The
National Library of Ireland was
open on Saturday morning, so we returned to continue our research.
Once it closed we had something
to eat then walked to the building next door which was the Museum
of Archaeology and History. The
building was a mirror image of the National Library, and was really
beautiful. It was very hard to get a phot which could capture the
inside decoration adequately. Inside were many fascinating ancient
Irish displays, including
3 bog bodies - Clonycavan Man,
Oldcrogan Man, and
Gallah Man. I was intrigued by the Silver Gundestrup
Cauldron, which is huge (I
don't believe my arms could reach around it) and decorated inside and
out (even knowing this one was a reproduction of the original in
Norway didn't diminish the effect).
Another item (of which there
were many) which intigued me were the reliliquaries.
These came in all shapes and
forms, an arm, a bell, a shoe, and books (for holy books). One can
only assume that
the arm one had contained the relic of a saint's arm, and the shoe
one likewise. They seemed to like to have gems on the outside, so I
can only imagine the value of these.
http://www.museum.ie/en/intro/archaeology-and-ethnography-museum.aspx.
We walked down to St Stephen's Green
Park, which was very nice, being set out in quite a classical way,
with lots of statues and monuments. We then walked back to see the
Natural History Museum
http://www.museum.ie/en/intro/natural-history.aspx.
This was really amazing, much
like the Old Brisbane Museum used to be, with cases of animals all
lined up – I just loved it! Especially
interesting were the skeletons of Giant Irish Deer, which had been
extinct from way before people came to Ireland. Once again we had
dinner at O'Sheas Pub, nicely
washed down with a Guinness...or two!
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| An early pottery bowl |
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| Inside the Museum of Archaeology and History |
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| Clonycavan Man |
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| Oldcrogan man |
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| Gundestrup Cauldron |
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| Gallah Man |
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| Gold bracelets |
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| Ceremonial hammer head from Knowth Megolithic Tomb |
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| Church arch and door |
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| Bronze hammer |
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| Carved head with faces on 3 sides |
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| Gold neckely |
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| Religious item |
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| Reliliquary |
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| Brooch |
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| Brooch |
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| Gold Torc |
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| A reminder that Medieval times were pretty brutal...look at the cuts in the skull |
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| This guy didn't survive having half his head hacked off. |
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| A Holy Book Reliliqary |
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| A London Plane tree |
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| Flax growing at St Stephen's Green Gardens |
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| The Museum of Natural History |
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| Upstairs at the Museum of Natural History |
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| Skeletons at the Museum of Natural History |
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