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St. Kevin's Park, located in Camdem Row, Dublin 6, is a small park hosting the remains of St. Kevin's Church and cemetery, dating back at least as far as the 13th century.
It's a small and very quiet park worth a visit if you're around the area!
This legend comes from a book first written in the 11th century AD by Christian monks and it explains the origin of Ireland and the Irish (the Gaels).
According to the legend, the Gaels came from Egypt and at some point they reached Iberia (nowadays Spain) by sea and conquered it. There, Breogán founded a city called Brigantia, and built a tower from the top of which his son Íth could see Ireland. This city, Brigantia, would be nowadays the city of Corunna in Galicia (which was then known as Brigantium) and Breogán's tower is likely based on the Tower of Hercules (which was built at Corunna by the Romans).
Íth sailed to the island with a group of men. He was welcomed by the three kings who ruled Ireland at the time. According to some evidence, these kings were the main pagan gods of Ireland. Íth was killed and his men returned to Iberia (Spain). Íth's brother, Míl Espáine (Miles Hispaniae, 'soldier of Spain'), and his sons were known as the Milesians. They went to Ireland to avenge Íth's death and invade the country. After they landed, they met Banba, Fódla and Ériu, the wives of Ireland's three kings. Each sister said that the Gaels would have good fortune if they named the land after her.
One of the sisters, Ériu, offered her help in defeating the three kings in exchange for becoming the High Queen of all Ireland. With her support, the Milesians won the battle agains the three kings.
Then, the land they had invaded was named after the sister Ériu. Her modern name is often modified to Éire or Erin. If you look at the name of this country, Ireland, it comes from Eire's land.
The 'Wake' means when a friend or relative dies, and it is normally a great loss both for the family and also for the circle of friends we make during our lifetime.
In Ireland, the funeral can sometimes take place three or four days after death. During those days, the deceased is usually held by the undertakers until the funeral, although many people still prefer to have their loved one in their house. This means there's a room dedicated to that purpose, with candles and a statue of a Virgin or Christ.
The day before the funeral, the coffin is taken to church, sometimes on the shoulders of relatives and friends. This is known as the removal.
The funeral takes place the following morning and after the ceremony, the body is removed to a cemetary or crematorium (there is only one in Ireland at present in Dublin's northside suburb Glasnevin).
After the cemetary, all the guests will go to a pub and generally spend the rest of the day there, and in some cases the night too. This tradition may sound shocking for non-Irish, however the idea behind this is to help the family through their difficult day by drink and distraction. The deceased is fondly remembered throughout the day, toasted many times, and anecdotes and good words are said about him or her.
You've probably crossed this beautiful bridge a hundred times, but do you know the origin of its name?
Before the Ha'penny Bridge was built, in 1816, there were seven ferries that allowed to cross the Liffey, linking Northern and Southern Dublin. These ferries were the only option to cross the river. As they were in a bad condition and it was decided that a bridge should be built to allow crossing the river.
The company who built the bridge was granted the right to charge a toll from anyone crossing it for 100 years. Initially, the toll charge was half a penny, on any direction, which was the charges of the ferries that this bridge was replacing. There were also turnstiles (gates) on either end of the river, where the toll was charged.
The charge was dropped in 1919.
This beautiful bridge is officially named the Liffey Bridge, although this name is not so popular.
The bridge is also known for having love locks, which are periodically removed for security and damage reasons. In 2013 the council removed over 300kg of locks from this bridge!
This victorian-style market was originally built around 1876 to serve the southern side of Dublin.
Due to some conflicts between Dubliners and the British Crown, the market was not initially popular, and in 1892 it was destroyed by fire. The market was rebuilt in 1894 and it hasn't stopped trading since then. Nowadays, there are approximately fifty tenants in the arcade, including small stalls, cafés and Dunnes Stores.
Next time you walk by, why don't you take a look inside and feel its old environment? :)
