11 July: Dublin

We started Monday morning at Trinity College, where we saw the Book of Kells and its accompanying display "Turning Darkness into Light." M liked seeing the Irish Ogham language and learning a few Latin words. We all liked the poem Pangur Bán:

I and Pangur Ban, my cat,
'Tis a like task we are at;
Hunting mice is his delight,
Hunting words I sit all night.

Better far than praise of men
'Tis to sit with book and pen;
Pangur bears me no ill will;
He, too, plies his simple skill.

'Tis a merry thing to see
At our task how glad are we,
When at home we sit and find
Entertainment to our mind.

Oftentimes a mouse will stray
Into the hero Pangur's way;
Oftentimes my keen thought set
Takes a meaning in its net.

'Gainst the wall he sets his eye
Full and fierce and sharp and sly;
'Gainst the wall of knowledge I
All my little wisdom try.

When a mouse darts from its den.
O how glad is Pangur then!
O what gladness do I prove
When I solve the doubts I love!

So in peace our tasks we ply,
Pangur Ban, my cat and I;
In our arts we find our bliss,
I have mine, and he has his.

Practice every day has made
Pangur perfect in his trade ;
I get wisdom day and night,
Turning Darkness into light.'

from http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/poetry/PangurBan.html

The Wikipedia article on Pangur Ban also notes that there is a cat named Pangur Ban in the 2009 movie "The Book of Kells."


Monday afternoon we took a tour of Dublin Castle, which was first a Norman fortification, then the seat of English government in Ireland and, after 1922, a ceremonial seat for Irish government and state functions. The original Dublin Castle was built in 1204 and survived until a fire destroyed most of the castle in 1673. The current castle was built after the fire on the same site. As part of the tour, we were able to see an excavation of the original castle walls and tower, under a neighboring building.