From 1939 to 1945 air travel from America was by flying boats that landed at Foynes, County. Limerick after a long 18 hour flight. The passengers, chilled by the boat trip from the seaplane to the terminal, sometimes in cold, damp weather conditions, appreciated a hot cup of coffee or tea on arrival. The youthful manager of the Foynes catering service believed that passengers would welcome something stronger. The head Chef at Foynes rose to the occasion, developing, after some research, what is now known as Irish Coffee.
In 1929 Guinness advertising
proclaimed, “Guinness is good for you.”
In
1971 Gilbeys of Ireland set out to create a uniquely Irish drink that would
embrace two of the country's finest products: fresh dairy cream and Irish
whisky, and celebrate one of Ireland's finest traditions - just passing time
and chilling out with friends. No one had managed to blend cream and whisky
before, and it took years of patient work, plus a little chocolate and vanilla,
to create the truly amazing taste.
Finally, on November 26th 1974 a new
type of drink was born: Baileys® Irish
Crème, a cream liqueur. Now it is
the best selling liqueur brand in the world.
Baileys® uses the finest fresh cream from local dairies and whisky from
Ireland’s most renowned distillery. The alcohol in Baileys® preserves the cream
in a wholly natural way and guarantees its freshness over long periods.
Gallagher’s in
Temple Bar (an entertainment area of Dublin) is known for its traditional Irish
food, but we passed it up. First we’d had plenty of Irish food and secondly we
had no desire to return to Temple Bar. Music in the pubs does not start until
about 9:30ish, and everyone was emphatic about the ish. It ends at 11:30. If
one wants a drink after that he must go to a bar which is open until 2:00AM.
The pubs have been smoke free for a decade but were always very crowded and
noisy in the evenings. We concluded that such a scene is for the young, not us
old folks.
At City Hall there was is an
interesting multimedia display of city history. In 1867 there was a proposal to
move a marble statue of O’Connell inside the building as it was not considered
to be weather proof. It still stands in the refurbished rotunda. In the center
of the marble rotunda floor is a 1898 mosaic of the coat of arms. The ceiling
is beautiful. In 1915-19 frescos were added at the ceiling. Repairs due to dry
rot were made to the building in 1926 and a wonderful restoration was done in
1998. Outside, the front façade still shows some bullet davits from the civil
war.
Dublin was the first place we ran into having to use your room card to
start the elevator. It’s a common occurrence now.
St. Stephen’s Green, occupying
27 acres, is an oasis in Dublin’s city
center. It was once an open common for punishment. It is the oldest park in the city (1664). After a long
period of decline, it
became a private park in 1814 and mid century residents had keys to enter the
park. In 1880 Lord Ardilaun, chairman of Guinness, bought all the keys and
landscaped the area before giving it to the city. Among the meandering paths
are a Victorian bandstand, flower gardens, formal lawns and ornamental lake
with waterfowl, bridges and islands. Buildings surround the green. We were in and out of the green several
times. The park seems always to be pretty crowded, especially near the
entrances.
Oscar Wilde’s house is directly across
the street from Merrion Park. Wilde’s father was a well known eye and ear
physician who was knighted. His mother was a poet and he probably got most of
his literary
urge from her. At the corner of the park is a lounging Oscar Wilde on a huge rock. Fourteen
different rocks are used in the statue. His face is a bit unusual as it
portrays different moods when viewed from different angles. From the left he
appears rather sad, face on he appears contemplative and from the right he
appears happy. He is high enough to peer over the fence onto the busy street. The Georgian homes were primarily built by
Protestants as Catholics were excluded from representation and were not allowed
to vote 1690-1840. In 1794 the Free Men were 3000 strong in a city with a
population was 130,000.
The round metal covers in the sidewalks in
the Georgian area of Dublin are old coal shoots where coal was once delivered
for heating.
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