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| St. Stephen's Green |
Garvan is the "Dublin Tour
Guide" and you can find him at www.dublintourguide.ie/.
ST. STEPHEN'S GREEN PARK - This large park of grass, trees and flowers sits in
downtown Dublin, and reminded us of the "Boston Common" in Boston,
Massachusetts, or Central Park in New York City (although not that large). The
current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard, and it opened
to the public on July 27, 1880. The park is rectangular in size and is bordered
by 4 main streets. It's 22 acres (89,000 m2) and it is the
largest of the parks in Dublin's main Georgian garden squares.
Although open to the public today, St. Stephen's Green was once a private gated garden owned by the wealthy upper class that built their grand Georgian style townhouses around the outer perimeter of the park; only these homeowners had keys to the gates of the park. This "arrangement" is very common in the U.K. and still exists today throughout the wealthier neighborhoods of London.
Although open to the public today, St. Stephen's Green was once a private gated garden owned by the wealthy upper class that built their grand Georgian style townhouses around the outer perimeter of the park; only these homeowners had keys to the gates of the park. This "arrangement" is very common in the U.K. and still exists today throughout the wealthier neighborhoods of London.
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WHO WAS WOLFE TONE? - Theobald Wolfe Tone, known as Wolfe Tone after his death
was a leading Irish revolutionary figure. He was a founding member of the
United Irishmen and is regarded as the father of Irish republicanism. He was
involved in several uprisings against the British that all ended badly. The
1798 Uprising was a military catastrophe.
He was
also involved in a French raid at Donegal, Ireland in 1798 but was captured and
court-marshalled. Before he was to be executed, it is
believed that Wolfe Tone attempted suicide. He subsequently died from mortal
wounds eight days afterwards, thus avoiding being hanged as a convicted traitor
to the British Crown for his involvement in the 1798 Irish Rebellion. Garvan told us that he is looked upon as a hero to the
people of Ireland
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| Wolfe Tone statue |
WOLFE TONE'S STATUE
AND "SHINY SACK" -
At one end of St. Stephen's Green stands a statue of Wolfe Tone in the middle
of a cobblestone courtyard. We were told that behind the
statue stones are stacked to resemble a "Stonehenge."
LOCAL FUN -
Here's where the "Shiny sack" part comes in. We were also told that
locals like to give people and statues a "pat" for luck. Garvan asked
us to look closely at Wolfe Tone's dull metallic statue and notice where the
most "shiny" part of it was located. He said that's where people walk
by and give it a "pat."
The shiniest place? Wolfe
Tone's groin!
Of course there were pats all
around. :)
NEXT: TRINITY COLLEGE AND A GHOSTLY LEGEND
