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Look up! A carved stone constable's helmeted head outside the Dublin Pearse Street Garda (Police) Station, built 1915. Reminded me of the heads on the corbels of 13th century Ennis Friary (see earlier post).
Look up! A carved stone constable's helmeted head outside the Dublin Pearse Street Garda (Police) Station, built 1915. Reminded me of the heads on the corbels of 13th century Ennis Friary (see earlier post).

Four Dublin Museums: Whiskey, National Gallery, Book of Kells, and Wax

In October I was lucky to visit 16 museums in Dublin, Ireland.

As much as I’d like to give each museum its own blog post, I’m never going to get anything else done in life for quite a while if I do. So here are a first four, with a photo (or two) and a few comments for each.

1) Irish Whiskey Museum

Uisce beatha (“water of life”) is whiskey in Irish.

I truly enjoyed my visit to the Irish Whiskey Museum. The guide presented a comprehensive narrative on the story of whiskey in Ireland which was exceptionally educational (and entertaining). So many times I wish I could have written down bits of information that made me go “Oh! So that’s why that is.” (E.g. wakes were held to be sure the dead was dead – as they might just be catatonic from methanol in ill-brewed moonshine.)

So many connections with economic and social history … just fascinating.

Whiskey making equipment (and Lots Of Other Things)
Whiskey making equipment (and Lots Of Other Things)

And I tasted four whiskeys too. Turns out my preferred variety (for a non-whiskey drinker) is what my folks had at home when I was growing up (Bushmills).

An interactive tasting of four varieties of Irish whiskey. We were encouraged to blend our own in the fifth glass.
An interactive tasting of four varieties of Irish whiskey. We were encouraged to blend our own in the fifth glass.

Here’s a look inside the museum.

2) National Gallery of Ireland

I have loved travel guidebooks for as long as I can remember, and collect historic guidebooks about London. So I was attracted to a display in the National Gallery of Ireland featuring 200 years of travel guides to Italy, formerly owned by Sir Denis Mahon (1910-2011), who had presented his entire personal library to the Gallery (drool) in 2010.

"The seventeenth and eighteenth century travel guides to Italy in this display are testament to the fascination that Italy has exerted on tourists for so many generations." Too true.
“The seventeenth and eighteenth century travel guides to Italy in this display are testament to the fascination that Italy has exerted on tourists for so many generations.” Too true.

Have a look at the treasure above right. From the panel:

Marco Boschini (1613-1678)

Le ricche minere della pittura veneziana: non solo delle pitture pubbliche di Venezia ma dell’isole ancore circonuicine, Venice, 1674

Italian art critic and painter, Boschini gave his guidebook the metaphorical title ‘The rich mines of Venetian painting.’

First published in 1664 it is a guide for the tourist trade covering both the history and theory of Venetian painting before going on to detail artworks hanging in the public spaces in each Sestier of Venice: S. Marco, Castello, S. Polo, Dorsoduro, Canareggio and Della Croce.

Le ricche minere was not the first guidebook to painting in Venice but it was the most complete to date and served as the foundation for the later guides.

There is an inscription on front endpaper by Sir Denis Mahon: ‘Bought in Venice Sept. 1947.‘

Yum.

Did I make it to the Irish artists section? Sadly no, and I feel a bit guilty about that. Another day.

3) Book of Kells Exhibition and Old Library, Trinity College

Well, now, the very famous medieval illuminated manuscript that is the Book of Kells remains on display at Trinity College in Dublin, and what a story it has.

Feast your eyes on this view inside the “Turning Darkness Into Light” exhibition.

The thing is that getting very close to the manuscript itself for longer than a few seconds was pretty much out of the question on my recent visit, given the volume of people in the Treasury. I would have liked to luxuriate in the exhibition on the way in, but unfortunately the crowd made it rather difficult.

Not a problem though. I’d seen the Book of Kells before, and had spent some time appreciating its artistry. (It’s online at Trinity College Dublin’s digital repository too – 680 astonishing pages of it. Yup, just lost another half hour browsing and gawping at the intricacy and variety of the illustrations, and wondering about the digitization process and display technology. Oh my gosh, there’s an iPad app too.)

Anyway … what interested me on this particular visit was … the Old Library, which you enter directly after visiting the Book of Kells (and before exiting through the gift shop). The 200-foot Long Room, built between 1712 and 1732, is famed as one of the most beautiful library spaces in the world. So I parked myself on a bench and just looked and looked and had a fine time.

Library tourism! Bring it on (see the George Peabody Library in Baltimore). I loved that the library had explanatory signs with informational tidbits, as those below.

Book repair! Locator systems! Joy and solidarity.
Book repair! Locator systems! Joy and solidarity.

It was pointed out to me that the Jedi Archives in recent Star Wars films looks suspiciously like Trinity College’s Old Library, and thus Trinity Considers Legal Action Over Image in Star Wars Film. See for yourself.

The Jedi Archives were modeled on the library at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland from r/StarWars

Library in Irish! At Trinity College, Dublin.
Library in Irish! At Trinity College, Dublin.

4) National Wax Museum Plus

I met the Pope at National Wax Museum Plus. Sorta.

A very realistic-looking Pope Francis. With Halloween decorations. And why not.
A very realistic-looking Pope Francis. With Halloween decorations. And why not.

These four Dublin museums are nos. 78 to 81 in my #100museums challenge (see 100 Museums Challenge).