Ireland – Day 9 – Travels with Carolyne

Dublin – Day 9 of a 9-Day Trip in Ireland

I was nearing the end of my trip! Day 9 was the last full day in Ireland and I spent it in Dublin. It was grey and cloudy out, but humid and still warm.

Day 9
Dublin

As usual, I started with a quick breakfast (a granola bar), then headed to the bus stop in Kilkenny for my 9:45am pre-booked Dublin Coach bus. The trip to Dublin was about 2 hours and 15 minutes. I was dropped off near Aston Quay. From there, it was about a 20 minute walk to the hostel – Garden Lane Backpackers. On my way to the hostel, there was a downpour for 5 minutes and then it went away as quickly as it came. I barely had time to put on my rain jacket, before I had to take it off again! Garden Lane Backpackers was a bit further from the central Dublin area, but I thought the hostel was neater. It also had individual and lockable shower rooms, whereas Abbey Court Hostel had multiple units in one shower room. Anyways, I was early for check-in, so I just dropped my bag off. Less than a 5 minute walk from the hostel is a small Argentinian bakery called Bakeology Treats. I chose the beef and ham + cheese empanadas for lunch, along with a cup of black tea. The empanadas were delicious and the bakery is very cute!

Next, I took the bus to Kilmainham Gaol for the 1:45pm tour. Note make sure to book this tour ahead of time (at least two weeks) as they have limited space and sell out! I booked my tour a week before I left Vancouver and there were less than 5 tickets available. I was early for my tour, so I wandered the park across the street. This is the location of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, which is free for the public, but closed on Mondays (it was a Monday when I visited).

The Gardens at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham

Kilmainham Gaol is a former prison turned museum. Visitors must join a tour to be able to visit. There is so much history at the prison and the tour guide was very knowledgeable. Many of the prisoners were Irish political prisoners/revolutionaries that went on to do amazing things after being released. Some of the prisoners were also executed on these very grounds just over 100 years ago. It is crazy to think how different the world used to be 100 years ago. It was decommissioned as a prison in 1924 and sat vacant for a number of years before undergoing major restoration in the 1960s and becoming a museum.

The tour is about an hour long and then you are dropped off at the museum to wander the 3 floors of exhibitions. Afterwards, I headed to the Guinness Storehouse. I was disappointed though as they were sold out of tours for the day. I had checked the night before and saw some tours available. I honestly thought that they would not sell out. Big mistake! I have heard a lot of good things about the Guinness Storehouse. If you are planning to go, pre-book your tickets!

Instead of the Guinness Storehouse, I went to the EPIC Emigration Museum, which was a great alternative. The EPIC Emigration Museum tells the story of the Irish emigration to other countries. There are 20 different rooms with awesome interactive activities. Each room had its own purpose or story to tell – for example, there was a room specifically on conflicts and another room just on eating and drinking. The museum is the winner of Europe’s Leading Tourist Attraction three years in a row (2019, 2020, and 2021). The admission fee is 21euros/adult and well worth it!

It was about time for dinner and I decided on the Old Mill Restaurant. I ordered my last Guinness of the trip and a smoked salmon salad (which came with shrimp, potato salad, and brown bread). The smoked salmon was good, but I found the dish had too much going on. The salad had dressing, the shrimp had its own sauce, then there was also tartar sauce on the side.

After dinner, I walked to Three Twenty Ice Cream Lab for dessert and got a scoop of the Salted Caramel Brownie. A perfect end to my Ireland travels.

Afterwards, I headed back to the hostel for the evening. I had an early flight back to Vancouver the next day. The Dublin Express bus is a great option for travel to and from the Dublin Airport, but as I had to leave around 5am the next morning, I scheduled an Uber. My driver was very nice and we chatted about his upcoming vacation to Portugal on the way to Dublin Airport.