Trip to Dublin

We’ve just come back from a long ringing weekend in Dublin.  We rang at all 5 towers in Dublin, courtesy of Roy McCarthy Coaches of Macclesfield, as one of their drivers is a Bell Ringer at Sandbach.  Thursday was spent traveling to the port across the Irish Sea on the ferry and then to our 4-star hotel.

Our first tower on Friday was S Augustine & S John which is a 10 bell tower hung anti-clockwise (which means the ropes fall the opposite way around than usual).  After the climb up the Open Steel Staircase which wasn’t for the faint-hearted, we rang the 10 bells.  They proved to be a bit of a hand full however we managed a plain course of Grandsire Caters.

Next, we traveled to the National Catherdral Bells of St, Patrick.  Cast by the Taylors bell foundry of Loughborough they were super quality.   The last tower of the day was the 16 bell tower (Yes I said 16 bells) of Christ Church and we did ring all 16.

There was just one tower on our list on Saturday; Christ Church Taney.  There are 8 bells here and I was in the driving seat as I had been given the task of organizing the ringing.  These bells were best suited to our experience and we all had a good ring.

Just with the one tower on Saturday, meant we had the afternoon to ourselves to explore Dublin. My family decided to visit the waxworks. I managed to get a photo taken with my Comedian hero’s; Father Ted and Father Doogle.  We retired back to our hotel where we managed to get a well-deserved pint of Guinness.

Sunday morning started with the usual Full Irish Breakfast, a quick pack of our bags, and back on the coach to make our way Home. On the way there was just one more tower to grab, St. Audoen, 14cwt 6, reminding me of the back 6 at Gnosall made me feel quite at home.  We left St. Audoen and headed for the Ferry and home. Thank you Steve and Mike (our Coach Driver), for another great weekend.