It is amazing what a little historical context can do for you.

Yesterday we did our own walk of the city and I was largely unimpressed by the big destinations. Today we were led through many of the same locations by a tour guide who just graduated from Trinity College with a PhD in history, focused primarily on Ireland and the British Isles. This church? It may look cool, but far more interesting is the ties it had to legendary writer Jonathon Swift. Nearby are the Liberties, one of the last parts of the city to actually fall under government control, a working class neighborhood Swift took as inspiration for many things. Across the street is a construction site, but more importantly, it is an archaeological site the hotel stumbled upon and decided to build around so as not to destroy the history. One of the best preserved sites in the city since the viking history destroyed by the municipal government for the building of the new city hall, an action whose backlash provided the basis for heritage laws.

What about Dublin Castle, could it possibly be more than a drab set of boring buildings that are nowhere near as interesting as a castle should be? Well, if we go around the back, we see a small garden with a few statures and then emerge into a large open circle of grass with strips of brick forming patterns across it. Underneath flows the covered River Poddle, the entire reason the castle was built in this location. Here is a monument to police who lost their lives, here is a museum of East-Asian art created by a wealthy eccentric, and here is Record Tower, the last part of the original castle, and by extension, the only part that feels like a castle. As we walk into the plaza, we discussed why the buildings look like they do. Dublin Castle was the center of English power and as such it had to be updated to fit with the times, resulting in a set of administrative buildings. Lady Justice looks down on the plaza, one of the worst possible depictions possible. Our guide explained that her scales are not fixed, so they become unbalanced in the rain; she is not blindfolded, while justice is supposed to be blind to race, gender, creed, and all other identifiers; and she looks into the center of English power rather than out into the city.

Without this insight, a powerful artistic statement comes across as simply a statue.

Another fascinating sight within the plaza was the line of empty flagpoles, only Ireland and the EU flags flying. Our guide said that it was a result of Brexit, as the city could not decide if they would be leaving the UK flag flying with the rest. Instead of taking just it down, resulting in one empty spot, it was decided to take down every nation for the time being. I was intrigued by the impact of Brexit on Ireland, so I asked him about it later, “How much impact do you think it will have on Ireland given the social ties to England and the political and economic ties to the EU?” It turns out that joining the EU was in large part done to show economic independence from the United Kingdoms, so he believed they would be largely alright. He did hazard that a closed border in the North would cause some of the largest tensions since the Good Friday Agreement.

Another stop we made was in the area around Temple Bar. We discussed how the area had originally been a major slums and the city started buying up property so they could destroy the area and build a bus stop. However, while they did not have all of the property purchased, they leased out the buildings for very low prices. This attracted many artistic buyers, from photography museums, to ballet studios, to children’s theatre, and the city decided to shift its plan from a bus stop to turning Temple Bar into the artistic quadrant of the city. However, not all of these ventures were successful, so Dublin turned to advertising it as a great place to get wasted. Now Temple Bar is a tourist destination for people around the world, but the Irish themselves rarely frequent it.

One of the last significant stops we made was at our guide’s Alma Mater, Trinity College. First we looked at the Bank of Ireland next door, which was formerly the building where the Irish Parliament met. When the Irish Parliament joined the English Parliament, they requested that the bank disassemble the speaking room so that students would not be able to question the authority of England by hosting their own debates. On the topic of the Irish parliament, Jonathon Swift said:

“Just a stones throw from the college.
Half a world from wit or knowledge.
Tell me what the pile contains?
Many a head that holds no brains.”

To me, the most fascinating thing about Trinity College is their library. Obviously, it serves as home to the world famous Book of Kells, but just as interesting is the fact that it has been a copyright library since 1922. Every book since then that has been copyrighted in the British Isles has had to send a free copy to the university, resulting in a massive and complete library system.

We saw much else on the walking tour and subsequent hop-on-hop-off bus tour we did, including a double rainbow. James, Micah, Elgin, and I also got to experience a record store in the middle of town. While the prices were much too high to actually purchase anything, it was a lot of fun to enjoy one of my passions with the guys.

Knowledge of history and context greatly distorts our perception of the world, largely helping us to earn a greater understanding. This twisted reflection thrills me, and I am glad we got to experience many of the same places as yesterday with a knew perception. However, I have also gained an appreciation for experiencing the city without context yesterday. By getting both sides of the coin, I feel like I am actually learning a great deal more about the city.