My summer holiday in Dublin: There’s more to Ireland than a pint of Guinness

People often ask themselves: what is the best place I have visited so far? I have found that often it is not the branding of a particular place that matters, but the hidden charm of the place. This lies in the history, reflected in the warmth of the people and the conversations you encounter, ranging from the taxi driver to a complete stranger and an enchanting meal we pick up along the way, and being immersed in the novelty of the place.

This year, a friend suggested that I go to the European Association of Anthropology (EASA) meeting in Barcelona last week. And so my three-week itinerary was born. I had spent time in England as a student, but I had yet to visit Scotland and Ireland. The highlight of this trip was a visit to the Irish capital, Dublin, known as the Land of Guinness, the world’s most iconic beer.

Dublin was the last leg before I went to the conference in Barcelona. My flight from Edinburgh arrived in Dublin just before midnight, but the place was bustling with people like a funfair.

The taxi driver was a Bangladeshi who took me to the hotel. I heard that the weather had been wet and much cooler for the summer. The next day the weather cleared up and I took the bus to the city center, just a few stops from the hotel. The people on the streets were great. The city looked multicultural, as people of all nationalities had moved here to live. I came across a yellow umbrella walking tour on the street. This free tour, available in every European city, was my great discovery. The three-hour tour consisted of about 20 people from Europe and a few Americans. The guide, in his mid-thirties, was a very energetic young man and was happy to let me join in, even though I had not signed up before.

I learned about the famous Trinity College, Ireland’s intellectual jewel; the centuries-old Irish Whiskey Museum on the other side of the college; the famous pub culture (I’d never heard of pub tours anywhere else); and the National Museum of Ireland—Archaeology, with a huge collection dating back to the earliest human habitation of the island (with free admission). Also, there are churches on every street—Liberties of Christ Church and St. Patrick’s Cathedral—the most notable. The city’s biggest draw was the bars and pubs of Temple Bar, the loud and vibrant energy of this neighborhood.

The evenings are colourful. As the afternoon draws in, pedestrianised Grafton Street fills with fantastic street performers. Many of them are professionals who gather large crowds. People happily surround these performers as the usual hustle and bustle continues.

Visiting Ireland’s oldest university, Trinity College, founded in 1592, was like experiencing a slice of ancient tradition. I took a 45-minute student-led tour to get a glimpse into history, and the stories of lust and greed sounded like something out of Agatha Christie. I also had the unique experience of visiting the “Book of Kells,” housed in the old library.

Trinity College’s Old Library is famous for the Book of Kells, an ancient, beautifully decorated Latin manuscript of the life of Christ as described in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The 9th century manuscript is displayed in a carefully controlled environment in the Old Library, and experiencing the book and soaking in the beauty of the long room is a transformative experience. Visitors can only see one book at a time, but the pages are turned every eight weeks.

In this age, when reading is confined to smartphones, the book is visited by over a million visitors a year, and is one of Dublin’s top tourist attractions. The college is showcasing a digital presentation of the book’s history and ethnography spanning 1,200 years. It follows the book on its extraordinary journey from a monastery on the islands of Iona off the west coast of Scotland in about 561, across the Irish Sea to Kells and Dublin around 1653. It arrived at Trinity College in 1661.

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The bookshelves in the long, floor-to-ceiling space are bare, and you wonder why. Starting in 1801, the Old Library was granted the right to claim a copy of every book published in Britain and Ireland, and as a result, by the 1850s the shelves were filled to capacity. With the building facing conservation challenges, pollution and dust taking their toll and a pressing need to improve fire safety and environmental controls, the centuries-old tomes have been moved to a climate-controlled space. But it’s still worth checking out the 14th-century “Brian Boru Harp” — which you might recognize from the Guinness logo — a quintessential Dublin symbol.

The Long Room, traditionally dominated by sculptures of men, has added sculptures of some of Ireland’s most notable, world-famous women, including scientist Rosalind Franklin; folklorist, playwright and theatre founder Augusta Gregory; mathematician Ada Lovelace; and pioneering women’s rights activist Mary Wollstonecraft. It’s refreshing to see the recent addition of these remarkable women being recognized in the Long Room.

After two days, when I left Dublin Airport for Barcelona to catch a morning flight, I was surprised to see the bustling activity. There were people everywhere and the airport was packed. I asked the stewardess why, and she pointed me to the whiskey shelves and a billboard, Guinness.

Annapurna Devi Pandey teaches cultural anthropology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and was a postdoctoral fellow in social anthropology at Cambridge University, UK. Her current research interests include diaspora studies, South Asian religions, and the identity formation of immigrant women in the diaspora in California. In 2017-18, she was awarded a Fulbright fellowship for fieldwork in India. Dr. Pandey is also an accomplished documentary filmmaker. Her award-winning 2018 documentary, “Road to Zuni,” explored the importance of oral traditions among Native Americans.