Tim Cole-French ’22 and Adam McDermott ’22
Tuesday brought more adventures as our first full day in the city of Dublin, as we explored the city in the coach and on foot and shared several more memorable experiences.
Wake-up call was 7:30 today, which was very welcome news to the 26 energy-deprived boys who got some extra sleep this morning. We also had no planned performances, so the mood was light as we gathered in the hotel cafe for another Irish breakfast. Shortly after, Ms. Winter made the rounds asking people their dinner orders for the night, not-so-subtle foreshadowing for the excellent food later on. When Ms. Winter finished taking orders—despite forgetting to ask the chicken wing fanatics what sauce they wanted—we piled on the coach for a visit to Trinity College, Dublin (Editor’s Note: Ms. Winter, the editor, is well-aware of her shortcomings as a waitress. She has decided to stick with teaching and, perhaps, editing travel blogs).
Trinity College is a 17,000 student, 42-acre haven within Dublin, which houses The Book of Kells, a marvelous manuscript of the Gospels with fascinating calligraphy and artwork. My jaw dropped when I saw it. The fact that people our ages (14-18) designed the book around 529 BC is mind blowing. I cannot recommend visiting enough. After the Book, we headed up a flight of stairs to the Long Library and inhaled centuries worth of literature, while taking in the gorgeous sculptures of philosophers and authors lining the book cases. We also got to see one of the oldest harps in the world!
After our visit to Trinity, Anton and Ann guided us through the narrow streets of Dublin telling the tales behind several noteworthy buildings. In particular, the design of the Georgian Blocks was intriguing and gorgeous, a nod to the rich history of Dublin.
Our winding city tour led us back to Phoenix Park, where we marveled at the scenery and took an impromptu photo shoot with Doctor Rozenberg.
We then visited the towering Papal Cross (where Pope John Paul visited!), and sung “Shenandoah” and the Irish National Anthem for Ann and other families nearby. In fact, some children playing nearby joined us for our photos after.
When we all recovered from our hilarious encounter at the Papal Cross, we rushed back to the city where Anton once again wove through the streets until we came back to Trinity, but this time to have some free time exploring and eating. After lunch, we all hopped back on the coach to head to our next destination: the EPIC museum and the Jeanie Johnston.
The first location my group stopped at was the Jeanie Johnston—a replica ship named after the, well, Jeanie Johnston. A witty tour guide introduced us to the millions of stories of Irish emigrants heading overseas during the Irish potato famine. He led us through the dark history of 50,000 migrants dying on board “coffin ships” and the not-so-dark history of the Jeanie Johnston, where not a single person died on board. Along the way, we learned unsettling statistics about the ramifications of the potato famine in Ireland and on Irish people around the world.
Our second stop was the engaging EPIC museum, where we went through 20 rooms discussing emigration and Irish people, Irish culture, and their influence on the world.
We then took a gorgeous walk through central Dublin to our final stop of the night: Meghear’s Pub, another lively pub with delicious food. We got the whole basement to ourselves, which meant our dinner was filled with singing and loud—and good—conversation. We left the venue with a smile after singing a cathartic “Danny Boy” and trotted back to our hotel to wrap up a thrilling yet laid back day.
BC High Concert Choir 