The Kelly's in Dublin: January 2007

15 January 2007

Georgian House Tour

I went on a tour of an old Georgian House on the northside of Dublin. The woman who currently owns and lives in the house took us on the tour and told great stories. The house was built in 1785 by the Lord Mayor of Dublin. It was at that time, a very lovely, very expensive house. Ireland went through a very tough economic period and the house fell to ruin. There were once 27 families living in the 27 rooms. There was no electricity, no indoor plumbing, and heating was from fireplaces only. The current owner of the house purchased it in 1975 and could not raise the rent or evict the families living there because of the tenacy laws in Ireland. If you were renting, you could pass the lease onto your surviving relatives, and they could live there as long as they desired with no increase in rent. It took until the 1980's before all the remaining tenants finally left. Since then, the owner has renovated the entire house back to it's original state. The house is estimated to now be worth 3 million euro.

14 January 2007

Leopardstown Races

Horse racing is very big here in Ireland. One sunny, Sunday afternoon, we decided to go to the races. It was the first steeplechase race of the season in Ireland. We were surprised how many people were flocking in the gates when we arrived, and even more surprised to see all the ladies in their fur coats! There is a race every 30 minutes and between 6 and 20 horses in each race run the track and jump the hurdles. Very, very fun to watch. We placed a few 2 euro bets...won a few, lost a few. We had a great time and may go again.