Today Lauren and I went on the Shore excursion "Dublin Highlights". Dublin means "Black Pool", and I can see where the name comes from as we are docked at a gritty-looking harbor with no real view of anything from the ship. The Vikings founded Dublin in 755 AD, introduced the first form of slavery to the world, as well as the first coins. The great uprising of 1016 involved shooting in the streets, and resulted in a Lady Liberty statue receiving a bullet hole in her right breast, which can still be seen today (see my photos).

The great famine of 1834 caused many Irish to leave on famine ships for the U.S., with 50%+ of them dying on the trip. At least the tour took us to Trinity College, which was founded in 1592, where I saw the Book of Kells, for an extra admission fee. I bought a t-shirt and a coin purse from the college. I also saw the Long Room, which is an amazing 400+ year old library with a huge vaulted ceiling with bookcases all the way up. Just amazing. The author Jonathan Swift was dean of the college for 32 years.

We went by the old Post Office, which would have been a neat place to go in.

We then went to St. Patrick's Cathedral, built in the 5th century which was really impressive. Very crowded, so it was hard to take pictures.

I was able to get several pictures of the famous "Georgian" doorways from the bus.

Lots of pubs and shops in the area, but very congested, and not an attractive city, in my opinion.

Ship is moored overnight in Dublin Port.