Today I went to Tara. Or rather, Fionna drove and James took the final batch of intrepid pictures in the driving rain. Today three of us went to Tara, then. This first picture is not Tara. It’s the church at Slane. I would hate you to miss it.

Slane is all about St Patrick according to everyone I’ve talked to. The lady at the tourist information at Tara was worried that I didn’t understand how hard it is to know when mythology is history and history is mythology and she heaved a sigh of relief when I understood that there’s a certain paucity of evidence for a fire on the hill. She gave me the gift (as a thank-you) of explaining which hilltop could see which hilltop: the High King at Tara might have been able to see the fire, but he would probably not have seen the hill itself. This means that we were invisible from Tara when we took these photos. (I took most of them… but James took the really interesting ones from Tara.)

The abbey St. Patrick is said to have founded is on the hill of Slane. That church was on a hill (there were many hills today, most of which were natural but one of which was diagnosed by Fionna as farmer-created). The hill at Slane was not your average hill: it’s where St. Patrick may or may not have lit a tremendous bonfire that changed Irish history. This is why it was so important that a fire could be seen on it from Tara or from Newgrange. A political statement that no-one can see is not that effective.

Where there are hills, there are also valleys. The valley in the next picture is not that close to Slane, and it’s important in different ways. Highish Medievalish ways, for the most part, rather than Earlyish Medievalish.

I fell in love with the area around the abbey at Fore. There was a very solid bit of medieval wall, the remnants of an abbey, an old church safely protected from the hillside by a cemetery … and more. The valley was tucked into granite hills and at the centre of it all was an ash tree growing out of an ancient well and decorated by so many people. I was expecting Tara to be the highlight of my day, but this valley gently nudged it aside.

On the way to Tara from there, we had lunch in a pub. Of course we did. The picture is not of where we had lunch, it’s the pub down the road that didn’t serve food, but it called itself an Irish pub and I’ve always wondered what an Irish pub would look like in Ireland.

My eyes were boggled by the castle at Trim. Why were my eyes boggled? Such an intimidating castle, even half-fallen down. Oisin McGann wrote about this, so you’re spared an hour of medievalish thought. Fionna and James were not so lucky.

It was a bit wet, and a bit cold (even for me – and I left winter on Wednesday) which meant I could only see the edge of Tara. The moral of the story is quite possibly that disabilities do what the description says. James took photos of the bits I couldn’t see, for your benefit (thank him nicely, please, for it was pouring ice-rain) and for mine. My photographs include critical objects like… jam.

What did I see? I saw the modern settlement spilling down the hill: graves and houses and a church turned into a tourist centre and a rather nice gift shop. From there was the road and the town and the everyday. The top of the hill is the Tara we dream of. The underground bits we cannot see, the half-visible avenue leading to the carved earth, the pillars and the hollows and the memories of the high kings.

Even with the rain pelting down, that hillside was worth visiting.

Gillian is an Australian science fiction author and fan with doctorates in medieval history and creative writing. She lives in the centre of the known universe (Canberra), and was GUFF delegate in 2014.  Her new novel, Year of the Fruit Cake, is available from all the best book stores and webshops. If you spot her at the convention, be sure to pick a surprise from her lucky dip bag.

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These squares were not just pretty parks, they were the entertainment multiplexes of their day, laid out with pleasure pavilions where theatrical and musical performances took place, and the wealthy could eat and socialise. Having an address facing or adjoining one of the squares conferred significant social standing, and such sites could be sold or leased at a significant premium over less desirable sites.

Today we take you on a whistle stop tour of Dublin’s Georgian Squares, most of which are easily visited from the Worldcon venues.

St. Stephen’s Green

Our first stop is not actually a Georgian Square, but actually much older. It takes its name from the House of St Stephen, a Leper house founded in 1192, and was originally an area of common land for animal grazing. By 1610, it was already enclosed by streets, and in 1664 it was taken over by Dublin Corporation and enclosed by walls. Land surrounding the green could be leased from Dublin Corporation for one penny per square foot.

However, many of the early developments were rebuilt during the Georgian period, and many of the buildings from the period still standing today, with very fine examples on all four sides, and an unbroken terrace of fine Georgian houses still running the entire length of the East side.

Among the fine buildings on the square is the Royal College of Surgeons, established by royal charter in 1784, it did not have its own premises until it acquired its site on Stephen’s Green.

The original walls of the park were replaced by railings in 1814, and it opened to the public in 1880.

During the Easter Rising of 1916, rebels led by Constance Markievicz took up position in Stephen’s Green and a pitched battle was fought for most of the rising. However, a temporary armistice was agreed to allowed the groundskeeper to feed the ducks. A bust of Markievicz can now be found in the park.

Parnell Square

The oldest of Dublin’s actual Georgian squares, Parnell Square was originally named “Rutland Square” and was conceived by two men, Dr Bartholemew Mosse and Luke Gardiner. Dr Mosse leased four acres to build a “lying-in” hospital for less wealthy residents of the city. To fund his hospital, he developed the square and sold plots around it.

At its height the square had its own orchestra, and the former entertainment pavilions were developed into the Gate Theatre and the Ambassador Cinema (no longer a cinema).

One of the finest houses built on the square was built for Lord Charlemont by renowned architect William Chambers, which is now home to the Hugh Lane Gallery. Next door to this is the Dublin Writers’ Museum, which is well worth a visit.

The hospital became the Rotunda Maternity and gradually expanded to take over much of the area of the square. A strip along the northern edge became the Garden of Remembrance. Originally this was dedicated to Irish Men and Women killed in the 1916 rising, it has since been rededicated to remember Irish citizens who died in all wars.

There are current plans for Parnell Square to be the centrepiece of Dublin’s new cultural quarter, with a new central library next to the Hugh Lane Gallery. Unfortunately these plans have run into funding difficulties, but hopefully at least the new library will get the go-ahead.

Merrion Square

Perhaps the finest and best preserved of Dublin’s squares is Merrion Square, originally laid out in 1762 when James FitzGerald, the Earl of Kildare (who later became the Duke of Leinster) selected to build his house, now Leinster House, on the south side of the city. Prior to this, the north side was the fashionable area, but many landowners followed him and by 1800, the streets around Merrion Square were amongst the most fashionable to live in.

Leinster House was was sold in 1815 to the Royal Dublin Society. In 1922 it was leased by the newly formed Irish Free State government, and eventually bought outright, and is still home to the Irish Parliament. Adjacent to it are the National History museum and the National Gallery (and around the other side, on Kildare Street, the National Museum and National Library).

The park was only open to residents who had a key until the 1960s, but has since been taken over by Dublin Corporation and turned into a public park. It is now home to a number of monuments, including a statue of Oscar Wilde (who previously lived across the road in number 1). Other famous residents include W.B. Yeats and Daniel O’Connell.

The south side of the square formally housed the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies, where Erwin Schrödinger was employed from 1940 to 1958. Schrödinger, an outspoken critic of the Nazis, was fired from the university of Graz for “political unreliability”, and received an invitation to come to Dublin to head up De Valera’s new institute, which he accepted. He became a naturalised Irish citizen, though he retained his Austrian citizenship.

Mountjoy Square

While Merrion Square was attracting wealthy nobles south of the Liffey, the north side wasn’t going to give up without a fight, and in 1787 Luke Gardiner laid out a new square, a short distance from Rutland (Gardiner) Square. Originally called Gardiner Square, it was renamed Mountjoy Square when Gardiner became the 1st Viscount Mountjoy in 1795.

It is the only one of Dublin’s Georgian squares that is actually a square, with each side 140m in length. The houses are a uniform design, with the latest modern design features of the late 18th century, such as coal holes built into the pavement to allow coal to be poured into underground bunkers, minimising mess.

During the 19th century, many of the wealthier residents left, and many of the buildings were subdivided into tenements occupied by many families of lower social standing. Often these were poorly maintained, and the condition of the buildings deteriorated. A number of buildings were demolished around the square in the mid 20th century, particularly on the southern side where only three original houses remained. At one point it looked like large parts of Georgian Dublin might be set for demolition. Thankfully, thanks to the intervention of wealthy benefactors, the frontages of the demolished houses have since been restored, and the square restored to its former glory, even if the interior of many of the restored houses is not the original design.

Notable residents included playwright Sean O’Casey, who lived at number 35. All three of his Dublin trilogy plays were set in tenement houses, clearly inspired by the square.

Fitzwilliam Square

A short distance to the south of Merrion Square lies Fitzwilliam Square named after Irish Viscount Richard FitzWilliam. It was laid out in 1791 and received strong early interest. However, due to wars with France and concern about the impending act of union, only four houses were built by 1797, and it would take another 30 years to complete.

Despite this, the houses surrounding Fitzwilliam square are remarkably consistent architecturally. While smaller than the other squares, it is fully enclosed by fine terraced houses, and features some of Dublin’s finest Georgian architecture.

Perhaps the most photographed of Dublin’s famous Georgian doors can be found at number 46. Curiously, the door itself is not from the Georgian period, but is actually Edwardian, having been replaced nearly 100 years after the death of George IV.

The park itself is not open to the public (for a time there was a lunchtime food market on Fridays, but this isn’t currently running).

Artist Jack B. Yeats lived in number 18 from 1929 till his death in 1957. The Jameson family, famous for their whiskey, also had a house on the square.

Mount Pleasant Square

After the Act of Union in 1801, Ireland no longer had its own parliament or House of Lords, and many nobles no longer felt the need to maintain a house here. Many of those who still came to Dublin opted to sell their large properties and keep a smaller house that was easier to maintain. The suburbs of Ranelagh and Rathmines sprang up and became popular with the downsized wealthy class.

Mount Pleasant Square (which is not even remotely square in shape), was established by Terence Dolan, a glove maker from Chester, in 1807, and development carried on until the 1830s. Houses on the square are mostly two and three story houses over basements, built in the style of miniature versions of the Georgian terraces of the city centre.

The central gardens were originally built for the residents to enjoy, but proved two costly to maintain for the more middle class residents, and it was eventually sold. It now houses the Mount Pleasant Lawn Tennis Club. A small strip of of park remains on the eastern edge. This was threatened with development into a garage in the 1990s, but thanks to public outcry, the development was prevented and it is now a public park.

Planning your Worldcon trip? Check out this handy map showing every place Touring Tuesdays has visited.

James Shields is coordinator for the Touring Tuesdays blog, and is also working on the Children’s Programme team as well as producing the Hugo Awards finalists announcement video for Dublin 2019. Outside of conventions, James is a massive LEGO fan and a former LEGO ambassador for Ireland and a founding member of Brick.ie, the Irish Association for Adult Fans of LEGO.

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There are some remarkably pleasant walks, both urban and rural, within easy reach of Dublin City Centre and accessible by public transport. I recently had some unexpected free time in Dublin and did each of these walks as a day trip from the city centre for just a few pounds on the bus or train, making it an easy and relatively cheap way to see some of what the local area has to offer.

To find these walks I used the very handy “All Trails” app (a really great guide if you enjoy walking, with trails all over the world) and used some of their suggestions as starting points. I have included links to the page about each walk at the bottom of each description, though I didn’t always stick to the suggested routes. The maps for each trail generally show other footpaths in the area too, so you can easily pick a route that suits you. The “All Trails” app also has some great information about points of interest along the way. I think I’m a little bit in love, and will definitely be using it again in the future!

Phoenix Park

Inside the city, just a couple of kilometres west of the centre along the Liffey river, lies Phoenix park. At a whopping 1,750 acres in size it is one of the largest recreational spaces that can be found inside any European city. To get to it you can either walk along the river, or hop on the Luas tram to Heuston, less than 20 minutes west from the CCD.

Inside the park there are any number of paths (as well as a few roads – watch out for vehicles!) many of which are tarmacked making them suitable for walkers of all abilities and accessible for those using wheels too. As well as simply soaking up the lovely atmosphere of the park you can: visit the Victorian People’s Flower Garden, admire the Wellington Testimonial (which, at over 60m in height, is the tallest obelisk in Europe), visit a prehistoric burial chamber, check out a powder magazine fort from the 1700s, visit Ashdown Castle (actually a medieval tower house, right next to the Phoenix Park Visitors Centre which is also worth popping into), see the Phoenix Monument and the Papal Cross (erected to mark the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1979), and stop off at the very lovely Tea Rooms for lunch. On top of all that, Phoenix Park is also the home of Dublin Zoo, so you can combine a visit there with a walk in the park.

With so many interesting sites only a short trip from the city centre, it’s not surprising that Phoenix Park is a popular destination and can get quite busy when the weather is good. However, Phoenix Park is big enough that you can always find a quiet spot away from the crowds if that’s what you’re looking for. You could easily spend days exploring all that Phoenix Park has to offer, without ever leaving Dublin, but even if you only have a few hours to spare it’s very quick and easy to get to and well worth a visit.

Ruggedness: Not at all – extremely civilised.
Distance: Totally up to you!
Food & Drink: Available in the park at the Tea Rooms near the entrance, or at the café at the visitor’s centre.
More Info: Phoenix Park Website” http://phoenixpark.ie, All Trails Phoenix Park Trail: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/ireland/county-dublin/phoenix-park-trail

Dun Laoghaire Harbour

The Port of Dun Laoghaire (pronounced “Done Leery”) is about half an hour south of the centre of Dublin on the DART train which can be picked up at Connolly Street Station, which itself is just a half mile walk, or 3 stops on the Luas tram, from the CCD (though if you are further south in the city the DART also stops at Tara Street, Pearse, and various other stations on its way through Dublin). The harbour is enclosed by two piers, either of which make a nice walk from where you can admire the sailing boats moored inside the walls, or the views along the coast outside them.

The East pier is more popular for walking and is very close to the Dun Laoghaire DART station, which is easy to find with mostly level concrete underfoot, making it fairly accessible (though if stairs are an issue, do check that the lifts are working at the relevant DART stations – several were out of order the day I went). It is also important to note that the area can get pretty busy during the holidays, especially when the weather is good. If you want a longer walk, or to avoid the worst of the crowds, you can hop off one stop early at Salthill & Monkstown and walk out along the slightly longer West pier before continuing around the harbour to the East pier. From there you can walk the second pier or continue down the coast, past Sandycove (where you’ll find many locals swimming in the sea if the sun is out – join them if you’re feeling brave!), out to the viewpoint at Forty Foot, and potentially on past Dalkey to Killiney Hill Park before getting the DART home again from whichever station you find yourself closest to. I only made it as far as to Forty Foot myself before seeking shelter in a nearby café when the rain came in, but I understand that the views further south are fabulous so I’m very much hoping to go back and find those.

Ruggedness: Pretty civilised if you stay around the towns, potentially a bit more of a moderate hike if you make it as far as Killiney Hill Park.
Distance: About 1.6 miles if you just go out along the East Pier and back, but you can easily extend the walk down the coast all the way to Bray and still get the DART home again if you don’t fancy walking back.
Food & Drink: Easily available in various cafes in Dun Laoghaire, Sandycover, and other small towns as you head South.
More Info: All Trails Dun Laoghaire East Pier: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/ireland/county-dublin/east-pier-dun-laoghaire, All Trails Dun Laoghaire, Dalkey & Killiney: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/ireland/county-dublin/dun-laoghaire-dalkey-and-killiney-loop-walk

Hellfire Club & Massey Woods

Set in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains to the south of the city, the ruins of Montpelier Lodge (which later became home to the notorious Hellfire Club, the name by which it is now better known) can be found atop Montpelier Hill. This is a little harder to reach by public transport than the other walks I did, but manageable by taking the number 15 bus from the city to the end of the line at Hunters Wood, then walking ~1.5 miles along country roads to the car park where the walk really starts. It’s all uphill on the way from the bus stop, but thankfully that means it’s all downhill on the way home! Although you do need to watch out for fast-moving cars on the windy country lanes, which are not paved. Alternatively, if you have use of a car there is a very convenient car park right at the bottom of the hill.

From the car park you can choose whether to take the longer, windier but less-steep path up the hill, which is well maintained, wide and gravelled, or to scramble more directly up one of the various goat-trail-like footpaths to the top. At the top you can explore the ruined building, said to be haunted by the ghost of an enormous black cat, or just admire the stunning views back towards the city.

The weather was somewhat blustery the day I went, and other than a few families making their way to the top at lunch time, I pretty much had the hill to myself. Having made my way more or less straight up to have a well-earned picnic lunch at the top, I then explored a few of the other footpaths which criss-cross the hill, enjoying the views all around on my way down again.

Just across the road from the car park you can find the entrance to Massey Woods, which were once part of the grounds of the estate and which are a very lovely (and much flatter!) addition to the walk, and very much worth including if you’ve made it all the way out there. The paths of Massey Woods are also a lot more sheltered, so a great option when the wind picks up!

The main path leads through the woodland and around on a circular trail which takes you gently down to, across and along the very pretty river, past the ruins of some old out-buildings, and through the ruins of the old formal walled gardens, before making its way back up to the entrance. Though much of this path is wide and well maintained with gravel underfoot, it does become considerably narrower and harder to navigate as it passes through the ruins.

As an added bonus, a small detour off the main path leads to a Bronze Age wedge tomb. The path isn’t well marked or maintained, and there are no signs to tell you what you’re looking at, but I think I found the remains of the tomb and stopped there to eat my packed lunch under the tree which stood over it, which was quite delightful. In the couple of hours I spent exploring the woodland I saw two or three dog walkers and a couple of people out riding, but the woodland was very quiet and extremely peaceful, a great get-away from the city!

Ruggedness: Not too bad if you stick to the main paths, but reasonable footwear advised, and can get very rugged and if you stray off path!
Length: Monpelier Hill Loop ~3 miles, Massey Woods Loop ~2.3 miles, plus an extra 3 miles (1.5 miles each way) if you also walk to/from the bus stop.
Food & Drink: There is a café a short distance along the road at the Timbertrove Country Store, but I didn’t try it.
More Info: All Trails Hellfire Club & Massey Woods: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/ireland/dublin-city/hell-fire-club-and-massey-woods-loop

Howth Cliff Loop

At the opposite end of the DART train line to Dun Laoghaire, about half an hour North of the city centre, lies Howth (pronounced ‘Hoath’), a charming little seaside spot where you will find a very quaint railway station, lots of lovely pubs and cafés, a pier that makes for a nice short walk, and the beginning of the Howth Cliff Loop.

In fact there are several loop walk options that begin in Howth, all very clearly signposted. There is a handy map just as you come out of the station that gives details of each option so you can decide what you fancy tackling, but if you plan to leave the area around the harbour and head along the cliffs at all, be advised that it gets pretty steep and pretty rugged very quickly.

The effort is well worth it, though, as the views from the cliff path are quite stunning. At times the cliff walks take you up for wonderful views, while at others, they take you all the way down to the water’s edge where some people were brave enough to take a dip (not me – the Irish Sea is cold!), so there is quite a bit of up-and-down involved.

I followed the longer, purple-signed “Bog of the Frogs” loop, which a chap at the station had informed me was closed, but I’m not one to let that sort of thing stop me! Sure enough, the usual purple-signed route back around the side of Shielmartin Hill was shut for maintenance, but there was a clearly signposted diversion in place going up and over the summit, which was closer to the All Trails suggested route which is slightly different to the signposted route in several places. At 163 meters high it was quite a climb, but the views at the top can not be beaten, and made it more than worth the effort. The diversion signs suggested that the works on the route around the hill will be complete on August 16th, just in time for WorldCon, but if you’re planning on doing the “Bog of the Frogs” loop and don’t want to include the climb to the summit I would double check that the main path is open again before departing!

On the way back down towards the station was the first time I lost track of the otherwise very clearly signposted path, and ended up wandering too far towards town rather than staying out towards the countryside. Though, signs towards the station were plentiful so it would be a gross exaggeration to say that I was lost. It was at this point that I also realised that the signposted purple route differs quite significantly here from the All Trails route, and that the latter was the one that went past Howth Castle, which I had seen in the distance from the summit and was keen to get a closer look at. Thankfully it wasn’t too hard to find a footpath that cut back towards the castle without adding too much distance (or climbing anymore hills!), so I included that as a little diversion and was pleased that I did. Part of the castle is a private residence so you can’t go in, but it’s lovely from the outside and several people were picnicking on the grass opposite. There is also a transport museum here which I didn’t go into, but which might be of interest.

Overall Howth was absolutely gorgeous, and if I had to pick one place out of town to visit while I was in Dublin this would be it. Though, I would say wait for good weather and go on a fine day if you plan on hiking, rather than just enjoying the town, as most of the route is pretty exposed to the elements. However, Howth was extremely busy, particularly close to the station – not surprising as it’s a very popular destination that’s easy to reach. Most of the tourists either turned back after a short distance along the cliff path, or took one of the shorter loop walk options, so it quietened down somewhat after those paths diverged. I still passed, or was passed by, other walkers fairly often, but spent at least some of the time walking alone and enjoying the peace and quiet. The “Frog of the Bogs” loop also passes through a golf course at one point, and crosses a fairway where you need to pay close attention to flying golf balls as they whizz across the path!

Ruggedness: Very Rugged! Lots of up and down on narrow rocky paths along the cliffs if you leave the area around the station – wear decent walking boots and bring a wind & water-proof jacket in case the weather changes on you as the path is pretty exposed.
Length: Between 3.5 & 7.5 miles for the cliff path, depending on the loop you pick, or just enjoy the town & pier near the station.
Food & Drink: Plenty of options in Howth itself, but nothing once you get out of town, so if you’re doing the longer loop walk take snacks & drinks!
More Info: All Trails Howth Loop Trail: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/ireland/dublin/howth-loop-trail

Dr Emma J King has a PhD in cosmology and has delivered science shows for the Royal Institution, before hanging up her lab coat to tour the world and save turtles. Next year she’s returning to university to turn her hand to Space Engineering. She’s been an irregular at conventions since the Glasgow WorldCon in 1995, and can occasionally be found at cons blowing things up, for science.

The post Touring Tuesdays: Nice Walks Near Dublin appeared first on Dublin 2019.

Hiking is one of the best ways to experience a new country.

This time I wanted to see more of Ireland than just Dublin. I did it the easy and comfortable way, by booking a self-guided hiking tour from one hiking tour company. There are several of these around Europe and these kinds of holidays are getting more and more popular. You choose a tour, they book the accommodation, provide maps and walking descriptions, book transfers and also transfer the luggage for you. The only thing you need to worry about is the day pack.

So I booked a five day trip to Connemara.

One of the hikes was a visit to Inishbofin Island. To get to Inishbofin Island. I took the ferry from the little town of Cleggan. It was easy to buy the tickets for the ferry online. Inishbofin Island is a well-known tourist destination, so I was not the only tourist on the ferry.

I had my walking description with me which I followed, but there are three walking loops that start from the harbour. They are marked with different colours and you just choose one to follow.

I started from the ferry pier and headed east on the tarmac lane. I followed the Cloonamore walking loop, so it was easy to find the way. Just follow the red marks. The lane passed a graveyard and when I reached Duamch beach I took a left towards Cloonamore.

The trail continued and after climbing over a green metal stile I was on a moorlike part of the island. The path was still easy to follow. After a loop on the Cloonamore (Cluana Mór) I was back on the road again. I followed the road and then left the red marks to follow the Inishbofin Middlequater Loop with blue marks instead.

Just before the ferry pier I could stop and have a cup of tea at a hotel before I took the ferry back again.

It was a beautiful walk about 11 km long. It was an easy walk but I was a little muddy on the moor.

Carolina Gómez Lagerlöf is a Swedish fan who lives in Stockholm. She likes to attend Science fiction conventions all over the world and tries to combine the conventions with hiking or biking tours. She is currently the chair of the European Science Fiction Society and also the chair of TitanCon, Eurocon 2019.

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Ireland was once cris-crossed with railway lines connecting many isolated communities around the country. At it’s height, there were over 3000 miles (5000km) of railway tracks.

Sadly. railways proved expensive to run and as better roads developed, many railway lines proved unviable and were closed. This was not helped by the partition of the island, especially when border crossings required customs checks, and all but one of the lines across the border have closed, and we’re left with just over 1000 miles (1600km) of track on the island of Ireland.

The trains, of course, are also modern and efficient and generally run on time. They are a great way to see many parts of the country, including the fantastic service between Dublin and Belfast that shares its name with a famous spacecraft.

But sometimes it is nice to get a glimpse of the past, and one great way to do that is to take a trip on one of the special trains run by the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI). They run historic steam locomotives to destinations around Ireland, and if you ever get a chance to take one, they are a fantastic experience.

Arriving in Connolly Station, we first saw the “Belmond Grand Hibernian“, a luxury rail tour service that started in the last few years with some refurbished Irish Rail coaches. It departed to the north, a few minutes before we headed south. We’d love to feature it in a future installment of Touring Tuesdays, but it may be a little out of our price range.

Our train was on the next platform over, or at least our coaches were. They were also refurbished Irish Rail stock, built by the Craven company in 1963, and are the oldest coaches considered safe for the mainlines. They are now painted in blue and cream, the colours of the old Great Northern (Ireland) railway, and really look the part, even if they are 30 years younger than the locomotive pulling them.

Our locomotive, no. 85, “Merlin”, soon arrived. If you are interested in such details, it was a 4-4-0, with two external pistons and a third between the rails, built by Beyer Peacock & Co., Manchester in 1932, and was the last full size compound locomotive in the British Isles when it ended its working life in 1963. Known as the V class, there were 5 locomotives, all named after birds of prey. Today it is painted in its original Great Northern sky blue, and bore a special “Sea Breeze” plaque.

There was a great feeling of occasion as we boarded the train, with many people having dressed in period attire. The train stewards were all volunteers, which gave it a little bit of a convention feeling. Everyone was very friendly, and we had some great conversations with fellow passengers and RPSI volunteers.

We set off southbound, fairly slowly through the Dublin stations as we had to fit in to the local DART schedule. It was fun to watch people waving at our train, though Fionna commented that it was a bit like following a celebrity around.

Facilities on the train include a shop selling tea and coffee, sandwiches, various baked goods and hamburgers. Sadly the cup of tea we got wasn’t great, and they only had UHT milk. They also had a very nice bar, serving draught and bottled beers, wine and spirits.

The trip to Wexford includes some amazing views. If you don’t have time to go all the way to Wexford, get the DART to Bray, and you can enjoy some of them such as Killiney beach. But if you can afford a day for a trip to Wexford or even a longer trip around the South East, you’ll be treated to spectacular views along the Avoca river.

We stopped a couple of times to take on water, once in Avoca Station, which is closed but still has a water tower they could use, and once in Gorey, where we had an opportunity to get out and take photos.

Reaching Wexford, we had a couple of hours to spare while the train took locals on a short excursion to Rosslare and back. We found a nice Italian café close to the station and had lunch, and then took a whistlestop tour of the town.

Not far from the station, the ruin of Selskar Abbey, dating from the 1100s is worth visiting. Next to it, a section of the old town wall still stands, including the very fine Westgate, one of seven gates that controlled access to the medieval town, which you can still walk under.

We then passed Wexford Arts Centre, the hub of some of the Wexworlds conventions a few years back. Next we thought we’d check out Wexford Cathedral, but it turned out to be 20km up the road in Enniscorthy

Next we came to the famous National Opera House. We didn’t have time to go to the opera, but the views of Wexford Harbour from the top floor are pretty impressive.

From here, we wandered back down to Main Street, where we found a couple of really nice bookstores, one of which had a toy store upstairs. Of course, we ended up picking up some new books.

Next, we wandered down to the harbour. The train line to Rosslare runs along the quay, with no fences or barriers, so it’s a great place to see the train pass. We found out from other people waiting to see it that it was running late. I hung around for the train to pass, though I didn’t want to risk getting left behind, so I waited fairly close to the station.

The trip back was as enjoyable as the way down, though perhaps the novelty had worn off a little. We tested some drinks from the bar, and found them to be of fine quality, though further testing may be required to make sure.

If you’d like to take a steam train trip in Ireland, there are a few opportunities to do so around Worldcon. First of all, on 4th August, there are trips along the same line we were on, from Dublin to Enniscorthy, Enniscorthy to Roslare, and back to Dublin. There’s also a trip from Belfast to a mystery destination on Friday 23rd August, as well as a trip from Dublin to Bagnalstown on Saturday 24th August. You can find details of these and all RPSI events on their website.

If the RPSI specials don’t fit with your schedule, you can still take a regular scheduled train to the same destinations. You can find the routes and train times on the Irish Rail website.

The RPSI also run a very fine museum at Whitehead, near Belfast, and you can take short steam train rides there every Saturday.

Planning your Worldcon trip? Check out this handy map showing every place Touring Tuesdays has visited.

James Shields is coordinator for the Touring Tuesdays blog, and is also working on the Children’s Programme team as well as producing the Hugo Awards finalists announcement video for Dublin 2019. Outside of conventions, James is a massive LEGO fan and a former LEGO ambassador for Ireland and a founding member of Brick.ie, the Irish Association for Adult Fans of LEGO.

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Not far from the south-eastern corner of Ireland lies the town of Kilkenny, often referred to as “Ireland’s sixth city”. Though not officially recognised as a city, it has its own cathedral and was briefly the capital of the “Catholic Confederacy of Ireland” from 1642 to 1649, so it will be no surprise to learn the area is steeped in history.

10km outside the town is Dunmore Cave. One of Ireland’s largest natural cave systems, it contains over 300 metres of caves and descends nearly 50m at its deepest point.

The caves are entered from a visitor centre. There are guided tours available, and admission is just €3 for adults. Unfortunately, it’s not easily accessible by public transport. However, if you are hiring a car and driving around the south-east, it is well worth stopping off to visit the caves.

The name Dunmore comes from Dún Mór, meaning “great fort”, but the cave has an older name, Dearc Fearna, which means “cave of the aldars”. It is mentioned in the Triads of Ireland as one of the three darkest places in Ireland. Dearc Fearna is also listed in the Annals of the Four Masters, a 17th Century text, as the site of a great viking massacre in the year 928, where over 1000 people who were hiding in the caves were smoked out and slaughtered. Skeletal remains from approximately this date have been found in the caves, as have gold, silver and other treasures from the age.

One of the most famous features in the cave is known as the “market cross”, a huge cross shaped formation almost 6m tall. There are also various side caves and passages to explore, some of which have had staircases added to make them reachable. All the parts that can be reached are fairly easy to get to, but you do need to be prepared for quite a lot of stairs!

There are many legends around the caves. Perhaps the most famous is of the Banghaisgidheach, ferocious mythical giant cats that made their homes in Dunmore and other caves around Kilkenny. Perhaps they are still hiding in Dunmore cave, but fortunately we didn’t see any.

More recently, the caves were used for illegal gambling in the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as a handy hideout for smugglers and people wanting to stay out of sight of the authorities.

Dunmore caves might not be somewhere to make a special trip to, but if touring the south-east, they are well worth stopping off for an hour or two.

James Shields is coordinator for the Touring Tuesdays blog, and is also working on the Children’s Programme team as well as producing the Hugo Awards finalists announcement video for Dublin 2019. Outside of conventions, James is a massive LEGO fan and a former LEGO ambassador for Ireland and a founding member of Brick.ie, the Irish Association for Adult Fans of LEGO.

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Like any old town, Limerick has multiple, manifold, fractured and intersecting personalities. One of the (many) reasons why I’m fond of the film The Howling II is that the subtitle, ‘Your Sister is a Werewolf,’ is something that could conceivably be shouted at you from the open window of a passing Honda Civic on the Dock Road.

Limerick doesn’t do things by halves. In 1577, following the First Desmond Rebellion, a rebel leader named Murrough O’Brien was beheaded at Limerick, and according to the English poet Edmund Spenser, who claimed to have witnessed the execution, O’Brien’s foster-mother picked up his head from the ground and swallowed the blood from the stump, declaring that “the earth was not worthy to drink it.”

Centuries later, in response to the attempted imposition of martial law by the British Army, the Limerick Trades and Labour Council called a general strike and declared the establishment of the short-lived Limerick Soviet: the Soviet printed its own money and newspapers, organised its own food supplies and enforced its own laws for two weeks in April 1919. Less than a decade later, the Ardnacrusha power station, scarcely twenty minutes’ drive outside the city limits, was up and running and supplying 80% of the country’s electricity; it was, at the time of its construction, the largest hydroelectric dam in the world.

If the dam looks familiar, by the way, it’s not without reason: the headquarters of the German engineering firm contracted to build it, Siemens-Schuckert, just happened to be close by the film studios where Fritz Lang was preparing to film his 1927 classic, Metropolis. It has been suggested that the Shannon Scheme’s architects wandered over to the film set every so often, and that elements of Lang’s set design found their way into the Ardnacrusha project long before the legendary director had begun principal photography.

More recently, one of the factories left vacant by the recession was re-purposed into a film production venue – Troy Studios, where Nightflyers was recently filmed. Maybe sometime in the near future, Limerick will be able to repay the favour to Germany and leave a sci-fi landmark on their landscape.

The legacy of economic mismanagement can be seen in the scattered clusters of abandoned cranes and building sites, and Limerick is often associated with crime in the mass media – beginning with the shameful early-1900’s campaign of harassment against the local Jewish community, and stretching on to the early 2000’s with an ongoing feud between two criminal gangs. Put it this way: Limerick-born author Kevin Barry obviously didn’t have Galway in mind when he wrote his ultra-violent, not-quite-post-apocalyptic crime epic, City of Bohane. The truth, however, is that Limerick is a very relaxed kind of town, as vibrant and bohemian as it is plain-spoken, and it is no more dangerous than any other small city if you take your usual precautions.

Chances are, if you’re visiting from abroad for WorldCon, that you’ll either be too late or too early to check out the Saint Patrick’s Day Festival in March, our annual metal-fest ‘the Siege of Limerick’ in April, the Limerick Sings International Choral Festival (June 6-9), or the renowned Limerick Jazz Festival (September 26-29).If you’re thinking of arriving in the early summer and sticking around, though, there are lots of upcoming events that may take your fancy. For example, there’s PolskaÉire (May 5-June 19), a nationwide festival celebrating Ireland’s Polish community and the friendship between Poland and Ireland; in Limerick, you’ll find showcases of storytelling, traditional Polish crafts and literature, as well as a Parkrun (5km against the clock) and a football tournament. Limerick also stages events as part of Pride Month: the full programme is yet to be announced at the time of writing, but the Pride Parade will take place on Saturday, July 13. At the start of August, the city comes alive with all kinds of creativity for the Elemental Arts Festival (August 2-5), which is definitely worth experiencing.

Otherwise, Limerick is a great town to just lounge around in. It’s bursting out all over with pubs and nightclubs, catering to all kinds of scenes. You can’t visit Limerick without stopping at Dolan’s, which combines a traditional Irish pub atmosphere with a gorgeous live music venue out the back (the Warehouse). It’s a local landmark, and your visit isn’t complete without it.

There are tours of King John’s Castle (the same King John from the Robin Hood legends) for the mediaeval history buff, as well as the eclectic collections at the Limerick Museum, the Hunt Museum, and the City Gallery of Art. If you fancy taking in a show after your sightseeing, there’s nearly always something running at the Belltable Arts Hub or the University Concert Hall, and every Saturday morning, the Milk Market fills up with stalls selling all kinds of treasures.

Ever wanted to walk around a fantasy city in real life – ancient, brash, rough around the edges, weird and artistic and full of character? If you fly into Shannon Airport, you’ll be passing right by such a place on your way to Dublin; drop in and give it a gawk.

Planning your trip to Ireland? You can find all the places Touring Tuesdays has visted on this handy map.

Jack Fennell is a writer and editor from Limerick. He is the author of Irish Science Fiction (Liverpool Unive

rsity Press, 2014), and the anthologist behind A Brilliant Void: A Selection of Classic Irish Science Fiction (Tramp Press, 2018).

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The west coast is usually the first place I suggest, but if you don’t have time for that, there are some amazing day trips you can take from Dublin to places like Glendalough. The problem is—and I get this—if you’re in town for Worldcon, and your time is very limited, even a day trip can seem like a significant commitment. That’s why walking the Howth cliff path is such a great way to get a taste of the Irish coastline and countryside even if you only have a half day to spare—and you can get there in under half an hour by hopping on a DART train in the city centre.

This is an easy walk that shouldn’t take more than about three hours if you are reasonably fit and may take far less (but I am a big believer in taking your time and soaking up the atmosphere). There are generally quite a few other people walking it, and women travelers, you can feel absolutely safe doing this solo, as I did. I was going to add here that I also am not super-observant and have a terrible sense of direction, so I can reasonably reassure you that you are unlikely to get lost. However, when doing a bit of research online to write this, I was surprised that several people mentioned that they found the trail to be poorly marked and that they ended up on the wrong path at some point—so I’ll amend that to say that even if you take the wrong path, you’ll just end up going a different way and not in need of rescue by some wilderness team. (In fact, in looking at the trail maps online and reading other people’s descriptions, I suspect that I lost track of the proper trail near the end, so I am living proof that you can have a lovely walk even if you do it wrong.)

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, go to Dublin Connolly, the main train station on the north side, and get a DART train to Howth. This is a commuter train and there will be lots running all day, every day, except perhaps for Sunday when they are more infrequent. You can buy a ticket at the ticket machines in the station. Go all the way to Howth—there is also a station called Howth Junction, but that’s not the one you want; you want the one that’s just called Howth.

From the station, walk through the town and up the hill to get to the trailhead. Green arrows should mark your way, or you can ask a friendly local.

Once you’re on your way, you get views that look like all those tourist brochures and websites of Ireland you’ve looked at.

These are the 15^th century ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey, although there have been churches on this site since the 11^th century. The island just beyond is called Ireland’s Eye.

If you have the time, you can hire a boat that will take you out to Ireland’s Eye. The island is tiny, and it’s been decades since I’ve been out there, but on a nice day it can be a really pleasant little expedition.

When you get back into town, instead of hopping back on the next DART right away, stop in at the Bloody Stream, which is a really cosy pub attached to the train station. Have a drink or even some food—you’ve earned it, and I can recommend the seafood platter for one.

Do your research, read about the trail online and assess your own capabilities. I did this walk in an old battered pair of low-end hiking boots with ankle support. Always take some rain gear in Ireland, even if the weather’s nice; carry water; bring snacks, if, like me, you think a snack or a picnic during a day hike is one of life’s great pleasures.

Summer days in Ireland are really long, so you could conceivably head out to Howth as late as mid-afternoon and easily complete this hike (and probably make it back to Dublin) while it is still daylight. The coastal scenery of Ireland is truly enchanting, and I urge you to schedule at least a little time out of the city to enjoy it.

Lynda E. Rucker is an American writer who has lived in Ireland several times, most recently from 2012 to 2015. She has sold dozens of short stories to various magazines and anthologies. A Shirley Jackson Award winner, she has had a short play produced as part of an anthology of horror plays on London’s West End, has collaborated on a short horror comic, and is a regular columnist for the UK horror magazine Black Static. Two collections of her short fiction have been published, The Moon Will Look Strange and You’ll Know When You Get There, and she edited the anthology Uncertainties III for Dublin-based Swan River Press. She currently lives in Berlin.

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We live in an age of computers, of radar, satellite communications and other technologies it is hard to imagine life without. Caroline however has none of these things and offers an glimpse into not just the technologies of another age, but the social values of that time.

Caroline was the first in a series of twenty eight ships built to broadly the same design and known as the C Class Light Armoured Cruisers. At one hundred and twenty eight metres long and over four thousand tons displacement, they were mid sized vessels by the standards of the day. Each was large enough to operate independently, or join the main fleet. Ordered in 1913, all would serve during World War One, acting as the eyes and ears of the Royal Navy as it searched for the German High Seas Fleet. On the 31st of May 1916, when the Germans came out, Caroline was part of the 4th Light Cruiser Squadron and would witness the clash between two the largest fleets of dreadnoughts ever assembled.

Post war, Caroline was disarmed, had some of her boilers removed and moored in Belfast to act as a drill ship, to help train successive generations of sailors. It was in this capacity she soldiered on, through a second global conflict, long after the last of her sisters went to the breakers yard. Although never again seagoing, Caroline did make a break for the oceans in the storm of 2005, when she ripped several bollards out of the concrete! Only in 2011, close to a century after her creation, did the navy finally decide they no longer had a place for Caroline.

There were fears that she might follow her sisters to oblivion or leave Belfast forever to join the historical ship collection in Portsmouth, England. Fortunately Caroline would be saved, and remain in the city she’d called home for decades. Now berthed a few hundred metres up the road from the dockyard where the world famous Titanic was built and partly restored to her original appearance, Caroline was opened in 2016 as a museum ship.

So as we look at her now, what do we see? From the outside an old ship certainly, with archaic technology but what about inside her steel skin? Inside we get both a glimpse into a world a hundred years gone and what she would have represented.

In service, Caroline wasn’t just a ship or even a military unit. She was home, to over three hundred men – the idea of women sailors being simply incomprehensible at the time. This was a world of firmly defined social strata. For the enlisted men, hammocks and mess tables not far removed from those of Admiral Nelson’s fleet of a hundred years previous. Although the food at least had improved.

For the senior enlisted, a half wall to separate their mess from the lowest ranks – a jealously guarded privilege!

While for the officers, some more homey touches of table cloths, fine china –

and bunks instead of hammocks.

Beyond what we can see with our eyes, there is what she would have represented – the manifest demonstration of the march of technological progress. Less than a hundred years prior, ships powered by only the wind and human muscle would do well to move faster than a man could run, while armed with black powder guns capable of pitching a crude cannonball only a few hundred metres. A product of the post industrial revolution world, Caroline was capable of the reliable miracles of the modern world, faster than a champion race horse and capable of throwing projectiles many kilometres.

As far beyond her own predecessors, as we are beyond her. In an age where we speak of how fast the world moves, Caroline represents a reminder that progress is not a modern invention.

HMS Caroline is located two hours drive from Dublin in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast city and a few hundred metres away the Titanic Museum, which also includes the tender SS Nomadic. They offer the opportunity for a day trip that will have something for everyone and who’s like will not be found anywhere else.

Edmond Barrett is a writer, civil servant and if you can believe it, massive military history nerd. His first series, The Nameless War concluded in 2014, he has also dabbled with stories in time travel and urban fantasy. His current work in progress is about first contact and he hopes to publish in 2019.

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Set in the 1990s towards the end of the Troubles, the Channel 4 (UK) show follows a group of teenaged girls – and the wee English fella who ends up at their nun-run girls-only school – as they navigate life, family, friendships and romance in a city not quite like any other. It’s available on Netflix US and on All4 in the UK, and the second series is coming very soon. Derry Girls has been embraced enthusiastically by the city, and its stars have already been immortalised in a mural!

One of Derry’s main attractions is the 17th century wall around the centre of the city, described in an earlier Touring Tuesday by James Shields. The walk around the walls is only about a mile long though steep in parts (I recommend going anti-clockwise for the less steep way round), and it’s a great way to learn about Derry’s history from its frequent information boards, and get some excellent views over the city, the Foyle river which runs through it, and out towards the Donegal hills. And also over many of the other murals in Derry, which illustrate Derry’s past, its future hopes, and many significant historical figures – not all of them from the local area.

Derry is a city with a violent history, particularly in the late 1600s during the Siege of Derry and again in the late 1900s with the Troubles that racked Northern Ireland. There are small museums dedicated to both – the Siege Museum within the walls and the Museum of Free Derry in the Bogside to the west of the city centre. The Tower Museum is a more general museum of artefacts from the area, including from the La Trindad Valencera, a 16^th century Spanish Armada ship wrecked off the nearby coast, and there’s also a free exhibition about Derry and Ulster plantations in the Guildhall. The Guildhall’s well worth a quick visit in its own right especially if you’re interested in stained glass! Many of its windows were donated by the Guilds of London, hence the hall’s name.

Although Derry is easy enough to navigate by yourself, and there are lots of online resources for learning more about the city and the area, there are plenty of walking tours which will take you around the walls and into other interesting areas, including the award-winning Martin McCrossan City Tours.

Derry has a good selection of restaurants and bars, from classic Irish pubs with wooden floors and booths and regular trad music, to more modern bistros serving good food and an impressive array of craft beers, whiskeys and gins! There are several local distilleries (including Muff Liquor from just over the border) and breweries – for both beer and food, I recommend the Walled City Brewery, a short stroll across the Peace Bridge in the former Ebrington barracks, and the Guildhall Taphouse whose beers are named ‘Dopey Dick’ after the killer whale which famously got a bit lost up Lough Foyle in the 1970s.

Derry is a small enough city that you could easily spend just a few days getting a good feel for what it has to offer visitors. But it also makes an excellent base for travelling further afield in the surrounding counties – you can reach the Giant’s Causeway, the Fermanagh lakes, the Sperrin mountains, Belfast, or the beautiful scenery of Donegal all in an hour or two’s drive.

For more information about Derry and the local area, see Visit Derry.

Catherine Sharp has lived happily in the Derry area for nearly 20 years although she’s originally from Wales. She’s an avid reader, viewer and (unpublished) writer of fantasy and sci-fi, and is a member of the Octocon committee as well as on programming staff for Dublin 2019. Find her on Twitter @CSharpWords.

[CSharp]

Planning your Worldcon trip? You’ll find this, and every location Touring Tuesdays has visited on this handy map…

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