Dublin Castle

As can only be expected for a city more than 1000 years old, Dublin has a castle. Be forewarned: it's not the many-towered, drawbridge-and-portcullis sort of castle visitors may be expecting. It used to look like that, but then in 1684 this one English Viceroy accidentally blew three-quarters of it up.

(He took some bad advice in how to fight a fire.)

The castle was rebuilt in the eighteenth century in the Versailles-style of the day. Retaining one original tower, these stately offices have remained in continuous use as the seat of government to this very day.

A visit is recommended for all those intereted in history and arcitecture. A forty-minute guided tour will set you back £3. The one who showed us around was a pleasantly sarcastic law student-turned-tour guide named "Dune." (sp?) She was quite friendly, actually, and kept the group of twenty-five entertained with stories from top to bottom, from the beginnings in Viking Days through Independence in 1922, ending with the recent peace talks. There are a throne room, a splendid drawing room, and king's and queen's bedrooms (without beds, as Ireland now recognizes no king and queen). Later on the tour took us down to the excavated foundations of one building, where remains of the original castle were rediscovered in the mid 80's. There she told us stories of chopped-off heads eventually rotting off their pikes to drop into the fetid, rat-infested moat. Also other neat stuff like that.

So if you want to learn how desperate eighteenth-century chicks tried to pick up noble grooms, and how Guinness forced the Irish Government to change the official state seal, check out the tour of Dublin Castle.

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