ we traveled along Cupar Way and as we were ahead of schedule the driver stopped and let us off the bus for 5 minutes to sign the ‘Peace Wall’. This wall stands 45-feet tall, three times higher than the Berlin Wall, and in place for twice as long. The driver said it probably won’t be removed now as it has become a tourist attraction….

Back into the city where we left the bus to cover the rest on foot. First stop the City Hall

There wasn’t a charge to walk around inside to view the decor and stained glass windows.

Then onto the Victoria Square Shopping Centre to take in a view over the city.

From the viewing platform you can see the unmistakable yellow gantries – Samson and Delilah. After this it was time for a pint – which of course had to be Guinness, so we wandered around a few more streets admiring the street art to find a suitable pub.

The sun would be setting soon so we headed off for something to eat. This time we felt we hadn’t seen anything warranting another ‘sunset’ photo, but also the Hop-on, Hop-off bus finished at 16:30, so no chance to get free transport to other locations.

Before we finish with Belfast, we did think that it deserved more than 2 nights with the extra day visiting either more of the city (e.g. Botanical Garden) or perhaps taking a day trip out to the Giant’s Causeway and other sights.

For us though, we’d had a very good day and tomorrow we would leave on the train for Dublin.

Thursday 12th September – Dublin

Well the plan was to leave Belfast by train – until at the station when they piled us all onto coaches. Apparently the main station was closed for renovation, so we were bused 45 minutes closer to the boarder – instead of 15 minutes out of Belfast to the first station to get the same train we eventually boarded – strange logic? Anyway we arrived in Dublin just after midday and walked 10 minutes to our hotel which was very close to the centre, near the ‘Spire of Dublin’

Luckily we were allowed to check-in early – so what do you do on the first afternoon in Dublin – simple, you head down to Temple Bar to sample a drop of the black stuff.

After first walking along Temple Bar (yes it’s a street name as well) to work up a thirst we ended up back in ‘The Oliver St John Gogarty’ bar seen on the left in the images. It was quite busy when we arrived but luckily we managed to share a table with two lads who left shortly afterwards.

The evening was looking good for a clear sky, so we quickly headed back to the hotel to collect our main camera gear and tripod (as I was using my very compact Sony DSC-HX99).

We wandered along the banks of the Liffey towards the ‘Samuel Beckett Bridge’ and waited for the sun to lower in the sky.

We had hoped the clouds would have caught the light of the sun a little more, but we were pleased with the shots we took.

Friday 13th September

We had a booking at the Kilmainham Gaol for 0930 but needed to arrive at 0915, so the night before I asked the hotel concierge how we paid for the tram and bus in the city – credit card was the answer, but later we found out this wasn’t the case.

We left the hotel and had breakfast in a cafe and then stepped onto the bus and presented my card – NO! we had to use cash – in fact, coins only!!! Fortunately the bus was every 10 minutes, so we just had time to get cash. We only had cards and shops wouldn’t give us cash, so I was pointed in the direction of an ATM. After 5 minutes of trying to get money from it, it finally reported it was out of cash and closed!

Vanessa had spotted a Taxi, so we hopped in and the driver asked how we were paying – card we replied. Unfortunately his card machine wasn’t working, so it had to be cash only. Can you take us via another ATM then? – Yes.

The first ATM he stopped at was also empty; the second was also out of order, but 3rd time lucky I got the cash we needed and eventually arriving at the gaol in good time.

Short history lesson – reason why the gaol was so important.

The Irish rebellion began on Easter Monday, April 24, 1916 and lasted for six days and was led by the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), a revolutionary society within the Irish Volunteers, along with the Irish Citizen Army. The rebels seized strategic buildings in central Dublin, including the General Post Office, which they used as their main headquarters (you can still see the bullet holes in the outer walls). The rebels used the First World War as an opportunity to strike for an Irish independence, believing that “England’s difficulty is Ireland’s opportunity”. The Easter Rising was a seminal moment in modern Irish history, helping pave the way to the nation’s independence in 1922. But the 12 leaders were all sentenced to death by firing squad in the gaol.

Note: You must book a tour ahead of your visit as it always seems to sell out.

Later the prison was modernised with a new cell block which required less prison staff to oversee the inmates.

You may recognise the central hall as it was later used in films (e.g. The first Italian Job) to raise money to help renovate the prison.

The tour goes into detail about the leaders of the Easter Uprising and covers what happened to other prisoners, including one child of 3 years old who was sent to prison for 1 week for stealing an apple (during the famine).

James Donnelly was brought into the yard (upper right image) through these gates and strapped to a chair where the small cross is placed and shot by firing squad.

After this we were led into the museum to see many of the artifacts relating to the history leading up to Irish independence.

After leaving the gaol we realised we were only 20 minutes walk from the Guinness factory, so Vanessa quickly booked us tickets on her phone. The tour is self guided, taking you up to floor 7 where you can then enjoy your pint of Guinness.

As the tour continues upwards to floor 7 the process of making Guinness is described, but you are not in the actual brewing area. It was interesting and glad we did it. However I will say the pint I had wasn’t as smooth as those we had in the various bars in Dublin, but still better than we get in the UK.

There are snack bars and restaurants inside the brewery, so we had a bite for lunch and spent a few Euros in the shop on the ground floor before leaving to get on the Hop-on Hop-off bus which as you might expect calls at the brewery.

We used the ‘City Sightseeing Dublin’ service which has an app (QR code on the paper map they provide). This keeps you up to date with bus locations and approximate time to the next stop. So it proved quite convenient to get off; wander around an area and rejoin the next bus without having to wait 30 minutes (in case you just missed one).

Ha’penny Bridge and the Famine Memorial along the banks of the river Liffey.

After grabbing camera and tripods again from the hotel we headed back to Temple Bar for some early evening shots of the pubs.

This time we had our evening meal in the Auld Dubliner. The meal was great but the music wasn’t to the same standard as in the bar opposite. But as there are so many different artists it’s not surprising some will be less popular. But it still made for an entertaining evening. We left just as the skies started to darken to see if we could get an evening photo of the Ha’penny bridge – unfortunately the lights over the bridge and under the bridge failed to light up (unlike all the other bridges). So we returned to the hotel.

Saturday 14th September

We had one last booking at 11:30 to see ‘The Book of Kells’ – well if we’re honest, we weren’t really interested in this book, but you have to go past this exhibition to see the ‘Old Library’ which was our point of interest.

The Book of Kells is written circa 800AD on vellum pages, historically a type of material made from prepared animal skin (for vellum it was usually calfskin) and used for many of the finer high-quality medieval manuscripts. It was done by three anonymous scribes, who are identified in the present day only as Hand A, Hand B, and Hand C. More on this topic here if you are interested.

Unfortunately when we got to the library we discovered that virtually all the books had been removed for cleaning as they were going to restore the library. Being made of wooden panels it is potentially a high fire risk, so the work will also photocopy every book for future posterity. The hall was full of people but I did manage to grab a few shots:-

Yes, the hall does have a huge globe in it and a very old harp (symbol of Ireland) which was covered in engraved leather.

Leaving the exhibition, we still had time on the Hop-on, Hop-off bus, so we toured more of the city. Eventually getting off near the ‘Christ Church Cathedral’

Back behind Temple Bar near the Bank of Ireland was the Molly Malone Statue which tourists have started to rub her breasts for luck. So we had to be patient to get a photo with no-one molesting her.

After this we headed back to Temple Bar for the ‘Old Mill Restaurant’ for a meal. The atmosphere was far more sedate as their was no live band, but the food was plentiful and brilliant – highly recommended (if you’re very hungry). I didn’t have a Guinness as we saved this for another visit to the St John Gogarty afterwards and another very entertaining evening.

No, Vanessa wasn’t drinking half of Guinness – it was an alcohol free cream coffee. I didn’t mess around – straight for the good stuff.

We still had most of tomorrow left as we didn’t need to leave for the airport until 3pm, but to be honest, we had covered everything we planned. So on Sunday, we revisited a few locations again – including the Auld Dubliner for one last drink.

We caught the ‘Airbus’ to the airport, costing 10 Euro each and thereby completing our trip. As we mentioned before, in hindsight if we did the same trip again, we would have done 3 nights in Belfast and 2 in Dublin. But overall a very good week.