The Gannon Cup Boat Race

The Gannon Cup is a Rowing Race (what we could call Crew) between the two major universities in Dublin - Trinity College and University College Dublin (Wayne's school). This race is named after Ciaran Gannon who started at University College Dublin (UCD) in 1933! The race started in 1947 and has happened every year since.
The boats start at the O'Connell Street Bridge (center of Dublin) and go up the Liffey River to St. James Gate (the Guinness Brewery, about 1/2 mile away). The Liffey is the famous river splitting Dublin City in half - it separates the North Side from the South Side (and these are two very different parts of town, both historically and presently).
So, this morning, after the running group, our good friend Graham drove us into the city to watch the race. It was so fun to see! Now, Graham is a Trinity College Engineering graduate and given that UCD is Wayne's school, we had a mini-rivalry right on the side lines. :) I'm proud to say UCD prevailed, winning 3 of the 4 races (albeit, one was won when Trinity's boat crashed into a wall. We'll take it). :)

 We had a great spot, right outside St. James Gate, at the finish line. Apparently the tradition is for students of each school to watch from the starting line and then cycle or ride "fan buses" along the river, up to the finish. It was really cool because even though we couldn't see the begninning of the race, we knew when they were coming because we heard the shouts from the students coming along on their bikes and the bus.

 Seeing the first boat coming through. (There were 4 races: Junior Women, Junior Men, Senior Women and Senior Men). Graham taught us a bit of bakground history on all this today. These races are called "Colours Races" which is an elite staus in college sports (in Ireland and the UK, and maybe the U.S too?). So you can make Varsity which is one step, but then you must win a championship where you receive "your colours". So the largest rowing race, (on earth, as far as I know) would be between Oxford and Cambridge (held in London). Have you ever heard the phrase, "Oxford Blues"? Well, that's where this comes from - that refers to earning your "Oxford Colours". And this can be in any sport - in Rowing, Sailing, Archery, Track, etc. So today we watched the All-Ireland Colours Race.

 Unfortunately, for the first race - Junior Women's - Trinity smoked UCD.

  Fans would come up this side of the river (on the green bus pictured), then they crossed the bridge to head back to the starting line for the next race.

 Wayne, Graham and Norah, placing their bets.

"Graham, get your fingers outta my picture!"

 Norah was one lucky girl, getting a lolly pop from the sweet shop.

 Now, pay attention here. First the junior men's boats are coming through the last bridge - heading for the finish, just in front of us.

 Next....the boat on the left seems to be veering hard to the outside (Graham said they must be heading for the shallow water on the edges with less current as one boat had done before)

 Wow, they're really veering hard.

 Oh! There it is...they slammed into the wall. Thank goodness it was Trinity, and not UCD. :) Poor guys, I felt awful for them. Apparently their rudder-line snapped when they were under the bridge causing them to make that sharp right, straight into the stone wall. Ouch....

 But we'll take a win any way we can get it! muahaha!

 Fan buses heading on back.

 I had to snap this guy's picture. He was asking his friend/girlfriend which things he should wear. He was debating on pulling out the Irish Flag in that wraper, or wearing the green glasses and asking her opinion. "Would the glasses be too much? Should I wear the flag as a cape?" She seemed slightly embarassed. You don't see Irish people wearing green, period, for St. Patrick's Day. I've asked probably 10 Irish friends what "their plans are for St. Patrick's" and every single one, without fail, says "Oh, it's just another day, no plans." All say they wouldn't be caught dead at a parade. ha! Funny how the Irish don't even really celebrate it (barring 19-23 year olds getting blitzed in pubs), meanwhile, the rest of the world has larger celebrations than anything in Ireland, to celebrate the Irish holiday. Odd.

The one difference being, those with small kids who get roped in because of that - which is the reason we'll be going to a parade. We learned our lesson though and this year we will go to one in the smaller town of Bray instead of the 100,000 person-strong madhouse in Dublin.

 This was the Senior Women's Race which was very exciting because we could see both boats come under the bridge and they were neck and neck.

 Trinity on Left, UCD on right.

 UCD women pull ahead for the WIN!

 

Norah - TRIUMPHANT!!!!! This would be the equivalent of a 21 year old boy chugging his beer.

St. Patrick's Cathedral with Canon Patrick

The rector of our church (preist/pastor) was also made a Canon of St. Patrick's Cathedral. Now, I don't understand completely what that means but I know it's a big deal. Well, we have become friends with Patrick (he'll 'call in' to our house for tea at 8:30 pm) and he was kind enough to offer us a personal tour of St. Patrick's Cathedral. Not only that, but he took us out to lunch beforehand. We like him.

Little background. We attend a Church of Ireland parish here in Dublin - which is Anglican/Episcopal. I knew nothing of this tradition when we moved here and Patrick was nice enough to give me some pamphlets explaining all the "Frequently Asked Questions". I was surprised he actually had something tangible to give me and they've actually been surprisingly helfpul. Clearly, they've run into these questions before. (For instance, they use the Common Book of Prayer and the phrase, "We believe in the Holy Catholic Church" which confused me to no end). I still no nothing of the vernacular of this denomination but I'm learning some.

I found it very helpful to learn that Catholic and Protestant are not "opposites". There are Catholics who "accept the universal jurisdiction of the Pope" - and these would be Roman Catholics. There are also Catholics "who do not accept the Pope's jurisdiction or certain doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. Some are called Protestant or Reformed Catholics". "The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the Pope has, by divine right, jurisdiction over the universal Church, and in certain circumstances his utterances are infallible. The Church of Ireland does not accept either of these teachings..." (apck, 2002). There you have it. That should clear up any and all questions about religion. This concludes are theological discussion.

St. Patrick's Cathedral (the present structure at least) was built in the 1200s. They also say this is the site where St. Patrick himself baptised people around 450 AD. (prior to this structure, there had been a wooden church here) Patrick says the church is built upon an ancient river and they say the water is still present as huge portions of the cathedral floor are still pushed up, every single year. They have to repair the floor and re-tile, each time.

http://www.stpatrickscathedral.ie/History-Timeline.aspx

Patrick is great. He's been married 30 years (another difference with the Catholic church), he and his wife are very well-educated and they have three amazing daughters - a teacher, a lawyer and a scientist at Oxford! (who will be completely her post-doctoral work at Cambridge in case there was any question about her excellence) We've learned a lot about Patrick and are always struck by how candid he is with us, what a sharp sense of humor he has and more generally, that he likes to spend time with us. :)

The back of the church is filled with rows of wooden seats (some pictured below), then as you near the front, there are these beautiful wooden boxes with red velvet cushions. These are for the family members of clergy and this is the 'box' designated for Patrick's family. Now, normally they would be in Monkstown at our church (30 minutes away) but sometimes they come to visit Patrick if he'll be delivering a sermon here. 

Just in front of these booths you see the pulpit on the left (raised), then the gate where access to the public is denied. Well.....not if you're with one of the Canons! Patrick swiftly took us around the side, unlocked a gate, and gave us a private tour of the formal seating area for the Canons, the choir and the Archbishop of Dublin.

The Pulpit where Patrick speaks when he is "in residence" at St. Patrick's. As Canon, you spend one entire week at the Cathredral, twice per year. So next month, Patrick will 'move in' to the Cathedral where he is to attend every single service (4 or 5 a day), for 7 days while also being present for tourists and any special services going on.  

 

(the boys' choir practiced just below these flags, around a grand piano.)

Patrick asking the choir director is the boys will be performing. These are the young boys in the St. Patrick's choir and I've almost never heard something more beautiful than their voices echoing through that cavernous cathedral. I GET boys' choirs. Wow. And this teacher was incredible. These boys are a very big deal. They attend the very elite St. Patrick's Choir School (founded 1432) and Patrick says they're in to school by 8:30 am and still there at 6:30 pm, every night. They learn Irish, English, Latin, have choir practice, etc. etc. I was in awe of them. (no pictures or video were allowed of their rehearsal but thankfully I had taken this terrible shot before they put up the "no photography" sign. I showed them.)

http://www.stpatrickscathedral.ie/Military-History.aspx

Flags in the North Transept - this used to be a separate chapel dedicated to the Irish men (and perhaps some women) who died in the service of the British army.

Patrick's Stall, right next to the Archbishop of Dublin

Helmets from the Knights of St. Patrick 

Looking from the altar back toward the front doors.

 

 Norah skipping along the altar at St. Patrick's Cathedral (not open to the public but we had the special tour with Patrick)

 Loved these chairs. The majority of the cathedral has rows of these, before the boxes for clergy family and finally the gated area for clergy themselves.