First Time Solo Trip to Dublin, Ireland (Part 1)

When we travel to a new city, we love exploring it on foot wherever possible. Wouldn’t you agree that this is the best way to learn a city? This trip was no different, except for the fact that my husband was unable to join, so I was traveling solo, first time in Dublin.

In any case, my first day in Dublin started in the morning with a self-guided walking tour. I had one distinct destination in mind, one place that I couldn’t wait to visit. What could it be? The Old Library at Trinity College and the Book of Kells, of course!😊

The River Liffey

After a quick breakfast at the hotel, my stroll to Trinity College began from Smithfield Square then along the River Liffey, Dublin’s main waterway. Crossing the Grattan (Essex) Bridge, these beautifully decorated cast-iron lamp stands caught my eye.

These are Hippocampi (sea-horses), mythological water creatures that are half horse, half fish. The name is Greek, but many cultures, from Etruscans to Picts, mention the seahorses in their lore. Hippocampus is believed to be a great helper to sailors, often appearing to guide and rescue people on the high seas.

Continuing on the other side of the river, I ran into one of Dublin’s icons — the Ha’Penny Bridge (the Liffey Bridge is the official name). It was constructed in 1816 by William Walsh, who was given a choice by the City either to fix his aging ferries that were carrying people across the river, or to build a bridge.

He chose to build a bridge (smart move! 😊), getting £3,000 pounds from the city in compensation (almost £300,000 pounds in today’s money), and then collecting a half-penny toll for pedestrians crossing this bridge for the next 100 years. The toll was finally eliminated in 1919.

The Old Library at Trinity College

Google Maps was behaving for the first and the last time on this trip, and it easily pointed me in the right direction to College Street. There it was! Trinity College.

Founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I, Trinity College is the most prestigious University in Ireland. For its colorful history and traditions, please see this fantastic post by our friend John, who is a Dubliner himself.

Not being sure how long the ticket queue would be, I made a beeline to the Old Library Building. The queue wasn’t bad at all, lots of people but moving quickly! Admission was €14 Euros for the Book of Kells exhibit and access to the Long Room of the Old Library.

The Book of Kells

The Book of Kells exhibition covered not only the history of the book but also educated visitors on the history of the written Irish language. Along the way there was this Ogham Stone.

I’ve never heard of these! See the markings on it? Ogham is an ancient writing system, designed for the Old Irish language. The origin of Ogham alphabet and its usage throughout the centuries is still somewhat of a mystery. As of 1999, Ogham has been added to the Unicode Standard, as a writing system. ᚓᚔᚏᚓ means Ireland. 😊

Other displays depict the story behind the Book of Kells, one of the oldest surviving books in the entire world (over 1,200-year-old!). This illuminated manuscript was created in the 9^th century. It is preserved in the Treasury, a separate room from the main exhibition, and no photos are allowed in there. The photo you see below is from a display at the exhibition.

The Book of Kells is written in Latin and contains the four Gospels. It has long been associated with St. Collum Cille, who founded his main monastery on the island of Iona, off the coast of Scotland in about 561. The Book of Kells was created by his monks, working on it at Iona and at Kells. Kells was a monastery in the Meath County, Ireland, where the monks moved after Vikings attacked the island in 806 A.D. (hence the name).

After spending a few awe-inspiring moments with this treasure, I proceeded through the stairs to the Long Room of the Old Library.

The Long Room of the Old Library

The Old Library houses 200,000 of the oldest books of the Trinity College Library (total collection is over 3 million books!). The Long Room stretches over 65 meters (about 213 feet), and is about two stories high.

It’s like being in a Cathedral of Literature!

Besides the books and a fine collection of marble busts of the prominent figures of Irish history, it has the oldest Irish harp on display as well. It is dated to the 15^th century, but famously associated with Brian Boru, 1^st High King of Ireland (c. 941 A.D – 1014). Do you know anybody with the last name O’Brien or O’ Brian? They might be descendants of Brian Boru (clan Uí Briain)!

The Harp is a known symbol of Ireland, and found on government seals, Euro coins minted in Ireland, the Guinness logo, and of course, the Irish coat of arms.

The Misadventures of Dame Street

After Trinity College, I decided to visit Christ Church Cathedral and Dublin Castle. Google Maps was kind enough to put me in close proximity to these attractions, and even the Temple Bar district. However, after walking up and down Dame Street (that somehow starts as College Street, becomes Dame Street, and then Lord Edward Street), I couldn’t for the life of me find Christ Church Cathedral.

Now feeling confused and slightly frustrated, I chose to visit Dublin Castle instead. I thought how difficult could it be to find the Castle?! I mean, it’s a CASTLE, right? Well… for the geographically-challenged like myself, it was quite the task. After 40 minutes of aimlessly wandering Dame Street and stopping at every shop on both sides of the street (and grabbing a few souvenirs), I was ready to call it quits.

Christ Church Cathedral

I walked through an archway in a rock & cast-iron fence, spotting a cozy grassy area with a few benches adjacent to a church. At this point it was exactly what I needed to give my legs a rest. As it turned out, those benches and the park courtyard were actually a part of Christ Church Cathedral, the destination I was looking for all along! I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. But I found it!!! 😊

And, once I paid the admission (€7.00) and made my way inside, I heard a priest announcing the start of a 10-minute service, so I took the opportunity to attend. How often does one get a chance like that!

In spite of the entrancing beauty of Christ Church Cathedral, the main reason I wanted to see it was right beneath my feet.

The Crypt

Constructed in the 12^th century, the Christ Church Cathedral’s crypt is considered to be the longest in Ireland and Britain (about 208 feet long). There were unique displays and exhibits throughout the crypt, like the famous mummified Cat and Mouse, a collection of rare silver, and a display of costumes from the “The Tudors” TV show (featuring Jonathan Rhys Myers (King Henry) and Maria Doyle Kennedy (Catherine of Aragon) costumes) that was filmed here, along with the TV show “Reign”, and many others. Isn’t that awesome?!

For me personally, the history was in the stones. We are talking about a 1,000 YEAR OLD Crypt here.

I was enthralled by some of the stone art, and the mysteries they’ve been carrying throughout the centuries.

Temple Bar District

Feeling re-energized and encouraged to explore more of Dublin, particularly by my grumbling stomach, eventually I navigated my way through the side streets to the Temple Bar District!

Ironically, all this time I had a physical map of Dublin in my backpack, but didn’t feel comfortable pulling it out, announcing to the world that I am a lost solo female traveler. On the other hand, if I had remembered the map earlier, I probably wouldn’t have spent half the day looking for the Church and the Castle. 😊

But back to Temple Bar — for me this area has been associated with Dublin through so many literary adventures, from the classics of James Joyce to the acclaimed fantasy series by Karen Marie Moning. And of course, I couldn’t resist the temptation of visiting The Temple Bar.

Well, as Oscar Wilde once famously said “The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it… I can resist everything but temptation.” 😊

After half a pint of Guinness (Yes! I will attest to the rumor that Guinness in Ireland tastes so much better versus exported), and an amazing plate of smoked lox with Guinness Bread, garden salad & the yummy little sweet pickles, I was ready to conquer the city again! For more pub scenes, check Part 2 of this series.

Molly Malone Statue

Somehow after visiting the Temple Bar, I was inspired to find Molly Malone Statue, a symbol of Dublin — a legendary character of Dublin folklore, by all accounts.

A fishmonger and a lady-of-the-night, Molly Malone might or might not have been haunting Dublin streets since her death in the 17^th century.

Dublin Castle and the Chester Beatty Library

Since I was still wandering around Dame and Lord Edward Streets, one last effort had to be made to find Dublin Castle. Guess what, this time it all worked out without a glitch! Funny, I have passed the City Hall building several times, but did not notice the small cobblestone street (Cork Hill) to the right of it, leading away from the main road. At the end of Cork Hill was the entrance to Dublin Castle! It was right there all along, just slightly hidden.

The cool thing about Dublin Castle (that looks more like a palace from the front) is that it’s not just open to visitors, but also serves as a fully-functioning government building.

And it looks like a magnificent castle from the back. See that Medieval Tower? This is one of the oldest buildings in the whole city of Dublin. Built in the 13th Century, its walls are 16 feet thick!

Would you like to see the treasures of Dublin Castle? Me too…! However, standing in a short line for the upcoming tour (€ 8-12 euros), I suddenly realized that what I really really wanted to see were the manuscripts of the Chester Beatty Library, that is on the territory of Dublin Castle. So, I asked the cashier for the directions (getting smarter, see 😊) and politely excused myself from the queue. When you travel solo, these last-moment changes are fun!

The Chester Beatty Library

All I knew before entering the Chester Beatty Library is that it has a renown collection of manuscripts, housing fascinating collections of Sir Alfred Chester Beatty. And being a bibliophile, I didn’t want to miss an opportunity to see them.

The second floor of the library features The Sacred Traditions Gallery, an unbelievable experience. A vast collection of illuminated manuscripts, sacred books and precious artifacts from main world religions and belief systems.

Expansive exhibitions of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism and also Confucianism, Daoism, Jainism and Sikhism. The collections, enhanced with both visual and audio elements are out-of-this world! Just imagine walking into a darkened chamber, surrounded by relics of ancient civilizations and reverberating sounds of sacred hymns and prayers.

The first floor of the library hosts the Arts of the Book Gallery, an incredible collection of about 600 artifacts. If you fancy yourself a bit of a bookworm, prepare to spend some serious quality time there. I’m talking about one of the largest collections of Coptic texts in the world, and Egyptian Love Poems of course. You’ll also see Chinese jade books, Egyptian Books of the Dead, Japanese picture-scrolls, other Illuminated manuscripts, and richly-decorated books.

The Atlas Maior, the largest and most expensive book published in the 17th century is in the Chester Beatty Library collection as well. It is considered a true masterpiece of the Golden Age of Dutch cartography. We have a reproduction of one of its maps at home, probably one of our favorite maps. To my utter delight I saw that one of books was open on the very map we have! (out of 594 maps in 11 volumes, what are the chances?!)

I have to confess, I returned to Dublin Castle the next afternoon to explore further. But first… I figured I’d take a quick photo of the entrance to the Chester Beatty Library (pictured above). When I was there the posted signs were not allowing photography inside galleries. However, Chester Beatty Library confirmed that they’ve lifted the ban on photography! Fantastic news!!

That’s when I noticed the sign reading, “Miniature Masterpiece: The Coëtivy Hours“. Miniatures? How could I have missed a whole exhibition after spending close to three hours at the museum? So I decided to quickly pop-in and check it out…

Chester Beatty Library is a Must Visit in Dublin, one of the best museums I’ve ever been. Admission is free, but donations are welcome.

After all that, I still never made it beyond the ticket counter for the Dublin Castle tours. So when I return to Ireland with my husband, we’ll definitely have to start there! And now I know where it is (along with every shop on Dame Street) 😊 !

Our special thanks to the Chester Beatty Library for letting us use the photos from their spectacular collection for this post!

And here is a link to Part 2 of this adventure, talking about the places where to eat, drink, shop, and sleep in Dublin, Ireland! My first solo trip to Dublin, Ireland continues in Part 3 and Part 4 of this article. Join me exploring Wicklow Mountains, Glendalough, Hill of Tara and Newgrange in Ireland!

We always love hearing from you, so leave a comment below, and don’t forget to subscribe to our blog! Have you been to Dublin? What are your recommendations for the first time visit?