Ireland day 0674. Thursday 03 August 2023- Casino Marino 2 *

Ireland day 0674. Thursday 03 August 2023- Casino Marino 2

Today’s summary	Paid a return visit to the Casino Marino, last visited a year ago. Video call to Houston then a short walk round Hanlons Lane in the evening followed by watching a film in the flat
Today’s weather	Overcast grey and cool, but dry. Moderate north westerly wind. Appx 18C

Today’s overview location (The grey mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The orange line shows where we walked) (Click button below to download GPX of today’s walk as recorded, or see interactive map at bottom with elevations corrected): Hanlons Lane Grand Hotel extension

Commentary

(Summary blog only. Last full blog was Day 0368).

We are trying to live at a slightly slower pace at the moment, as we recharge our batteries after the excitements of the last few weeks. So we allowed ourselves the luxury of a cup of tea in bed while we listened to a podcast, before we finally surfaced and started planning the day.

We didn’t have any specific commitments, and having just driven to and from southern England, we didn’t feel like making a long journey. So Val suggested that we might go back to visit the Casino Marino, an OPW site which is a few km south of here, near Clontarf. We had previously been there on 14 August last year (so readers can scroll back through the blog to that date to learn about the background, if anyone wants to learn more). We enjoyed it last time, but felt there was still quite a lot more to see, so deciding to revisit was an easy choice.

The Casino (not to be confused with the Casino where Val works) hadn’t changed much since we last visited – perhaps not surprisingly as it’s 250 years old. The statues of Apollo and Venus from the southern aspect of the roof had been taken away for restoration, but unless you knew the site well, you wouldn’t notice their absence. The site was very quiet, just like last year, and we had a guided tour to ourselves, as no other visitors wanted to join. We even had the same (excellent) guide, Paul, as last time.

There was one big new addition, however. The historic tunnels which lead away from the Casino (probably build to allow serving staff enter and leave unseen) had been partly reopened. Most interestingly, a mock-up of the underground machine-gun range which Michael Collins used for training purposes in the Civil War, was on display in one of the tunnels. Really fascinating.

We finished the tour about 2pm then had our picnic lunch in the car, as it was too cold to sit outside (it is August, after all). Then on return to Malahide, I had a video call with a friend in Texas (where the temperature has been over 38C for at least a month) and Val made a cake.

It’s a re-run of chilli con carne for dinner, after a short walk round Hanlon’s lane, and then maybe a Netflix film later on. Batteries are slowly being recharged!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Val showed me how to use filters to enhance selfies. It has worked quite well in terms of ironing out the zits, but has turned me a bit orange	I’m always fascinated by the drainpipe concealed in the middle of the Doric columns. Neat

On the upper second floor – where the Earl of Charlemont used to receive guests whilst reclining on his day bed	Walking in the cutaway passage designed to let light into the basement

Mock up of Collins’ machine gun down in the tunnels	The practice tunnel where the machine gun was tested

View out over Dublin Bay from one of the downstairs windows. Charlemont was disappointed by the construction of a crescent of houses between the Casino and Dublin Bay, which spoiled his view. It became known as the “Spite” crescent for this reason. In later years, Bram Stoker lived there