Another Dublin post! This one about Guinness storehouse and also St. Michan’s Church, known for its crypts.
The blue waterfall near the beginning of the tour of the storehouse:
This first section (the first few floors) talked mainly about how one makes Guinness. There was also a section with a huge container of hops for you to grab, touch, and put back. If you so desire.
One tip: before going here check out the Carroll’s gift stores that dot the city, especially the large one on O’Connell street. A lot of stores sell Guinness items, although obviously the store in the storehouse has the largest selection.
Finished barrels at the storehouse. There is a whole section on how the old barrels were made by coopers back in the day.
Large sculpture at the storehouse, complete with a large film screen showing how it was made. It is a 12 foot wooden carving of a Guinness pint. The second half of the tour focuses on advertising through the years (including “Guinness makes you strong!”)
The last stop on the Guinness storehouse tour is the Gravity Bar on the 7th floor which gives you 360 degree views of the city. The above photo is only one piece of it, of course. I couldn’t tell you off hand which part of the city this overlooks as the bar was quite busy in the afternoon. Note that the finishing bit of the tour is turning in your ticket to receive a free pint of Guinness (or soft drink) to sip while you take in the views of the city.
Another place that Marco and I visited during the trip was St. Michan’s Church – primarily because you could go below to see the crypts. It is a reasonably priced tour (€6/adult).
Above: back of the church.
Above: stained glass windows at the church.
Above: Plaque on the wall. There were at least a dozen of these. It gives the place a bit of history!
It was definitely more off the beaten path that I expected – Marco and I did the first half of the tour with the guide alone. The first half of the tour is a few small burial vaults, including one with the “Crusader” who has been dead about 650 years. If you are lucky they will let you touch him for good luck. The story with the first crypt is that you are not allowed to open them, but some of the caskets were stacked haphazardly on top of each other and over the years fell open, allowing access to the mummies. The foundation of the church is limestone, which keeps the crypts at an optimal temperature and helps to preserve the bodies.
The second crypt contains more rooms, with one including the death mask of Theobald Wolfe Tone. Most of the rooms were unlit – you can peek inside but you won’t see much – because they are still actively in use and someone in the family could be buried there. The room with the death mask is lit and another room in the far back is also lit. The latter room is lit because no one else will be buried in the room (the last to die there was a “black sheep” and the family has since been buried elsewhere).
Note that no photographs are allowed in the crypts. There are some photographs on the church’s “about the crypts” page (linked above) and at the gallery at Wikipedia. Expect a small tour – a handful of people at the same time. Check the hours before you go. If the guide is busy with another group, you will be able to wait inside the church and take pictures there (which is what you see above in my photographs).
Life in the Hague 