Ireland day 0917. Tuesday 02 April 2024- Marsh Library *

Ireland day 0917. Tuesday 02 April 2024- Marsh Library

Today’s summary	Took the train into Dublin to have a look at the Marsh Library, behind St Patrick’s Cathedral. The oldest public library in Ireland. Had sandwich lunch in the garden outside then walked back across Dublin afterwards and did some window-shopping
Today’s weather	Dry and bright with plenty of sun until rain in the evening. Light south easterly wind. Appx 11c

Today’s overview location (The green 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): Marsh to Pearse (GPS fail)

Commentary

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

We’d heard about the Marsh Library (or more correctly Marsh’s Library) from friends and had been encouraged to pay a visit. It’s a bit like the Old Library in Trinity College (where the Book of Kells is on display) but smaller and more ancient.

Anyway, as the weather was nice when we got up, we decided that a trip to Dublin would be in order, so we set our sights on the library. I made packed lunches then we pottered off just before noon and, by dint of a fortuitous connection with a no. 14 bus at Connolly, we were at the Library only an hour later.

The Marsh Library was founded by the gloriously-named Archbishop Narcissus Marsh in 1707 and was the first public library in Ireland. It’s a fascinating spot to visit, and is filled with a heady old-book smell that hits you as soon as you go in. At €7 to visit, it’s not cheap though I did manage to negotiate a concessionary rate of €4. As it is quite small place, it doesn’t take long to see it all, though there was an exhibition of old books and maps describing the exploration and discovery of the Americas, which was quite interesting.

By the time we’d had a good look round, we were hungry so we headed out into the small, walled garden at the back and found a sunny bench to have our sandwiches. It must have a microclimate all of its own in there, as there were bluebells in flower , which I haven’t yet seen anywhere else in Ireland.

Suitably fed and watered, we meandered slowly back across Dublin to Pearse station and the DART to Malahide. En route we dropped into Cotswold Outdoor to look for a lightweight waterproof jacket for me – we didn’t find one though had fun trying on hats. We consoled ourselves with some rather delicious cherry and pear fruit jellies from Fallon and Byrne, which we enjoyed in the café area at the front in Exchequer Street.

Back in the flat now, it’s time for dinner and perhaps a golf documentary on Netflix. Even for a non-golfer like me, it’s surprisingly interesting.

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Inside the library	The reading room (complete with human skull, if you look closely enough)

There’s a rather nice walled garden at the back of the library. We paused here to enjoy our sandwiches	First bluebells in ireland? Still a couple of weeks behind those I spotted in Southampton a couple of weeks ago though

St Patrick’s Cathedral	In the par-terre above St Patrick’s gardens

Trying out a new look in Cotswold outdoor store. Thankfully for our credibility we decided against a purchase (even though they were half price)