|
Whether or not the massive twin rotundas, added in 1890, housing the entrances of the National Library on the left and the National Museum on the right, do anything to complement the Georgian elegance of Leinster House is debatable. The National Library (Mon 10am-9pm, Tues & Wed 2-9pm, Thurs & Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 10am-1pm; free) is, however, worth visiting for its associations alone: it seems that every major Irish writer from Joyce onwards used it at some time, and the Reading Room is also the scene of Stephen Dedalus' great literary debate in Ulysses . The Library has a good collection of first editions and works of Irish writers, including Swift, Goldsmith, Yeats, Shaw, Joyce and Beckett. It's also often used for temporary exhibitions on Irish books and authors. The National Museum (Tues-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 2-5pm; free) is the place to go to see the treasures of ancient Ireland, as well as a small collection of artefacts - mainly silver, glass and ceramics - from Dublin's eighteenth-century heyday. It is national policy to gather treasures found all around the country in this one museum, so the place is a real treasure trove of wonderful objects. The really venerable exhibits, dating from the Irish Bronze and Iron ages , bear eloquent testimony to the ancient high culture of Ireland: there's jewellery ranging from the eighth to the first centuries BC, mainly the twisted gold bars known as torcs, cloak-fasteners and collars, and the beaten gold lunulae that are characteristic of the period. The medieval antiquities are more spectacular still and include the Tara Brooch and the Ardagh Chalice, found in County Limerick in 1868, both of which date from the eighth century. The twelfth-century Cross of Cong, an ornate reliquary of wood, bronze and silver, is said to contain a fragment of the True Cross; and there's also an eleventh-century shrine, made of gold wire, that houses a bell said to have belonged to St Patrick. But perhaps the most impressive piece of Irish metalwork is the Tara Brooch, and it's thought that the patterns of manuscript illuminations such as the Book of Kells , which you can see in Trinity College Library, may be derived from this rich craft tradition. Remarkably, the Tara Brooch is decorated both on the front and the back, where the intricate filigree work could be seen only by the wearer - the brooch is displayed above a mirror so that you can see both sides. One of the more recent finds is the Derrynaflan Hoard , a legacy of the metal-detecting fad which gripped Ireland in the 1980s. This collection of eighth- and ninth-century silver objects, including a chalice and a paten, was discovered in February 1980 in County Tipperary by amateur treasure hunters using a metal detector. Right at the top of Kildare Street, at the point where it intersects with Nassau Street, the fussy, Venetian-inspired red-brick building on the corner used to house one of the major institutions of Anglo-Irish Dublin, the Kildare Street Club - the carved billiard-playing monkeys on the pillars hint toward the past use of the building as a gentlemen's playground. The place now houses the Genealogical Office , where you can trace the history of Irish names (call 661 4877 for details), the Heraldry Museum and the Alliance Francaise. The Heraldry Museum gives a general account of the development of its subject in Ireland and Europe (Mon-Fri 10am-12.30pm & 2-4.30pm).
Your Tip for National Library and National Museum
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to National Library and National Museum - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to National Library and National Museum - visit the main National Library and National Museum forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the National Library and National Museum webguide section below! Thanks.
|
