Our second-to-last day in Ireland, we bused to the city center and visited EPIC, the Emigration Museum. I never discovered just what EPIC stands for, but the experience truly was extensive in scope. There are walk-through exhibits on famous Irish people, personal stories about why people left for other countries (usually Canada, America, and Australia), what their emigration experience was like, and how they felt about leaving their homeland. People had many reasons for leaving including famine, economics, and conflicts.

The current population of Ireland is about 5 million, but it’s estimated (on Wikipedia) that 10 million people have emigrated and 50-80 million people around the world have Irish forebears. This is the largest amount for any one country in the world.

As mentioned in a previous post, Russ’s family were tax collectors and most likely flax farmers. They emigrated to the U.S. to reside in Connecticut and worked in silk and velvet factories. Perhaps their move was for economic reasons. Also, other relatives had already emigrated there.

After leaving the museum, we walked to the Cobblestone Pub, which had been recommended to us by several friends for its authentic ambiance and live music. Along the way, we passed the famine memorial statues, which commemorate when more than one million Irish people (half the population at the time) died of starvation during 1845-1849. The famine was due to a potato blight, but also because too much of their food was being exported to England. The haunting, skeletal figures are shown clutching their meager possessions on their way to a ship to leave the country.

The Cobblestone Pub doesn’t look like much from the outside, but don’t let that fool you. Four musicians were playing in the front alcove as we entered. We found seats at the bar. They don’t serve food, but of course, there’s Guinness and hard cider, of which we partook. A few patrons stood in the entry, blissing out on the music, drinks in hand. Previously, we had visited the famous Temple Bar, but bailed due to the crowds and noise. The Cobblestone experience was much more to our liking.

Afterward, we visited a nearby Mediterranean café (The Oasis) for lunch (very good!) Sated, we walked back to the city center to catch a bus to our hotel. We felt comfortable enough with knowing our route to sit on the upper deck this time, and we called it a day.

Next up: Our final day in Ireland finds us at Newgrange, a series of Neolithic burial mounds.