Day 34 - Dublin

I had a quiet start to the morning and I went down to breakfast which was included in the room cost for the night. I then checked out of the hotel and ordered a taxi to take me to my accommodation for the next three nights. I was not able to get a room yet as none were ready but I was able to leave my bag in storage freeing me up to move around for the day. I then went back out to the street to get another taxi to go to the National Library of Ireland.

I am following up on some family history for my mother. When I was on my trip in May I visited the town of Baltinglass where my great, great, great grandparents on my mother’s side Patrick Hogarty and Elizabeth Nowlan were married in 1828. We knew there was a record of this marriage in the National Library and I wanted to see if it provided any further information on them or any other people in the family.

Entering the Library I had to put my laptop case and other papers into a free locker before I entered. It also said to leave your jackets in the locker as well but I saw others wearing them so I kept mine on as well because I had so many things in the pockets. I had to register to get a readers card, this meant I was able to ask for books, records and micro film from the archive to be bought out from storage for me to inspect. I needed to show my passport to prove who I was before I received my reader’s card.

Once I had this card I was able to go to the genealogy room and start my search. I had spent some time on Sunday looking at the National Library website and had found a catalogue number that the micro film record was contained on. So when I got into the room I was able to get one of the staff to show me the how to load the film and I was able to find the record within about five minutes.

The record was from the parish marriage register and I was hoping that it might show the parents names of both Patrick and Elizabeth but it only included the two witnesses to their marriage. I was able to get a photo of the record plus order a certificate from the Library detailing the extract from the record which will be emailed to me.

From there I went back to a room that was staffed by a genealogist who was available to help people with tips on how to search using the computers in the room. I was able to search on the computers for any information on Patrick and Elizabeth using various programs they have available. After about three hours looking on the computers I could not find any more information on either of them and I decided that I was not going to get any further in my search unfortunately so I decided to call it a day on the research.

I picked my laptop bag from the lockers and left the library deciding to walk back to the hotel which is about miles from the Library. I know the way from all my other visits to Dublin and worked a route that will take me via the most pubs so I could look for beer coasters on the way. I stopped at a couple of pubs and got three different coasters before I stopped at O’Donoghue’s in Suffolk Street and ordered a late lunch.

From there I continued working my way back towards the hotel via Dame Street crossing the road many times to go into different pubs. Dame Street also has a lot of interesting old architectural buildings including the Bank of Ireland Building, Dublin Town Hall and Dublin Castle. Stopping at the pubs produced mixed results but I managed to pick up at least 6 different coasters plus also some extra ones of some of the ones I got in May when I was last here.

Finally by just after five o’clock I got to the Harding Hotel and was able to check into my room. I had asked for a single room with a double bed in it and was surprised when I got the same room as I did four years ago, Room 102. It is now a room with three single beds in it, so they obviously did not have any rooms with double beds available. The room is basic but good in that it has plenty of desk space and a big bathroom space. There is only a small television but I do not think I will be spending much time looking at it any way as I will be out quite a bit.

I checked my emails as I was waiting on a reply from the Archivist at the Guinness Archive to see if it was O.K. for me to visit tomorrow. I had spoken to her in May when I was at the brewery but had only sent her an email last week saying that I would like to be able to use the archive for some research whilst I was here now. I did indeed have a reply and it said that I could come in tomorrow after 2pm and all day Wednesday if I needed. That suits me fine as I intended to have a late night tonight wandering around the Temple Bar region in Dublin. This is the main nightlife area in Dublin with many pubs and clubs mixed into old streetscapes and there is always some live music being played by buskers or in one of the many hotels.

I had a bit of rest and caught up on my emails and just after seven thirty I headed off to walk around the streets. I walked down to the River Liffey again but this time stayed on the south side of it and walked all the way down Aston Quay back towards O’Connell Street Bridge. There were four pubs along the way and I stopped in a few of them for a soft drink and to watch some of the US Open Men’s Tennis Final

I walked down as far as the bridge and crossed over the main road and continued along the river edge to an area I had not been into before. It is an area still with older style buildings but large office areas and I stopped at some pubs and then headed south and came back to the Doyles Hotel where we had been in May. I sat and watched some more of the tennis of the US Open Men’s Tennis Final and then turned right back towards Temple Bar and entered the area from the eastern end.

By now my jacket pockets were already just about full of coasters but I continued on and stopped in some more pubs and also had some dinner in a restaurant. I sat and listened to some more Irish music in one of the pubs then continued on.

It was about twelve thirty in the morning by the time I got back to the room. I had my jacket pockets absolutely full to the brim with coasters by this stage as well. I sorted them all out and now have 23 different new coasters for the collection and I would guess about 1000 of these 23 types in total for swaps.