Ireland may take a few entries as it was far more intensive and intentional for reasons that will explain themselves. This should NOT be importing to facebook, so if you're reading it there, my blog is possessed.
One of my main purposes of being in Ireland was to track down records concerning my great grandparents. So while Dublin
was all right, the real crown was a tiny little village not even the Irish had heard of: Moate Town in County West Meath.
But this story should begin at the beginning. Dublin struck me as the kind of city that would be way more fun traveling with a group. Or I just didn't know enough about it to be really excited. But I did make my way to see St. Patrick's Cathedral, Stony Batter Road (parts of it date to 100 B.C.) and the Book of Kells. I'm a bookworm to start with, and I spent a long time lingering over the entire exhibit. The Book of Kells is kept under glass in a dimly lit room, two folios opened to a two page spread each. I was so excited to see this book, but when people asked me why the Book of Kells is such a big deal, I didn't actually know. I'd learned about it in junior high, and all I remember is our teacher explaining that the pages on display change daily to avoid light damage. But before researchers knew what it was, one man on the project used to flip through it on the bus ride home. So in my mind it was already legendary, but the exhibit explained that it stands apart from its contemporaries because of its artistry. It's a collection of the four gospels, transcribed and decorated by four separate monks, each with his own specialty. Parts of the illustrations are so fine and detailed that they can only be seen using a magnifying lens. These monks,
somehow, managed to create these illustrations in the ninth century A.D. without any such thing.
I wasn't allowed to take pictures-- no surprise there, really. After the Book of Kells, I went up a flight of stairs to the Long Room. This was fascinating. Every square inch of wall was covered in rare and ancient books, 200,000 of them, carefully stored on shelves on two levels so that books went from floor to ceiling. The shelves were arranged on three sides of large coves, and it was these coves that line both sides of the massive hall on both levels. The ceiling high above was barrel vaulted. On the ground level, marble busts lined both sides along the entire length of the room. A spiral staircase led to the second level. All this, of course, was barred from public access.
What was accessible was the current exhibition, highlighting the college's past 300 years of medical studies. Books, instruments, specimens, herbal medicinal recipes, surgical saws, they were all on display. One cabinet contained a ch
ild's skull, showing the baby teeth present in the mouth and the permanent teeth underneath, waiting to push through. The skeleton of an Irish giant, Cornelius McGrath, was on display behind a glass case. His skeleton towered over us at 7'5" and reading the description, I felt bad for him. He was massive due to a thyroid problem and died at 24. Medical students got a crack at dissecting his body to study his gigantification and his skeleton was preserved so people could continue gawking at him for the next 300 years. So in death as in life. I imagine it'd be a rough go, being stared at all the time, despite the fact that it made him a celebrity.
One of my main purposes of being in Ireland was to track down records concerning my great grandparents. So while Dublin
was all right, the real crown was a tiny little village not even the Irish had heard of: Moate Town in County West Meath.
somehow, managed to create these illustrations in the ninth century A.D. without any such thing.
I wasn't allowed to take pictures-- no surprise there, really. After the Book of Kells, I went up a flight of stairs to the Long Room. This was fascinating. Every square inch of wall was covered in rare and ancient books, 200,000 of them, carefully stored on shelves on two levels so that books went from floor to ceiling. The shelves were arranged on three sides of large coves, and it was these coves that line both sides of the massive hall on both levels. The ceiling high above was barrel vaulted. On the ground level, marble busts lined both sides along the entire length of the room. A spiral staircase led to the second level. All this, of course, was barred from public access.
What was accessible was the current exhibition, highlighting the college's past 300 years of medical studies. Books, instruments, specimens, herbal medicinal recipes, surgical saws, they were all on display. One cabinet contained a ch
ild's skull, showing the baby teeth present in the mouth and the permanent teeth underneath, waiting to push through. The skeleton of an Irish giant, Cornelius McGrath, was on display behind a glass case. His skeleton towered over us at 7'5" and reading the description, I felt bad for him. He was massive due to a thyroid problem and died at 24. Medical students got a crack at dissecting his body to study his gigantification and his skeleton was preserved so people could continue gawking at him for the next 300 years. So in death as in life. I imagine it'd be a rough go, being stared at all the time, despite the fact that it made him a celebrity.
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