CHAPTER XVI
AROUND THE CAPITAL CITY OF IRELAND
The next morning after breakfast, Mr. O’Neill drove his motor car in front of the house, and Miss O’Neill, Mike and I joined him for a day around Dublin.
I took my seat beside Mr. O’Neill, and Mike and Edith sat together in the rear.
We had a delightful day, and the memory of that trip around this interesting city will always be one of my happiest memories.
Our first visit was Trinity College, with its campus of 47 acres in the heart of Dublin. The main building, at the entrance, is a noble structure. We entered Examination Hall, where many an Irish brain has been violently cudgelled at examination time. There is a fine portrait hung on its walls of Queen Elizabeth, who founded Trinity. The chapel is a modest building. The Library is famed as containing Brian Boru’s harp. It is said that this harp suggested to Moore his ode on Tara. Here we also saw the “Book of Kells”, so called because it came from the Monastery at Kells.
In this book the four gospels are written out with exquisite penmanship, on leaves embossed with gold, and beautifully illuminated. We doubt if there is a more beautiful book in the world.
Coming out of Trinity, Mr. O’Neill called our attention to the statues of Edmund Burke and Oliver Goldsmith, which adorn the entrance. These are two of the most famous of Trinity’s sons.
Opposite the entrance to Trinity is the old Parliament House, in which in former days the Irish Parliament met. It is now used by the bank of Ireland. It was in this building that Grattan thundered his anathemas against the foes of Ireland.