Day One: Dublin

Our next stop was a short walk down to Saint Patrick's Cathedral, founded in 1191 as a Roman Catholic cathedral, it is now the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland. The windows contain stories told within the stained glass. "Saint Patrick's Window" tells the story of the life of Saint Patrick in 39 different episodes. Hanging above the arches of the North Transept are the regimental colours (flags) that commemorate the Irish men and women who died in the service of the British Army in the 19th and eary 20th centuries. "Soldiers do not die, they simply fade away." Regimental Colours are left to decay slowly over time and eventually will fall from the flag poles at which point they are placed in a mounted display case on the walls.

Around the corner from Saint Patrick's Cathedral is Marsh's Library, the first public library in Ireland. It opened in 1707 and contains over 25,000 books from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.Read more