What You Will Do
This is more than just a 'sightseeing tour' (but there's plenty to see) but an in-depth presentation of the main features of Irish history—the English conquest, the influences of the American and French Revolutions, the Great Hunger, the struggle for independence, the Northern Ireland Peace Process, Brexit—by a history postgraduate.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Itinerary
Meeting Point
Go to Trinity College front gate, College Green, opposite the Henry Grattan statue. Our guide will be handing out brochures.
1
Trinity College Dublin
20 minutes
We start at the front gate of Trinity College and enter the campus where we outline its history as Ireland's oldest university (1592) & its most valuable artefact, the Book of Kells, an 8th century manuscript of the four Gospels, written in Latin.
2
Bank of Ireland
10 minutes
Originally Ireland's colonial parliament, built in 1729, abolished by the Act of Union in 1800, symbolic of 'Protestant Ascendancy', particularly in the 18th century & of the period's neo-classical architecture.
3
Temple Bar
10 minutes
Originally ear-marked for demolition, this area of narrow streets was repurposed as 'Dublin's Cultural Quarter' in the 1990s.
4
Wood Quay Amphitheatre
10 minutes
Wood Quay was the site of extensive archaeological excavation in the 1980s of the Viking city, who had founded the city in AD 840.
5
Four Courts
20 minutes
Ireland's legal headquarters, where a Civil War started in June 1922, between those who supported, and those who opposed, the Treaty of December 1921, which had brought to an end the War of Independence 1919-21.
6
Christ Church Cathedral
10 minutes
Dublin's oldest cathedral (1030), rebuilt in stone in the 1170s by Strongbow, who was central to the original English invasion of the 1170s.
7
City Hall
10 minutes
Inside is a statue of Daniel O'Connell, Dublin's first Catholic Lord Mayor (1840). He led a successful campaign for Catholic Emancipation (1829), the end of all anti-Catholic laws, hence he's known as 'The Liberator'.
8
Dublin Castle
10 minutes
Originally built by ('Bad') King John in 1204, it was the seat of British administration until 1922. Also the location of the Dubh Linn (Black Pool), from which Dublin gets its name.
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