Corkagh Demesne, Corkagh Park

Camac Park campground is actually a municipal campground (a pretty nice one, too) since it's part of the very large Corkagh Park in South Dublin. The Park originally was part of the Corkagh Demesne, a great house, gardens, park, etc. The House and most of the buildings are now long gone. It all came to the South Dublin city council in 1986 and has been transformed into a wonderful public park. Within its 300 acres are cycling tracks, many walks, 4 lakes (including two fisheries), many sports courts and fields (including the only purpose-built baseball diamond in Ireland), fields, forests, playgrounds, a fairy wood, a children's zoo, a rose garden, an arboretum, many fine old specimen trees, and the campground. We thought we'd just go for a walk one day, not knowing there was far more beyond the fields and walking paths by the campground entrance.

Apparently a rent-a-fairy sort of scheme; at least they're Irish
fairies, not Disney

Thus; the fairies are the ones with the wings, I presume

One of the two fishing ponds, this one for the coarse fish (the
other for trout)

In the parklands

The place laced with gorgeous paths

A giant old Copper Beech

In the large rose garden

Things coming along well

In the children's zoo

Extremely rare striped Irish pig

Part of the Famine Memorial Arboretum: specimen trees from
each of the continents to which the Irish fled the Famine

The carnival setting up next door: time to move on

Clondalkin

Our campground, the Camac Valley Camping and Caravanning Park, was located very near the south Dublin suburb of Clondalkin. While Clondalkin appeared nice enough a place, prosperous-looking here and there, a big shopping center, it was the older stuff that interested me, so on an administrative day walk, I ventured into town to see the Clondalkin Round Tower and St. Brigid's Well. Both have pretty well stood the test of time.

The Clondalkin Round Tower; one sees these
all around Ireland, always at abbeys, generally
12th century; said to have housed relics: more
likely to have defended relics during visits of
brigands...; most approaching 100 ft high;
Clondalkin among the largest and best
preserved

Closer up

Of equal interest was St. Brigid's Well; St. Brigid was a Druid
personage who converted to Christianity and proceeded to live
a life of such holiness as to become a saint, indeed Ireland's
patron saint (along with St. Patrick); details are somewhat
lacking...we're talking 5th century here; she was named after
the Celtic goddess Brid, goddess of fire, one of the Celtic
pantheon St. P couldn't replace with some Christian figure;
anyway, legends abound about St. Brigid; allegedly, our term
"bride" comes from the Celtic goddess...

There it is, just behind the large potted shrubbery; probably so
protected to keep it from being profaned (it is just feet from a
busy thoroughfare); "bring us a shrubbery"

One of the more lavishly decorated local sites I have seen; note
gnomes; according to lore, St. B stopped on her holy travels; if
you dip your hankie in the well water and hang it on the tree
three days, then wipe your eyes with it, you'll be cured of any
eye-sight problems; right...

In addition to being (a) patron saint for the island, St. B is also
patron saint for "bakers, blacksmiths, boatmen, cattle, chicken
farmers, children whose parents are not married, dairymaids,
dairy workers, fugitives, infants, Ireland, Leinster [one of
Ireland's five historic regions], mariners, midwives, milk maids,
poultry raisers, printing presses, sailors, scholars, travellers,
watermen, Creativity, Scholars, Poets"; busy lady

Best Church Renovation, Ever, So Far

So there we were, walking down Henry Street, minding our own business, when up pops this interesting 18th century parish church and interestingly encased tower...

The tower

Someone's else photo

The fine print; really no sign on the outside to indicate what was
within

We stepped inside, and there it is, a faithfully and perfectly
restored 18th century church; Handel played the organ during
his time in Dublin; OK, some minor alterations have been
made; there was no question we would spend the rest of the
evening here

We took seats in the chancel

And the band; cracked me up they were seated right in front of
the "This do in remembrance of me" sign; the wind instrument
is an Uillean, the Irish bagpipe--the bags are squeezed by the
elbows, not blown

Dining in the nave as well as in the upstairs

"I wonder if we might have a table over there,
near Rev. Black?

The set menu; there's an a la carte menu; and
of course the usual pub grub

The place was rich with history

Especially Dublin history: Arthur Guinness, founder of the black
stuff, married here

Later, we moved over to the other side of the chancel

The band was great; better, there was traditional dancing too--
I'll post a video as soon as we have better cell reception than
here in Sligo; if you're in Dublin, don't miss

Dublin Eats

A bit more pub food than usual...

A bit better pub food than usual, however (8.95E for half a
dozen, including the pint)

Cheese board

Spending the day in the city occasionally
required a visit to the Hasty Tasty

Thus; pulled pork slop on the left, chicken with some sort of
cream sauce on the right

A dining "thing" in Dublin, Steak on a Stone: you take a slab of
volcanic stone and put it in the oven to 250-280F; sear the steak
30 seconds to the side, slab it and serve with whatever side; the
steak looked like a filet mignon, 8 oz; you thus cook it to your
liking, piece by piece if you like; new to us anyway; plus, made
it easy to remembers to keep you elbow off the table

The table still steaming after the serving tray is gone

But the best meal was our 48th anniversary dinner; after 5
straight days of spending the day (and a bit of the night) in town,
we were too tired to go in again, and so had dinner in the camper;
appetizer: crab pate and stuffed something...

Main course: Irish steak with sauteed mushroom

Dessert: fruit tartlets and espresso; the candle and napkin, I
note, are from our wedding in 1968; so Dublin joins Naarden
(Netherlands), Paris, Antwerp, Paris, Florence, Menlo Park,
Copenhagen, and Missoula, among the places we have
celebrated; but who's counting?

Dublin Museums

We visited three Dublin museums on this campaign: the Chester Beatty Library, the National Art Gallery, and the National Museum (of archaeology).

Beatty was an American geologist who got quite rich in the
later 1800s, moved to London after the death of his wife, and
there continued a life-long passion for collecting; his
particular interest was religious texts, primarily the
Abrahamic religions, but Asian as well; much of the three
floors, near the castle, also concerns the history of paper
making, ink and pens, printing, and so forth; alas, the Beatty
has a "no fotos!" policy, but I did get this one of a mid-2nd
century copy of the Gospels, a page from Luke, oldest 
known copy

And a page from Mark (of course)

The National Art Gallery is undergoing some
significant renovation; the biggies were out,
nonetheless; we concentrated on them, knowing
little of Irish art; this is Vermeer's Woman
Writing a Letter...how big do you want? They
also had a selection of Leonardo's drawings,
on loan of course

Velasquez' Kitchen Maid at the Dinner at Emmaus; "that's some
funny shit they're talking about..."

A younger Peter Breughel Peasant Wedding; there was also an
Avercamp winter scene, but I didn't focus it well

What dreams are made of...a lost Caravaggio...The Betrayal Kiss
...not found at a yard sale, but the story is actually instructive
about how these things sometimes get lost; and found

Delacroix' Demosthenes Practicing at the Beach

A Monet, something about a river

John Singer Sargent, The Bead Stringers of Venice

We visited the National History Museum in 2009 and were fairly
blown away by the collection. It hasn't changed a great deal,
although the stuff that keeps being found in the bog and elsewhere
is pretty compelling; above are Mesolithic fish traps, found in
County Meath, 5300-4730 BC. Other artifacts found were as old
as 5500 BC.

Most of Ireland's megalithic stuff is too large, and fragile, to
haul into a museum, but they did they get this little burial vault
inside; the best museum of the megalithic is at Bru na Boinne,
a bit north of Dublin, and we'll be getting there toward the end
of this visit; I'd be surprised to learn that Ireland does not have
the most megalithic sites, per square mile, of any place in
Europe; and maybe by any measure, anywhere

The Lurgan Canoe, 2500 BC, a dugout found in
a bog near Galway; it's a meter wide and more
than 15 meters long--fifty feet! Obviously used
for cruises

Neolithic jadeite ceremonial axes (nearest jadeite is in the
the Italian Alps); maybe I can find one in Ireland, if not Carnac;
4000-3800 BC

The more recent artifacts...4,000 years or younger, are typically
presented with other items in the bog-hoard in which they were
found; here  two rings, a dress fastener, a gold bracelet, and an
amber necklace; remember, amber comes only from the Baltic

Nine gold beads, fit for a giant...they're about 4 inches in
diameter

Nicely carved stone

More archaeological-grade gold; and amber

Five lunulae--crescent-shaped gold necklaces, many delicately
inscribed--among scores on display; we're now into the earliest
stage of the Bronze Age, say 2000 BC

From a hoard of torcs, bracelets

Imagine the neck-ache of carrying these babies around; no
wonder they to put them in the bog safety-deposit

First prize, at least among the older gold work...an oared vessel
complete with seats spanning the hull and 16 oars; there was
plenty more to see at this museum, but, you get it; don't miss it if
you go to Dublin