MSC Magnifica picture heavy fun review -- 12 days British Isles incl. DIY port trips

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Famine memorial (last post)

Between March and June 1847 it was more than clear that Trevelyan’s plan had failed.

The new Prime Minister Russel gradually closed down all the nonsense public work projects -- all those projects combined “employed” the insane amount of 700000 Irish workers in March 1847!

He started an abrupt change of policy to keep the people alive. Soup kitchens were set up…at first with lousy sickening ingredients and way too few in number --eg Killarney had only one soup kitchen for 10.000 starving people. But slowly things improved somewhat. They started to serve a kind of porridge containing maize and rice. Not enough to live, not enough to die of starvation right away. 3 million Irish were being kept barely alive by this so called stirabout.

The fall of 1947 actually brought in a fungus-free harvest … but since people were such wrecks in the planting time, not much was planted -- besides the fact that most seed potatoes had been eaten up anyway.

Many landlords who had not gotten any rent in months or years, started kicking out their tenants to make room for grazing animals or for growing grains.

They either had the non-rent-paying fathers dragged to court, where they would be judged and thrown in jail (the wife and kids would then simply be kicked out on the street) or they shoved them onto (most of the times unseaworthy) ships on their way to Quebec.

The journey was pure hell and they sure meant what they said, when they called those ships “coffinships”. But the hazards of the trip and the multiple problems at the arrival in the new world are another story and would go too far.

The poorest of the poor just begged their way to one of the large ports, like for example in Dublin, to enter a ferry to the nearer coasts of the British mainland (they would often travel for free as human ballast on empty coal ships).

The famine memorial portrays the actual path along the Liffey, which the famished Irish took on their way to the ships…either to Quebec, the U.S., England, Scotland, Wales …

...one out of five of these drained emigrants died along the way, never even reaching the lands where they desperately seeked a glimpse of fresh hope.

Now finally, with these words in mind here are our pictures of the famine memorial:

Stay tuned!

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

:odo I hear snoring? or just silence, because I finally managed to scare you away? I do admit that history break was rather long, but I just couldn't get myself to shorten it even more.

 

Stef

[spinnaker2]

its the sound of silence...because it's so enormously sad and heart wrenching what humans do to humans...

It's not that you wrote the history of what transpired, it's that we all read it and wept at the enormity of the tragedy.

It's a stunning commentary.

[Shelley61]

I knew of the potato famine, but hadn't ever grasped how tragic it really was, especially with the "landed gentry" effectively causing much of the problem. The way you've recounted the history, followed by the pictures of the memorial is very moving, and a good reminder to us all. Well done.

[oreosmile]

Our two week Caribbean cruise was great, although completely the reverse of what you might have done. Our daughter has a great deal of anxiety when travelling and plans tend to add to it (any delay or deviation is extremely worrying to her). So we did some ship excursions (the guarantee that the ship will wait if something goes wrong soothes her) booked the day before if she was up to it or just puttered around port shopping and seeing what interested us. Lots of swimming and napping and enjoying the solitude of the yacht club. Lots of trying to prevent/shorten meltdowns when anxiety overwhelmed her. She did so much better than on our last cruise, but it was still difficult for her at times.

[tsahall01]

:odo I hear snoring? or just silence, because I finally managed to scare you away? I do admit that history break was rather long, but I just couldn't get myself to shorten it even more.

 

Stef

 

It made me cry....so sad...hard to imagine that that could happen to a country...

[Irish Cath]

Stef,

 

It's been a very long time since I have read something so eloquently and truthfully written. Your pictures then act to say it all over again. Bravo.

My heartfelt thanks and admiration.

 

I hope it's OK for me to add one little extra piece of information. It is estimated that at least one million people died during these years and another million emigrated to the places and in the way that Stef describes above. Many more emigrated afterwards. It is also generally accepted that this was the time when our national language ( gaelic) also started to decline. But imagine that, over 2 million people gone, from a country whose population was circa 8 million. Today our population stands around the 5 million mark.

 

I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to seeing what happens next on your day in dear dirty Dublin.

[CruiseIreland]

Thank you for recounting that dreadful tale in such an interesting and sensitive manner. Some of us natives are, ourselves, sketchy on the details as it's been a while since school! I had to laugh at your reference to the 'Warren Beatty' library! It's the Chester Beatty Library, a museum of Eastern, Asian and Arabic treasures of the late mining magnate. Hope it was good. I want to visit it myself soon. Keep your very personal and entertaining review coming, thanks. Ken

[denisey]

Wow! Thank you Stef for that moving history lesson! I also knew just a little about the potato famine. How tragic! The pictures of the statues are very moving also.

 

It was interesting seeing the picture of the modern homeless against the famine story!

 

And I was remembering you history in Scotland with the locals needing to leave due to the change in the lands, and the statue there.

 

I am sitting at my desk, in my warm clothes, just after lunch feeling humbled.

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Hi guys,

 

thanks for all the beautiful replies!

 

Lol -- Did I really write "Warren"???? OMG! No idea how that happened. Sorry about that:D. Lol .. of course I meant the Chester Beatty Library with the cool FREE museum attached to it:o.

 

A special thanks to the Irish readers...positive reactions coming from the people who`s history I`m writing about are sooo cool. Lol -- and there`ll be so much more of it:D.

 

:(But right now I`m posting from my mom`s house, since my internet connection died on me yesterday. I hope Tanja can fix the problem over the weekend (I sure can`t). Sorry to keep you waiting for new posts, but I`ll use the "free" time to prepare some of the new posts, which I will get out there as soon as the computer works again, okay?

 

Hopefully see you all soon!

 

Stef

[happyiam]

I am one of your silent fans that has read and enjoyed all of your reviews. I love the historical facts that you include in each. I am commenting now because you really did an excellent job writing about this tragedy. I felt like the statues, at the end, were alive and I could feel their pain. I remember studying about the Irish Famine many years ago. What a strong nation to be able to come back after enduring this. Thank you for reminding me and others of one of the natural challenges the world has faced. I look forward to reading more of this and future reviews from you. All the best to you and your family during this holiday season.

[posso]

I am 'hooked'. More please!

[europe14]

Wow Stef! That was powerful reading about the potato famine. I have never really known all of those details before. So very sad. Thanks for writing such a great review. I am loving your review and look forward to it each time you post. I will be so sad when it is over. We went on a British Isles cruise last year which we loved. We were supposed to go to Belfast and the Giant's Causeway, but our ship ended up not going to Belfast which was such a huge disappointment for my husband. I so enjoyed reading about your time there. (Even though it didn't turn out to be your best day). Anyway, just wanted to say that I am absolutely loving your review.

[denisey]

Oh dear!

 

Stef's internet must still be down! I hope it feels better soon!

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

:)I'm back!!!:)

 

 

Whew, you never know how much you actually use the internet, until it's gone!

 

I don't know how stable the connection is ... I guess it was some sort of storm damage:confused: ... but for now it's back and I'm a happy reviewer.

 

 

:pThank you for the additional reassuring posts! I love you guys!:p

 

 

:cool:...but now without further delay .... let's continue!

 

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

O'Connell Street

At the beginning of O’Connell Street you see a huge statue (lol -- guess with who in the middle, but we'll get to him later). I liked this little canine plus angel section at the side the best.

Oops – got busted walking over a red light … with Tarik watching me …. Oops

 

The biggest sights on this broad street are the historic Main Post Office and the Spire.

Here’s my attempt to capture both in one pic:

The Post office …

Besides being a beautiful building in itself, it is a place loaded with Irish history… you can still see multiple bullet holes from the Easter Rising in the columns up front. See?

Well, I guess I will throw in a little sidekick about the Easter Rising now. Lol – I didn’t loose you all in my famine mega post, so I guess I can dare to add this one. Trust me, visiting the Post Office is just so much more rewarding, if you know what happened here.

I really don’t want to add another detailed history post quite yet, so I’ll try to keep this real short.

The Easter Rising

Ever since the potato famine many Irish were a little displeased on how Britain treated them. The wish for independence grew stronger and stronger. One of the attempts to fulfill this wish happened on Easter Monday 1916 … therefore the name Easter rising.

Ever since 1858 a group had formed called the IRB (Irish Republican Brotherhood). They thought that with Britain having entered World War One, this would be the perfect chance to take over the power. Most of Britain’s soldiers would be abroad, fighting on the continent and heck – on Easter Monday, even lots of the remaining officers in Dublin would be at the races on their day off.

The IRB had experienced some major setbacks in the recent past though, so they seriously lacked supporters and adequate weapons. But on Monday the 24th of April, they marched down O’Connell Street none the less… in the firm belief that the locals would jump to the rescue once they saw what was happening.

They actually managed to gain control of the main post office (besides other public buildings) and declare an Irish Republic from in between those grand columns.

Once the British started to grasp what was happening, they started to bring troops in --- many troops.

By Wednesday the rebels were outnumbered 20 to 1.

On Thursday a new military commander was brought to Dublin with the instruction to end this rebellion as fast as possible. Civilian casualties were extremely high, since the soldiers couldn’t differentiate between rebels and harmless bystanders…the rebels wore normal civilian clothes. 1000 civilians and 500 British soldiers got killed during the rebellion – and we’re talking only 4 days of fighting altogether!

 

By Friday the post office was not much more than a ruin and was abandoned, the rebels fleeing to another nearby house. Lots of the city was aflame. Hardly any firefighting action took place … a burning house sure wouldn’t hide any more rebels afterall.

 

On Saturday the rebels surrendered.

 

On Sunday the 16 leaders were walked publicly through Dublin to prison. They were trialed in secrecy and 15 of them sentenced to death. One of the men was so badly injured, that they had to pamper him first, then drag him and tie him to a chair…just to be shot. Their death sentences were made public after they had been killed already. Once the civilians found out about what had happened, they were appalled and finally turned to support the rebel cause.

Two important rebels survived this fiasco -- one of the 16 leaders – Eamonn de Valera (He was a US citizen and was therefore not sentenced to death) and Michael Collins, a young rebel, not in a leading position at the time yet. Both men should play big parts in the future history of Ireland and we’ll get to them later on in the review.

Damn, for a short summary this (once again) turned out pretty big. But now back to O’Connell street in August 2014.

What I actually loved most on O’Connell Street was a little Spar supermarket in front of our bus stop. They had a little patio up front with metal chairs and tables, where you could sit and eat or drink whatever you bought in the store. I had never seen that for a simple supermarket. What a great idea! And here’s one of my all time Irish favorites:

This milk blew me away. I actually took the little text wrap with me to compare it to German milk… The same! But still --- you can pretty much taste the Irish grass and good spirit of the Irish cows. It was THE best milk I have ever tasted in my entire life … and I’m a huge milkfan … even had a real-life Jersey cow once – just for the fresh milk --- seriously! I ADORE this milk! I might have to return to Ireland, just to have another sip of this milk!

Stay tuned!

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Riding Bus 40

Oops, had to finish up that milk fast… there’s our bus approaching the bus stop.

Let’s get going on our way to Glasnevin cemetery.

An Adult single fare was € 2,35 and a child’s single ticket for that tour was €1,10. Some fun impressions of our bus ride:

Lol – I loved this Guinness commercial

Oh My God! I would never ever set foot on this balcony construction!

The Spire seen from up north

The post office with the Irish flag --- and you can see the broad base of the Spire… that thing is huge.

Riding through the northern parts of Dublin was not always pretty, but nonetheless interesting. We crossed the Royal Canal, drove by endless rows of red-brick houses, seemingly squished together, with doors so tiny, they looked like they were made for hobbits.

Lot’s of men out on the sidewalks walking their dogs … usually in sweatpants and a with a cigarette in their mouths. Weird…didn’t see any woman with a dog. Is this some sort of male ritual in Ireland??? And we’re not talking tough looking dogs, like Rottweilers or Staffordshire Terriers… we saw pugs as well as the oddest cute little muds ever. Is Dublin the city of small dogs?

Lol – this fine specimen even amused us with a tattoo and golden chains around his arm and neck.. Lol I graciously decided not to show his head, so he won’t get in trouble with his wife… Irish do wear their wedding rings on the left ring finger, don’t they?

Stay tuned!

Stef

[spinnaker2]

Or maybe just lots of sick animals to care for...

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Glasnevin cemetery (post one of…many…don’t know just HOW many yet)

The original 9 acres at Glasnevin's founding date in 1832 have increased to an impressive 124 acres today … and it’s still growing! There are currently around 500.000 people living in Dublin…there are millions of people buried in Glasnevin… So the cemetery somewhat has more inhabitants than the entire city!

When you get spit out of the bus, you cross Finglas road to get the main entrance to the cemetery. Here you see at once the prominent Irish Roundtower, which covers the tomb of Daniel O’Connell.

Also right at the entrance to the right is the the museum and gift shop. After closing our wide open mouths again (because this first glimpse of this vast impressive cemetery will do that to you), we decided to head to the museum first to buy our tour tickets. You can take various tours of the cemetery… we decided on the historical tour at 11:30. It would take about 2 hours and would cover the biggest sights of the cemetery. I will tell you in detail about this tour, since it was one of the best tours I have been on anywhere … ever! I strongly suggest to tour this cemetery. Besides having to return to Ireland to drink some more milk I have to return to take all the remaining offered tours of Glasnevin now. But beware … the tour is intense… your head will spin and afterwards you’ll feel enlightened but completely drained. You basically get a full size recount of Irish history between 1830 and 1975. But it is told in such an addictive story-telling way, that we were absolutely hanging on to every word from our fantastic guide Bridget.

The tour meets in the museum. At first Bridget asked from where we all were. Most of the attendants were from Dublin, the other half from County Cork. And then there was the measly international rest. A couple from Italy, a couple from France …and us… that’s it. Cool! I guess we stumbled into something designed more for the Irish than everybody else. I LOVE local stuff.

This tour isn’t really suitable for kids or non-history-crazy people. Tarik didn’t understand Bridget and I was busy listening and translating for a while until I noticed, that it was way too much info for him and he had drifted off anyway. We let him wander off (always within eyesight). I also saw some local adults, spacing off in disinterest. Our group had also long lost the attention of the Italian and the French couple. But for the remaining core of the tour --- we were glued to Bridgets lips. Tanja later on said that this tour was her highlight of the entire vacation (well, besides the adrenalin to hit us later that day).

I’d like to share the pictures of some beautiful Celtic crosses, other impressive monuments and visual delights and last but not least share some of the many fascinating stories we heard that day (not all of them – lol – since you’re supposed to go see it yourselves).

Let’s start with some pictures to get you in the mood.

doesn't it seem he's looking right at you?

these tree-covered passageways will always have something typically Irish for me now. Did ya know that according to legend once upon a time a squirrel was able to travel all the way from Belfast to Dublin without once having to touch the ground? That's how many trees they once had.

Stay tuned!

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Or maybe just lots of sick animals to care for...

 

lol ... did you miss the beginning of page 33?

 

no worries, no more sick animals than usual. Well -- I heard on the news yesterday that Avian Influenza has struck lower Saxony and more than 100000 turkeys had to be killed immediately. I'm so glad I don't treat big poultry farms here. I feel sorry for the poor colleague up north who had to order the killing ... and of course the poor turkeys as well. They were meant to be slaughtered soon for christmas ... I guess I'm also feeling bad for the poor farm owners, who lost a lot of money this way.

 

Our own chicken are looking fine (thank God).

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Visitor center

Before we start with the actual cemetery tour, let’s take a quick look at the gift shop and the museum.

The building is divided into three stories. Ground level is harbouring the gift shop and the ticket office for the museum. The gifts are mostly classy, but pricey. We didn’t buy anything, but we liked the selection of stuff offered.

Once you buy your tour tickets, you automatically get the admission to the museum and the basement as well. Now I can’t tell you anything about the basement (which really bugs me -- because I think it houses some cool presentation about the tombs on the cemetery), but we just didn’t have the time to take a peek (another reason to have to return). The museum is upstairs and is light and airy. They have different specials showing … when we were there it was a documentation on the fallen soldiers in WW1. This presentation will be shown until June 2015 …in case you’re interested.

The permanent highlights of the museum are two different gadgets though. The first is the wonderful glas front looking out over the cemetery and the glass pictorial signs underneath the views, so you’d be able to get a feeling for what you were looking at:

Lol – for spaces like these, it sure was helpful to have some sort of orientation.

The second was an interactive board (sorry -- no picture), where you could fiddle around with all kinds of stuff that might interest you on the cemetery. Famous people lying here, their funeral pictures, old newspaper articles, background information, whatever your heart desires. Too bad we didn’t even find this gem until Bridget pointed it out and showed us how to work with it. It’s located in the further back section of the museum. Pass the line of genealogy computers and you’ll get to the interactive board. Oh, in case you’re looking for long forgotten relatives – the tour admission also includes a free search on those computers. We actually don’t think we have any Irish ancestors and didn’t try it out of lack of time … but I think it could have been good fun.

Last but not least – the restrooms. The restrooms are located a little off the main entrance. When you enter through the main cemetery gate, leave the gift store building on the right side and walk in between the building and the grey mmmhhh columns? … you’ll know what I mean when you’re there. The entrance to the restrooms will be on your right side approximately at the site of the grave of Michael Collins, so about half way past the length of the building. They were clean and free of charge.

And I absolutely loved these very cool stone sinks.

Stay tuned!

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Michael Collins

One of the famous historical graves on Glasnevin is the grave of Michael Collins.

Remember, in the Easter Rising he was the young lad who held out in the main post office together with the 16 leaders of the IRB. After the rebellion failed, he was sentenced and sent to a work camp in Wales. During his internment with many more Irish rebels there, his good organizational and leadership skills quickly made him leader of the pack and he got his nickname “the big fellow”.

He also used the time to brood about what went wrong in the Easter Rising. His point of view was that in the future, one would only be successful in a sort of guerilla warfare. Striking fast and secretly would leave fewer chances of being critically wounded.

In December 1916 after finishing his time in Wales he returned to Dublin and soon took a leading role in Irish politics – officially only taking care of finances.

Let’s just say the years until 1921 were filled with guerilla attacks by the newly formed IRA (Irish Republican Army), believed to be found and led by Collins and revenging actions by the British soldiers. It was a dangerous time to be in Ireland.

Collins was the one to be sent to London to sign a treaty in October 1921, which would basically give Ireland Dominion status. He did sign – but the treaty contained several clauses, that would prove difficult to explain to the Irish people. Being obligated to still swear loyalty to the King and give the loyalist northern counties the right to refuse to enter this status and remain in the United Kingdom were the most nagging parts.

Collins was still young and inexperienced with political negotiations, but he thought this treaty would be a first, yet not the last stepping stone to being an independent nation. It is believed that he was sent by De Valera (the President of the Irish party Sinn Fein), because De Valera knew how displeased the Irish would be with the terms of the treaty and therefore also with the man who actually signed it – plus he didn’t believe it would be ratified by the authorities in Dublin anyway…but it was … by the narrow count of seven votes.

One of the members of parliament in London said to Collins that he probably just signed the death sentence of his political career. Collins replied: “I tell you I have signed my death warrant”. And he proved to be right. In December 1922 he was ambushed, while driving through county Cork to meet De Valera to clear some differences between them. He never got to that meeting. He was shot in the head and died at age 32.

His grave is one of the highlights to see on this cemetery and you will always see fresh flowers on it.

We also listened to the story of a mysterious anonymous lady, who comes once a year … every year to spend time at his grave. Nobody knows who she is.

One more historical/political person … I promise to give you a break then.

Eamon De Valera

I want to talk about him here, since his story is so deeply entwined with the story I just told you about Michael Collins.

Once again, we start at the main post office during the Easter Rising. Remember we had 16 leaders of the rebellion and 15 got executed afterwards?

Well, De Valera was the one leader who survived. He was a US citizen and “only” got sentenced to life in prison. He was born in New York in 1882, but spent almost his entire life in Ireland. His mother was Irish and his father Spanish.

Anyway, he was sent to Lincoln prison in 1916 after the rebellion. In 1919 he managed to escape (the IRB is supposed to have helped quite a bit) and fled to America, where he spent a year raising money for the Sinn Fein party and ultimately for an independent Ireland.

He returned to Ireland and became president of the Sinn Fein party. However, he was outraged at the treaty, which Michael Collins had signed in 1921. De Valera believed it to betray those who had died fighting for true independence.

Years followed of Irish in favor of the treaty fighting against Irish opposed to the treaty. The civil war lasted until 1923 and by the time it turned 1926 De Valera was ready to agree, that the Dail (the Irish parliament of the treaty) was to be accepted in the best interest of the Irish people. He, the former president of the Sinn Fein party founded a new party called Fianna Fail to act as opposition to Sinn Fein.

When his new party was elected to power in 1932, De Valera became Prime minister of Ireland. He kept on trying to extend Ireland’s independence from Britain as much as he could. In 1937 a new constitution was proclaimed and the independent state of Eire was born. De Valera kept Eire out of the turmoil of WWII, remaining neutral.

He was in politics until he turned 90 years old! He died two years later in 1975 and was buried next to his son.

His son’s tragic story:

He, a young lad of 20 years was riding through Phoenix Park when his horse shied. As it wildly galloped off, our rider got knocked out of the saddle by a low branch of a tree. The knock to his head killed him on the spot and he was found lying underneath that tree dead. His father was heartbroken.

He wanted his son to be buried on Glasnevin in sight of the O’Connell tower, since he believed in what he stood for (mainly same rights for ALL Irish) but he wanted his grave to be well apart from any trees…since it was a tree that caused the death of his son.

This is the spot of his son’s grave

a rather unspectacular section of the cemetery with common people buried all around him, but the only shade to be thrown on the grave is by the O’Connell tower… no tree.

Now when De Valera got older and older, people started to ask him, where and how he would like to be buried one day… he pretty much was THE most important Irish politician ever… he would pretty much have the right for another giant monument like the O’Connell tower.

But he wanted to have a simple gravestone right next to his son’s grave. He said what’s good enough for my son will be good enough for me as well…

so here lies Ireland’s most influential lifelong politician. It’s the simple square tombstone to the left of the cross. The cross marks his son’s grave. Oh, that’s our guide Bridget by the way, telling us this exact story at the moment. We all had goosebumbs.

 

Stay tuned!

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

:D:o Lol – silence. I tend to do that to you I guess.

Well, because you all have been such faithful and enduring readers I would like to treat you with a post, which shall lack any kind of history, description or as a matter of fact any text whatsoever. You deserve a little break from the written word.

Coming up is a collection of pictures we took of some of our favorite Celtic crosses on Glasnevin cemetery. Relax, unwind and enjoy the pictures.

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Homala]

Stef, I want you to know that I am enjoying your posts very much. I mostly look at the HAL board because I have only sailed on HAL. However, I found your review weeks ago and I am glued. Yours is the first I check whenever I sign on. Thank you so much for taking so much time to tell us all about your trip. Love your history lessons too! And your writing is excellent!