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Dublin and Mystical Side Trips
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HI, I'M RICK STEVES, BACK WITH MORE OF THE BEST OF EUROPE.
GET READY TO EXPERIENCE DUBLIN,
CAPITAL OF THE YOUNGEST AND FRIENDLIEST COUNTRY
IN THE EUROPEAN UNION.
DUBLIN IS IRELAND'S CAPITAL AND LARGEST CITY,
WITH REMINDERS OF ITS STIRRING HISTORY AND RICH CULTURE
ON NEARLY EVERY STREET CORNER.
IN SPITE OF ITS RECENT STRUGGLES,
TODAY, IT'S A BOOMTOWN
AND LOCALS ARE ENJOYING THE "CELTIC TIGER" ECONOMY,
ONE OF THE HOTTEST IN EUROPE.
IN THIS EPISODE, WE'LL TAP OUR FEET TO TRADITIONAL MUSIC,
ADMIRE ANCIENT IRISH GOLD,
TRY A LITTLE HURLING,
REMEMBER A BLOODY CIVIL WAR,
DRINK GUINNESS IN ITS BIRTHPLACE,
JOIN POETS ON A PUB CRAWL,
AND SIDE-TRIP TO ANCIENT SIGHTS NEAR DUBLIN.
DUBLIN WAS FOUNDED HERE ON THE RIVER LIFFEY
IN THE 9th CENTURY AS A VIKING TRADING SETTLEMENT.
IT GREW TO BECOME A CENTER OF WEALTH AND COMMERCE,
SECOND ONLY TO LONDON IN THE BRITISH EMPIRE.
DUBLIN WAS THE MOST ENGLISH OF IRELAND'S CITIES.
IT WAS AN OUTPOST OF ENGLISHNESS
WHEN THE REST OF THE ISLAND WAS RURAL, CATHOLIC, AND VERY IRISH.
THE GOLDEN AGE OF ENGLISH DUBLIN WAS THE 18th CENTURY,
WHEN BRITAIN WAS COLONIZING THE WORLD
AND GROWING VERY RICH.
LARGELY REBUILT DURING THIS GEORGIAN ERA,
DUBLIN BECAME AN ELEGANT AND CULTURED CAPITAL
WITH ITS OWN PARLIAMENT.
THE 18th CENTURY LEFT DUBLIN
WITH AN AIR OF GRANDNESS AND SOPHISTICATION.
THEN THE IDEAS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION --
NATIONALISM, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND SO ON --
GOT IN THE WAY.
IN 1798, THE IRISH REBELLED AGAINST ENGLISH RULE.
THIS ENDED DUBLIN'S COZY RELATIONSHIP WITH LONDON,
AND HER GENTEEL AGE WAS REPLACED BY A CENTURY
OF STRIFE AND STRUGGLE.
THIS MEMORIAL TO THE VICTIMS OF THE GREAT POTATO FAMINE OF 1845
IS A REMINDER THAT GOOD TIMES WERE FOLLOWED BY AN AGE
WHEN THE NATIONAL COSTUME BECAME BARE FEET AND RAGS.
IN THE 19th CENTURY, WITH THE GREAT HUNGER,
THE CLOSING OF THE IRISH PARLIAMENT
AND SEVERAL UPRISINGS FOR INDEPENDENCE,
THE IRISH WERE TREATED AND FELT MORE LIKE AN ENGLISH COLONY
THAN A PARTNER.
THE TENSION CULMINATED IN THE 1920s
WITH A SUCCESSFUL WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE,
FOLLOWED IMMEDIATELY BY A TRAGIC CIVIL WAR.
FINALLY, DUBLIN, ITS ONCE ELEGANT STREETS IN RUINS,
EMERGED AS THE CAPITAL
OF THE ONLY FORMER COLONY WITHIN EUROPE.
WHILE PATRIOTIC STATUES KEEP MEMORIES
OF IRELAND'S LONG FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENCE ALIVE,
IT'S BOOM TIME NOW.
RATHER THAN EXPORTING LABOR,
FOR THE FIRST TIME, IRELAND IS ACTUALLY IMPORTING WORKERS.
GRAFTON STREET IS THE PLACE TO FEEL THE NEW ENERGY OF DUBLIN.
ONCE FILLED WITH NOISY TRAFFIC,
TODAY, THIS IS A FUN PEOPLE ZONE
LINED WITH CAFES, PUBS, AND SHOPPING TEMPTATIONS.
GRAFTON STREET LEADS TO ST. STEPHEN'S GREEN.
ON A SUNNY AFTERNOON,
THIS LUSH CITY PARK IS AN INVITING WORLD APART
FROM THE BIG CITY.
ONCE A PLACE FOR PUBLIC WHIPPINGS AND HANGINGS,
TODAY, IT'S A CHEERY LUNCHTIME ESCAPE FOR DUBLINERS.
ST. STEPHEN'S GREEN WAS ENCLOSED IN 1664
AND GRADUALLY SURROUNDED WITH FINE GEORGIAN BUILDINGS.
TODAY, 19th CENTURY DUBLIN APPEARS AS GEORGIAN
AS ANY CITY IN BRITAIN.
GEORGIAN, THE ENGLISH TERM FOR NEOCLASSICAL,
IS NAMED FOR THE ENGLISH KINGS OF THAT ERA.
THINGS WERE STATELY, UNIFORM AND SYMMETRICAL.
THE STREETS ARE A GRID PLAN, WITH VISTAS BUILT IN.
THE ONLY HINT OF PLAYFULNESS COMES FROM THE FUN COLORS.
LOCALS SAY THAT AFTER AN ENGLISH ROYAL DIED,
THEY WERE TOLD TO PAINT ALL THE DOORS BLACK IN MOURNING.
THIS SENT THE NAUGHTY IRISH DIRECTLY TO THE PAINT STORE.
TO VENTURE BEHIND ALL THESE FANCY FACADES,
VISIT NUMBER 29 LOWER FITZWILLIAM STREET.
ADMISSION TO THIS DUBLIN HOME FROM 1790, NOW A MUSEUM,
COMES WITH TOURS,
GIVING AN INTIMATE GLIMPSE AT THE ELEGANCE OF GEORGIAN LIFE.
THE WORD "DRAWING ROOM" IS SHORT FOR WITHDRAWING ROOM.
SO THESE ARE THE ROOMS TO WHICH THE FAMILY WITHDREW
WHEN THEY HAD FINISHED DINING DOWNSTAIRS.
VERY OFTEN, NEAR A FIREPLACE, THEY HAD A POLESCREEN,
AND THIS IS A POLESCREEN HERE
AND IT WAS USED TO SHADE PEOPLE'S FACES
FROM THE HEAT OF THE FIRE
BECAUSE THEY USED HEAVY WAX-BASED MAKEUP
AND THAT MIGHT RUN OR MELT CLOSE TO THE FIRE.
THE TOUR ALSO SHOWS THE BEDROOMS AND DRESSING ROOMS
OF THIS TYPICAL WELL-TO-DO GEORGIAN FAMILY.
THE SONS OF THAT FAMILY LIKELY WOULD HAVE GONE
TO TRINITY COLLEGE, FOUNDED IN 1592 BY QUEEN ELIZABETH I
TO ESTABLISH A PROTESTANT WAY OF THINKING ABOUT GOD.
TRINITY HAS LONG BEEN IRELAND'S MOST PRESTIGIOUS COLLEGE.
WHILE THE STUDENT BODY WAS ORIGINALLY LIMITED
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