Our second port in Ireland was Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Dun Leery). It was from here we would catch a train to Dublin. Normally there is about a 15 to 20 minute tender boat ride to make the 1.5 nautical mile ride to shore. However today it was very windy and the ride was very rough. They announced that due to the rough waters, the trip was taking thirty minutes and it was taking longer to load and unload passenges.
This delayed people getting to shore which shortened our time in Dublin. Remember I said the Irish seemed persnickety in the port of Cobb. Well that carried over into today. For the first time we know of, the port required every tender boat to be led back and forth by an Irish pilot boat to be sure none of the tender boats were speeding! Really?? Also our captain wanted our time in Dublin to be to 10:30 P.M. to give passengers more time to enjoy Dublin. The port authorities said no, they didn’t want any tender boats running after dark, so the departure time was switched to 8:30. I don’t remember any other country having such persnickety rules, not even China!
After the rough tender boat ride and a pleasant train ride, we arrived in Dublin, pop 545,000. Dublin is the capital of the Republic of Ireland and the largest city. Once again we used public buses to get around the city.
Our first stop was Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, the National Cathedral of the Church of Ireland and the largest church in Ireland. It was founded in 1191 as a Roman Catholic cathedral. In 1537 it became an Anglican church.
The church was beautiful and we were thrilled to see a choir performing. They sang the entire time we were there. We don’t know if they were a visiting group or the church choir practicing.
We walked to Dublin Castle which was a bit of a disappointment. Not as grand as we expected. Located at the highest point in Dublin, it was built on the site of a Viking settlement and has served for more than 700 years as the headquarters of British administration in Ireland.
Courtyard of Dublin Castle
Chapel Royal and Round Record Tower
The city was bustling with the streets very crowded.
We took the train back to the ship and boarded the tender boat back to the ship.
The water was much rougher and the crew had a hard time getting the boat close enough to the ship for us to get off. Everytime they tried to get close, the waves would slam our small boat against the platform. It took quite awhile to get us all safely off the boat as the huge swells made for dangerous footing and allignment. There were two crew members on the boat and two crew members on the ship platform to assist the passengers. When it is your turn you have to totally trust them, and when they say “jump” you jump and trust the crew on the platform will catch you. There were some seasoned cruisers on the boat and they said they had never gotten off a tender boat with such rough waters and deep swells. Trust the crew, take a deep breath and jump.