June 16th-Happy Bloomsday!

Today is June 16th, which is the date that James Joyce's Ulysses takes place. That means that there were people all over Dublin dressed in period clothing and ordering a lunch of gorgonzola cheese and burgundy wine. For us, this was a huge day of Dublin sightseeing. First stop was Trinity College, this time to see the Book of Kells. For anyone who doesn't know, the Book of Kells is an old manuscript of the New Testament from the monastic period. The concept basically is that the Testament is supposed to be the word of God, so therefore it must be contained within beautifully decorated pages, the same way you must receive communion from a gold chalice instead of a paper cup. Technically, you could do it, but it deserves more ceremony. Murphy showed us how to read some of the really elaborate calligraphy pages--reading the Bible is a lot easier nowadays. We exited through the Long Room, which was a cross between the libraries in Harry Potter and Beauty and the Beast, quite the view for a bibliophile like me. They even had JM Synge's typewriter and a early draft of "Playboy of the Western World." Again, the English major in me was quite excited.
The next stop on our excursion was Kilmainham Gaol, which was an amazing tour through Irish history from the famine and through the rebellions and the civil war. We got to see the cells of Irish leaders like Charles Parnell, Joseph Plunkett, and Patrick Pearse. It was an awesome tour, especially since our guide took us through a lot of the history and politics involved in Ireland's struggle for independence.
We then headed to St. Patrick's Cathedral, a notable landmark in Dublin and Ireland in general. It's a beautiful church, not to mention it's the place where Jonathon Swift is buried. There's also a door where the handshake apparently originated.
Other notable sights on the tour were the hotel owned by U2 and the house that Joyce's short story "The Dead" supposedly took place in. I will have to make a return journey to stake out the Clarence Hotel in hopes of spotting Bono.
Our day concluded with a Literary Pub Crawl, which was a lot of fun. Our tour guide/entertainer was pretty awesome and introduced us to a lot of the literary culture and history of Dublin. Definitely an entertaining end to the day. Plus, we passed the pub that Leopold Bloom visits in Ulysses, so we got to see everyone in their Joycean attire. I love this town.