BSA Troop 73, Westfield

Information and Interest Survey for a 2009 Dublin, Ireland Trek

Target dates: Week of 14 Feb to 21 Feb 2009 (President’s week)

Location: Proposed stay at the Ireland Scouts National Campsite at Larch Hill, located right outside of Dublin. Dormitory styled lodge sleeps 25. Full amenities. We plan to make day trips into Dublin and nearby regions by rental car.

Cost : Estimating US$ 1,300 per scout (including group airfare into Dublin and car rental). This estimate may be adjusted depending on final itenerary. Will require $600 non-refundable deposit at sign up sometime mid-October 2008 to indicate commitment. Balance due just before trek.

Target Interest: About 20 Scouts and adult leaders

Survey Responses due by September 30, 2008

Name of Scout/Adult Leader: ______

Position or Rank: ______Age at time of trip: ______

Level of interest: ______Strong ______Maybe ______No interest

Are you aware that there will a $600 non-refundable deposit at sign up sometime in October 2008 to indicate commitment: ______Yes ______No

Do you currently hold a passport? ______Yes ______No, but will be able to get one in time

Today’s Date : ______

Dublin is both the largest city and the capital of Ireland. It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region. Founded as a Viking settlement, the city has been Ireland's primary city for most of the island's history since medieval times. Today, it is an economic, administrative and cultural centre for the island of Ireland and has one of the fastest growing populations of any European capital city. Dublin is one of the constituent cities in the Dublin-Belfast corridor region which has a population of just under 3 million.

Dublin was, for a short time, the second city of the British Empire after London and the fifth largest European city. Much of Dublin's most notable architecture dates from this time and is considered a golden era for the city. The 1800s were a period of decline relative to the industrial growth of Belfast; by 1900 the population of Belfast was nearly twice as large. The Easter Rising of 1916 occurred in the city centre, bringing much physical destruction. The Anglo-Irish War and Irish Civil War contributed even more destruction, leaving many of its finest buildings in ruins. The Irish Free State rebuilt many of the buildings and moved parliament to Leinster House. Through The Emergency (World War II), until the 1960s, Dublin remained a capital out of time: the city centre in particular remained at an architectural standstill. This made the city ideal for historical film production, with many productions including The Blue Max, and My Left Foot capturing the cityscape in this period.

From 1922, following the partition of Ireland, it became the capital of the Irish Free State (1922–1949) and now is the capital of the Republic of Ireland. In a 2003 European-wide survey by the BBC, questioning 11,200 residents of 112 urban and rural areas, Dublin was the best capital city in Europe to live in. The city has a world-famous literary history, having produced many prominent literary figures, including Nobel laureates William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw and Samuel Beckett. Other influential writers and playwrights from Dublin include Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Swift and the creator of Dracula, Bram Stoker. It is arguably most famous, however, as the location of the greatest works of James Joyce. Ireland's biggest libraries and literary museums are found in Dublin, including the National Print Museum of Ireland and National Library of Ireland.

Trinity College, Dublin Dublin Castle River Liffy

Proposed Itinerary for 2009 Dublin Trek

1. Book of Kells

Located at Trinity College, the Book is one of those transcendant works that defines humanity's best relations with the Creator. Uniquely amazing, it must be seen! Up close. No pictures remotely do it justice. Unfortunately, though there's a lovely museum with explanations and huge blowups of the Book, it is the work itself that must be viewed. Picture 100 people gathered around a dimly lit bible and you have the picture. This is a transcendant work and one of the human race's great achievements!

2. Trinity College

You'll have walked through Trinity to get to the Book of Kells. This is quintessential Dublin Georgian architecture. A treat.

3. House of Lords

Just across the street from the main gate at Trinity is the Bank of Ireland. Go inside and ask for the House of Lords. Here's where Ireland was ruled in the 18th century. Impressive. Incidentally, ask a guard where the Central Bank Office is located. This is the only place in Ireland where you can exchange any other European Currency for Irish currency without any fees whatsoever!

4. Grafton Street Shopping - No Cars Allowed

Right in front of Trinity and the Bank of Ireland is the beginning of Grafton Street. This is Dublin's thriving retail heart - and cars aren't allowed! 5. Saint Stephen's Park

At the top of Grafton Street is Saint Stephen's Park. A wonderful place, complete with gardens, Henry Moore statues, and waterfall.

6. National Museum - History and Archaeology

Parallel to Grafton Street is Kildare Street. Here you'll find the National Museum with the finest prehistoric gold art collection on the planet. Particularly stunning are the famed Tara Brooch, Ardagh Chalice, and St. Patrick's Crozier.

7. National Gallery

Walk around the block and you come to the National Gallery with its Vermeer, Monets, Picassos, Jack Yeats', and Caravaggio. Plus thousands of other lovely works stretching back into the 13th century. Next door is Leinster House where the national Parliament, known as the Dail meets.

8. St Patrick’s Cathedral is the largest church in Ireland.

Inspiration for the design of St. Patrick’s in New York. Tomb of many saints and Jonathan Swift.

9. Temple Bar & Dublin Castle

Just outside Eliza Lodge is Temple Bar with its many small art galleries and museums, theatres, pubs and restaurants. Dublin Castle, from which the English ruled Ireland for centuries is still the home of the Irish government. Tours of the public rooms are well worth a visit.

10. Christ Church Cathedral

Go west, young man a few more blocks and you come to Christ Church Cathedral and the attached Dublinia exhibit. Here is an ancient cathedral and modern museum of Dublin history in two connected buildings. The kids love the visit to the crypts beneath the Cathedral.

11. The GPO - General Post Office (Site of the 1916 Easter Uprising)

Across the Liffey River and dominating O'Connell Street, the nation's main street with its Georgian facades, is the General Post Office - the GPO. Here, in 1916 a band of Irish patriots held off the British Army for nearly a week as they tried to set up the first Irish Republic. They failed and the leaders were shot - a disastrous miscalculation on the part of the British for it hardened the resolve of the nation and led, ultimately, to the setting up of the Irish Free State. Inside stands the famous statue of the ancient Irish hero Cuchulain, slumped against a rock in death yet still holding off his enemies by the power of his reputation. On the statue are engraved the names and words of the leaders of the 1916 Uprising.

12. Henry Street Shopping Area Branching off from O'Connell Street are the great shopping streets. Henry Street, Earl Street and scattered throughout various shopping malls and centres. Up the middle of O'Connell Street is the fountain of Anna Livia - goddess of the Liffey River which runs through Dublin and on which Eliza Lodge is located. Local wags have named this gushing fountain "The Floozie in the Jacuzzi."

13. The Spire

Erected during the Millennium as a new symbol of modern Dublin, the spire stretches 300 feet into the air. Stand beneath it and crane your neck upward.

14. Northside Museums

At the end of O'Connell Street is the peaceful Garden of Remembrance. A few steps more brings visitors to the Hugh Lane Art Gallery, the Writer's Museum, and the Wax Museum - all very well worth a visit.

15. Guinness Brewery and Hops Store

Across the river from the museum and up the hill are the Guinness Brewery and Hops Store where you can learn how Ireland's national drink is made. Enjoy a complimentary tipple of the Dublin's favourite brew. There's the Modern Art Museum in the vast grounds of the former Royal Kilmainham Hospital - once an 18th century country estate.

16. The Modern Art Museum

The Modern Art Museum occupies the vast grounds of the former Royal Kilmainham Hospital - once an 18th century country estate. Just walking around the old grounds is a treat and there's a marvelous formal garden featuring a beech hedge and rose gardens. The collection rotates continuously and has featured major contemporary artists from Andy Warhol to Georgia O'Keefe.

17. Glendalough National Park (possible location for 6-7 mile country hike)

The other wonderful site well worth visiting is Glendalough National Park. In this peaceful valley set amidst the granite peaks of the Wicklow Mountains, Saint Kevin and his followers built a monastery whose ruins endure to this day. The walks along the lakes and amidst the ancient buildings are beautiful and memorable.

18. Dublin City Historial Hike (possible 3 mile city hike)

In just 2 hours, this Bord Fáilte-approved award-winning and entertaining 'seminar on the street' conducted by history graduates of Trinity College Dublin, explores the main features of Irish history - Dublin's development, the influence of the American and French Revolutions, the Potato Famine 1845- 49, the 1916 Rising, the War of Independence, partition - and concludes with the current peace process.

19. Newgrange Megalithic Tomb and the Battle of the Boyne

Newgrange is a passage tomb in the Boyne valley, 20 miles north-west of Dublin. It was constructed 5000 years ago and pre-dates both the Pyramids and Stonehenge. Also in Newgrange is the location of the Battle of the Boyne, in 1690, which had such a lasting and central impact on people’s lives. 300 years after the battle, passions in Ireland still run high when the subject of James II’s defeat by William of Orange comes up. It’s not so much the battle as what it stands for - continuing differences between Catholics and Protestants - and the difficulty of overcoming memories of the past in search of a common future.