Margo's Comments

First of all, don't listen to Mike - Guinness is not rubbish. And, it actually IS a porter, as Mike would know if he had been listening to the recorded tour. Its original name was Guinness' Stout Irish Porter - now known as Guinness Stout. I think it is lovely and it's so thick that I am sure it is nutritious too!

Re: Molly Malone - popularly known in Dublin as the "Tart with the Cart". Every tour guide commented on her rather generous, and rather scantily covered, bosom. Apparently, before dying of a fever from which no one could save her, she was, shall we say, generous with her favours, and with the British troops too. Cockles and mussels alive oh indeed ...

I enjoyed seeing the monastery - 1500 years old and as our tour guide pointed out, Irish monks were basically the keepers of western civilisation and of Christianity during the middle of the first millenium AD.

I'm not overly awed by Georgian architecture so Dublin wasn't aesthetically all that interesting to me. What was interesting is seeing how close the modern city is to the Irish Revolution, which was less than 100 years ago. The columns in front of the post office and the statues on O'Connell street still have the bullet holes. Given the long, violent, and bitter history of British occupation in Ireland, it's actually pretty amazing to see the progress of peace in a relatively short period of time.

Cheers,
Margo