Sybil Johnson, Pam Johnson and Joyce Cannady of Twin City toured a week in Ireland, a beautiful country full of history, and took The Forest-Blade. It was an experience of a lifetime! Highlights of the trip included the Bunratty Castle, the most authentic castle built in 1425; The Cliffs of Moher, sea cliffs formed nine miles along the North Atlantic coastline over millions of years ago; Malahide Castle, the home of the Talbot family for over eight hundred years and is believed to be the most “haunted” castle; The Guinness Storehouse, a fresh beer brewery, is a national icon signifying the history of the Irish culture and heritage; Trinity College, the oldest university in Ireland, was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I; The Long Room, which extends seventy-one yards, stores over 200,000 books in the old library at Trinity College and represents over four centuries of learning; the George Salmon statue on the Trinity College grounds is a reminder of his infamous quote, “Over my dead body will women enter this college”, in which women did enter after his death in 1904; the Book of Kells, also at Trinity College, is an illuminated manuscript of the four Gospels of the New Testament in Latin; St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland, contains around a thousand, gorgeous stained glass windows and includes monuments, memorials and burials within the walls. It contains a medieval tower that houses the largest ringing peal bells in Ireland; Galway Cathedral, a Roman Catholic Cathedral with Gothic and Renaissance architecture, features marble floors, rose windows, the statue of the Blessed Virgin, and a complex crucifixion mosaic behind the altar; a Queenstown Port (now known as Cobh), was the last stop for passengers to board the Titanic. Three days after leaving the port, the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank, losing over 1,500 lives; Waterford Crystal House, a factory for creating ad designing the world renown crystal, was unique while observing the master craftsmen perform their artistic skills; Grafton St. Shopping in Dublin; Pubs and Cafes/Restaurants to enjoy Irish stew and the Irish fish and chips, a favorite of tourists; the Beautiful Landscape and Scenery of green pastures with sheep and stonewalls or hedgerows for boundaries and the mud thatched cottages on the hillsides and in towns; friendly people everywhere; and buses of tourists who add a boost to the economy.
