Tuesday, September 30, 2014

There were still a few attractions in Dublin City that we would have liked to have visited, but we decided to get out of the city again today. We weren’t sure how the trains worked so we planned to be at the station in plenty of time. As it turned out the train was even easier than the bus system, and we were able to catch an earlier train than we originally planned. Our destinations were Malahide and Howth.

Malahide is about a 30-minute train ride from Dublin City. Because we caught the earlier train we had some time to kill before the Malahide Castle and Grounds opened. We enjoyed a cup of coffee in one of the small shops in the village.

Malahide Castle dates back to the 12th century and remained in the hands of one family for more than 800 years, except for a brief period when Cromwell ousted the family and took it over. It remained in the hands of the Talbot family until 1975 when it had to be sold to cover estate taxes when the last remaining male heir died.

After a guided tour of the castle we were free to wander the grounds and its many greenhouses. The gardens cover 22 acres around the castle and feature trees and plants from around the world. We wandered for more than two hours and didn’t cover it all.

From Malahide we took two trains to get to the seaside village of Howth, on Dublin Bay. The weather was deteriorating but the rain came down more as mist than rain as we know it. We were there in large part to see and walk the three piers; with the wind blowing as hard as it was we decided the cliff walk would be too dangerous. After lunch in a restaurant along the pier we started wandering and ended up at two ancient sites.

Martello Towers were built along the Irish coast by the English in the 1800’s to ward off attacks by Napoleon. This was the third such tower we’ve seen in our travels, but the first that we have gotten close to. The tower in Howth now houses the Hurdy Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radio (someone somewhere must be turning over in their grave at such a thing). We decide to forgo a visit to the museum but enjoyed the spectacular view from the grounds.

Just down the hill and across the street were the ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey, originally built in 1042 by the Vikings. We walked through the graveyard and found monuments as old as the 1700’s and as recent as July of this year.

After a stop for coffee we boarded our train and headed back to the hotel. We need to pack tonight as we leave tomorrow for County Clare.