Day 1 - Dublin
We booked our pre night room on our own, but thankfully didn’t have to change rooms once on the
ABD reservation. We went down to the hotel breakfast which was included and great basic breakfast - cereal, toasts, scrambled eggs a bit too runny for the Americans, meats, and cheeses. After breakfast we met Jackie and Kelley both of which have done this ABD for a few years I believe. They were both lovely and welcoming. They discussed various options for the morning and afternoon on our own, but we had everything pretty well planned out already. Dinner was at 5:30.
In the morning we visited Kilmainham Gaol. It’s the old jail that was built in the late 18th century with the original goal to house prisoners more humanely than in centuries past. It became a model for jails to come. But like all jails it became overcrowded, and there were other flaws that led it to become a pretty awful place. When you visit, you join a guided tour and the guides there are amazing. They go through much of Ireland’s history from the late 1700’s to early 20th century and discussed how the jail played a major role. The infamous potato famine in the mid 1800’s which created a surge of prisoners was one major historical point. The greatest impact was from the Easter Uprising in 1916 when the rebels stood up against the British Empire and were quickly squashed. Most Irish were unsupportive of the rebels until the British began executing them in the jail which created massive public outcry. The rebels became martyrs and that spurred the independence movement that led to a free Ireland today. It was a great tour and I highly recommend it. It was in my top 3 things I did in Dublin.
Kate had booked us a professional photoshoot for the afternoon. She had arranged one a couple of years ago in Paris and we had a great time. Kate wanted to get her hair made up just a little bit so she booked (through the hotel concierge) an early afternoon appt with a local salon. Meanwhile, I walked up O' Connell Street crossing over the River Liffey to see the Post Office. This was the major scene of the 1916 Easter Rebellion where the rebels made their stand. You can still see the bullet holes in the columns of the post office where they were fired upon by the British soldiers.
A bit later we met up with our photographer, Vanessa, who took us around many areas from the river, through Temple Bar, and to Dublin Castle for about an hour and a half. We had a good time and seemed to get some great photos. We have to wait another day or so before they post online. We finished up about an hour before the welcome dinner.
Our welcome dinner started off with a little wine, beer, and fruit and cheese reception. From there we went into one of the small banquet rooms in the hotel for our dinner. The hotel has some pretty ornate meeting spaces. Ours wasn’t over the top, but it was fine. It was a pretty typical welcome dinner compared to other ABD's. The food was good, but nothing particularly memorable. As many of you who have followed my previous trip reports may already gather, I’m usually not overly impressed with the ABD welcome dinners. They did have a harpist who played beautifully. We have a good group of 36 people (I believe). Jackie and Kelley spoke a bit about the trip. It was a nice night.
At this point I usually head in to sleep, but as this is adults only, and since it is just Kate and me, we went out searching for music. I had found a place on tripadvisor, McNeills, that plays traditional Irish music. It was a littler further than Temple Bar but well worth the walk. They didn’t start up until 9:30, but it was wonderful. It wasn’t very crowded, and definitely wasn’t as crazy as the pubs in Temple Bar get. We stayed for about an hour listening to music and drinking Guinness. The music was awesome and just what we were hoping. Off to a great start.
