Thanksgiving in Dublin

For Thanksgiving my roommates and I had the chance to go visit Dublin and stay with my roommate Dan's friend at the University College Dublin (UCD) campus. Needless to say we immediately felt at ease back in an English speaking country, and on our first day we started our day with a tour at the Jameson Irish Whiskey factory.


After a tour through the Jameson factory, which included a brief history of the Triple-Distilled Jameson Irish Whiskey and an introduction to the brewing process, we got a chance to be certified Irish Whiskey taste testers. They put three different shots in front of us: one was Jack Daniel's, one was Johnnie Walker Black Label, and one was, of course, Jameson Irish Whiskey. After each shot that explained the smell, taste, etc differences between the whiskey types, and I have to say that I think Jameson was slightly better than Jack Daniel's.


Later that night, we got a chance to try shepherd's pie, the famous Irish dish of beef or lamb, vegetables, and lots ands lots of potatoes, at a restaurant called O'Neills. The funny story from the night was as we were eating shepherd's pie and enjoying some Irish cider (Bulmer's) a visibly drunk Irishman stumbled up to our table asking, "Where are you lads from?" After explaining that we were Americans studying abroad in Rome and visiting friends here in Dublin, he interrupted saying "You think you guys can drink. Well I have news for you! You may think you can get drunk, but you will never be able to get Irish drunk!" And just as quickly as he came, he stumbled away.


The next day we spent touring Dublin we stopped at the famous St. Stephen's Green and got a chance to relax and enjoy the amazing scenery.

We also got a chance to climb a tree in St. Stephen's Green, and Dan, who could not climb the tree (embarrassing!), got to take the picture.

After St. Stephen's Green, we went over to the Guinness Storehouse to learn all about the history and magic involved with the famous Dublin-based beer. It turns out Arthur Guinness was a pretty savvy businessman, and the tour turned out to be pretty amazing as walked up the 7 floors in a building which was designed as a large Guinness glass.


The next day we went over to St. Patrick's Cathedral. The Cathedral is the largest church in Ireland, and is an amazing Cathedral designed in the Gothic style.


After St. Patrick's Cathedral, we went on a night visit to the Dublin Castle.


Overall, it was an amazing weekend and it was great to spend time with the Notre Dame students studying in Dublin. The city has a great culture and it was nice getting in touch with my quarter-Irish heritage.