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I have fifteen minutes of internet left so here goes! Some fun facts about Ireland:
1. The first thing you notice in Dublin is that all the doorways are painted brightly in different colours. This is because it makes it easier to work out which house is yours when you are drunk!
2. The statue of justice at Dublin castle has no blindfold, holds her sword ready to swing, has her back facing the Irish people and when birds land on the scales they tip out of balance. So basically it's not really very just. The Irish see this as a metaphor for English rule, but then again they see pretty much everything as a metaphor for English rule. They really don't like the English.
3. The Book of Kells, a 1200 year old manuscript on display at Trinity College, was written and illustrated by 12-year-old monks and it is a kick arse book. The designs are so intricate no modern pen can reproduce them.
4. The passage tomb at Newgrange is older than the Egyptian pyramids (5000 years old) and was built before the invention of the wheel, which is very impressive because the stones are massive huge and came from a long way away.
5. Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin is 800 years old and apart from being a church over the years was also used as a money house, a distillery, a pub and a brothel.
6. The library at Trinity College which houses the Book of Kells was used as Hogwarts Library in the Harry Potter movies. They would not let me take any photos.
7. Leprechauns used to be red, St Patrick used to be blue and there used to be a rule that you cannot drink on St Patrick's Day. All these were changed by Americans.
8. At Trinity College, if you ride into an exam on a horse bearing a cutlass you must be served a pint and a meal during your exam. If you are an undergraduate and you climb the bell tower in the centre of the college and spread your arms like an eagle it is said you will pass with a high distinction but whilst you are climbing the tower the bursar is allowed to shoot you with his crossbow. All these rules are written in the College's constitution.
- comments
Hana Awesome! Thank you for these tit-bits! Missing you guys lots!
Trish No. 8 is awesome!!! Why couldn't that happen at uni or during the HSC?!!! I'd totally would have loved to do that No. 5 - bummer about the Church, there's actually a story in the Bible where Jesus found people making a market place out of the Church and He overthrew the tables and chased everyone out. And now it's happened again - people never learn ...