Nowhere does Irish history resound more than in Dublin, the capital city and largest metropolitan area on the island of Ireland.

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DUBLIN, Ireland — The signs on the building across the street from St. Patrick’s Cathedral said it all.

St. Patrick’s Choral School, founded 1432.

Just below that sign was another. St. Patrick’s Grammar School, established 1547.

Yes, you might say Ireland has some history.

Our second day in Dublin included visits to Parliament House, which was built in 1729 and which since 1803 has housed the Bank of Ireland; Christ Church Cathedral, which was founded in 1030(!) and largely built in 1230, with periodic renovations since; Dublin Castle, which opened in 1204, on the same plot of ground that was Dublin’s first encampment, around 600-700 B.C.; and the Guinness Storehouse, which opened in 2000 as a tourist attraction in the middle of St. James’ Gate Brewery, which was founded in 1759 by Arthur Guinness, and Guinness remains one of the world’s most popular beers.

Sort of makes the Oklahoma Land Run seem like it happened week before last.

Ireland is a place of history, from Gaels to Vikings, from the Bubonic plague to the potato famine, from English rule to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. And nowhere does that history resound more than in Dublin, the capital city and largest metropolitan area on the island of Ireland.

The Parliament House, for example, a regal building that looks like something out of Rome. Built in 1729, it served as the seat of both chambers, the Lords and the Commons, for the Kingdom of Ireland, until that parliament was abolished in 1800 by the Act of Union, when Ireland fully succumbed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain.

The Bank of Ireland has inhabited the building for 218 years, with its main lobby sitting in an opulent, domed grand hall, a little like the old First National Center, albeit much younger, in Oklahoma City. 

Much of the Parliament Building was reorganized by the bank over the decade and centuries, but the original House of Lords chamber remains, very much like it was almost 300 years ago.

The bank also established a Cultural and Heritage Centre, which now houses the Seamus Heaney exhibit. The late Heaney is one of Ireland’s four Nobel prize winners for literature, joining George Bernard Shaw, William Butler Yeats and Samuel Beckett. Dublin, of course, also was the home of James Joyce, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. Dublin has been dubbed the city of literature.

When the Thunder playoffs collide with travel plans, you get @BerryTramel in Ireland.

Berry's travel blog from Day 1 in Dublin: ⬇️ https://t.co/VZmrrO47RX

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But the Parliament Building is a contemporary structure compared to Christ Church Cathedral, which is the elder of Dublin’s two medieval cathedrals and very much like the other, St. Patrick’s. The prime difference was Christ Church’s crypt, which contained a rousing museum of artifacts and documents, including the 1216 Irish version of the original Magna Carta, England’s royal charter of rights, which stated that the monarchy and his or her government was not above the law.

And Dublin Castle is a bastion of history, even if it’s no longer a castle. Originally built as a fortress for the city of Dublin, at the bequest of King John (of Robin Hood notoriety), the castle opened in 1204. It eventually became the official residence of the British monarchy’s appointed leader of Ireland, notably called the viceroy.

Only one of the four castle towers still stands, and it’s being renovated. But the remains of another tower are accessible underground, via a $10 guided tour.

The tour also takes you through a room or two of the royal living quarters, including the bedroom, which had been turned into an infirmary for veterans of the Great War, where a wounded James Connolly was housed in the 1916 Easter uprising for Irish independence. Connolly was one of seven Irish rebels who led the movement; the other six were quickly apprehended, found guilty of treason and executed.  Connolly was held for two weeks before he, too, was executed, igniting more passion with his death than with his calls for independence. His death turned the tide, and by 1922 the United Kingdom had agreed to sovereign rule for Ireland.

We also toured some of the state halls, including the throne room, where visitors would meet the monarch when he or she was in Dublin; the state dining room; and Saint Patrick’s Hall, an gorgeous assembly place that hosts a variety of major events, including Ireland’s presidential inaugurations. All of those rooms are accessed by the grand staircase up to the Battle Axe Landing, which has been climbed by the likes of Benjamin Franklin, Queen Victoria and Winston Churchill.

I know I’m overloading you with history. But man, what a place.

To finish off our historic day, we toured the Guinness Storehouse, which pays homage to the 265-year-old brewery. Millions of people have toured Guinness Storehouse over the last 24 years, and thousands were there Tuesday. The tour includes a variety of exhibits on how Guinness makes its beer with just four substances: water, barley, hops and yeast. A free beer comes with admission. I didn’t try it; I’ve never tasted beer and don’t plan to start anytime soon, but it was quite a show.

One downer: visitors do not get to tour the actual brewery, which I would have found most interesting. From various vantage points in the Storehouse, you can see parts of the massive compound — the brewhouse, vats, grain silos and the keg yard.

Dublin is a walking city. We trudged about seven miles Tuesday. We walked along the River Liffey, which separates south Dublin from north Dublin and is quite the commercial district. We went through Temple Bar, the famous district known for its Irish pubs; we’ve got to get to a few this week.

And we walked to Trinity College, where we had tickets to the Book of Kells Experience, in Trinity’s ancient library. The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript and Celtic Gospel book in Latin from around 800 A.D.; it is considered one of the world’s most treasured ancient books. Alas, the Book of Kells Experience was canceled Tuesday, because of a threatened pro-Palestinian protest on the grounds at Trinity. We didn’t know it until we got there. Oh well. There was much to see anyway.

We finished off our day with a fabulous Irish dinner Tuesday night at the Copper Alley Bistro. More on the beef stew and scrumptious haddock (fish and chips) in the days to come.

We head out for the rest of Ireland beginning Wednesday, but let me leave you with a bread and butter story. Our server at Copper Alley brought us sliced bread with butter, to kick off the dinner. The bread was cold; the butter was warm. Exactly opposite of what we get in the U.S. 

What a country. And what a history.