Goes to Ireland - Bray to Dublin Great British Railway Journeys


Goes to Ireland - Bray to Dublin

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LineFromTo

In 1840, one man transformed travel in Britain and Ireland.

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His name was George Bradshaw

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and his railway guides inspired the Victorians to take to the tracks.

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Stop by stop, he told them where to travel, what to see and where to stay.

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Now, 170 years later, I'm making a series of journeys

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across the length and breadth of these islands

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to see what of Bradshaw's world remains.

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My trusty Bradshaw's Guide has already led me

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on delightful journeys throughout England, Scotland and Wales.

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But now for the first time, I've crossed the Irish sea,

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for when Bradshaw's descriptive railway handbook

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of Great Britain and Ireland was published in the 1860s,

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Britain and Ireland were a single state.

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And now I'm set to explore a whole new island of railway stories.

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On this leg, I'll be exploring a daring feat of engineering,

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built by the father of Irish railways...

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So now I see the first of these remarkable tunnels ahead.

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We're going to plunge straight through the rock.

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..visiting a Victorian prison that played host to railway criminals...

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There was a child here of nine years of age

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for playing marbles on a train and annoying passengers.

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..and hearing how even animals embraced train travel

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in the age of steam...

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The giraffe was far too tall in its cart to get under each bridge,

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so they created a padded sliding roof and as it approached each bridge,

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the sliding roof gently closed.

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This long journey begins near Dublin,

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where this island's railways were born,

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then follows their expansion northwards.

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Crossing into Northern Ireland,

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I'll then explore Belfast's industrial heritage

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before experiencing the stunning coast,

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finishing up in Derry/Londonderry.

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This stretch covers 17 miles,

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passing through the rocky outcrop of Bray Head on my way to Dublin

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where I'll explore railways that radiate from the city.

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I'm starting on a breathtaking line

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that skirts the east coast between Wicklow and Dublin.

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I'm looking forward to seeing both the Republic and Northern Ireland

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through the eyes of a 19th century travel writer.

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My Bradshaw's is enthusiastic about the landscape,

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saying that "particularly on the sea coast,

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"it assumes a splendid variety of scenery,

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"not to be surpassed in any part of the island.

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"The mountains and rocky elevations are here magnificently bold

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"and Brae Head itself commands an extensive view."

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But this dramatic topography

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presented a formidable challenge to the railway builder.

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This line was built to connect Dublin

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with the ports on the east coast,

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but the proposed route meant traversing the rocky headland of Bray Head,

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near the Wicklow mountains.

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I'm leaving the train at Greystones station to take a closer look.

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I've come to discover more about this beautiful stretch of railway

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passing through this infamous terrain

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and the remarkable engineer who achieved it.

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The best place to get to grips

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with the sheer scale of the challenge

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is up on the paths that cling to Bray Head's cliffs.

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It's where I'm meeting railway historian Brian Mac Aonghusa.

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-Hello, Brian.

-Oh, Michael, good morning.

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This must be one of the most spectacular pieces of railway line

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that I can think of.

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I think it is in Ireland. We're very proud of it

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because a lot of work went into the building of this.

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This hill, called Bray Head, contains Pre-Cambrian rock

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and it's one of the hardest rocks to drill through.

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And the man who succeeded in doing it

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was a very famous builder of Irish railways.

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As a matter of fact, he's known as the father of Irish railways, William Dargan.

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William Dargan was a self-taught entrepreneur and engineer

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who constructed more railway lines in 19th century Ireland

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than any other builder.

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But he wasn't involved with the Bray Head project at its outset.

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When the line was first proposed, it was the English engineer,

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Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who took up the gauntlet.

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It was designed by Brunel, and Brunel started it in 1847,

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but the company could not raise sufficient capital after the famine.

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And there was great difficulty in organising men, organising the works.

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The great famine began with the failure of the potato harvest in the mid-1840s,

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and became so severe that almost an eighth of the population perished.

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Making only short visits from England to supervise the works,

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and remote from the harsh local realities,

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Brunel and his contractor ran into trouble.

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By 1848, work had stopped.

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But luckily, Ireland's home-grown railway pioneer, William Dargan,

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stepped into the breach.

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Dargan had achieved great notoriety for his achievements

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in building railways all over Ireland by that time.

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In the interests of the development of Ireland, the development of the people,

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he said he would do it without accepting cash.

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He agreed to accept shares or bonds in the company

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rather than be paid for the work.

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Most unusual for such an astute person.

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William Dargan was horrified by the misery wrought by the famine.

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He encouraged railway building,

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believing that progress offered Ireland the chance of better times.

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He recruited the men he wanted and if they were undernourished,

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he would pay them one week's wages in advance

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and tell them to come back working when they had built up their strength.

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Now, this went down extremely well with people.

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They admired him for that and also, if people were in distress,

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he was inclined to help them with a little cash.

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And he became known as "The man with his hand in his pocket."

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At Bray head, Dargan continued to work closely with Brunel

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and by the mid 1850s had finished the job.

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It took 500 men to tunnel through the Pre-Cambrian rock.

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But looking at the project today,

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one of the tunnels appears to be disused.

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That was the original tunnel.

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The original tunnel, which when the line was first built by Dargan,

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along this stretch of coast.

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And he built that tunnel as well as five others between here and Greystones.

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And why are they disused now, then?

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Because the line had to be moved inland

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because of erosion and the collapse of original wooden bridges

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which traversed the gorges here.

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But after about 60 years, it had to be abandoned,

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and a new line had to be bored, as you can see from the other tunnel.

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The line has since become known as Brunel's Folly

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and it's certainly had its fair share of problems.

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These days, high-tech equipment guards against rock falls

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and cliff defences have been built to prevent erosion.

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Despite all the expense and effort involved,

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I'm very glad that the line still follows the same course,

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providing passengers with a magnificent view,

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which I'm about to see from a fresh perspective.

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Now, what I have here is one of my favourite things in the world.

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This is a cab pass. This entitles me to ride with the driver.

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As long as I don't disturb him too much, of course!

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This is one of the intercity trains that ply this line,

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and it's whisking me towards Dublin.

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It's a very, very smooth ride.

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-And you're allowed to go how fast along here?

-60 miles an hour.

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60 miles an hour? So even though it's an ancient bit of track,

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through very challenging geography and battered by storms,

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you can still go at a good speed.

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We're allowed 60 up to here

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and once we enter the first tunnel, it's 40 miles an hour.

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So now I see the first of these remarkable tunnels ahead.

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We're going to plunge straight through this head of land.

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Straight through the rock. Any idea how long this tunnel is, Robbie?

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It's about three-quarters of a mile.

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Three-quarters of a mile, the first one. Dropping your speed down.

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Passing through in one of these modern trains takes just a few seconds,

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but digging out this rock with the most rudimentary equipment

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must have been an epic task.

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So this brief moment of daylight between one tunnel and the next,

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this is what I was looking down on before

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when I was up there on Bray Head.

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And back into the tunnel we go!

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HORN BEEPS

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What the passenger sees on this railway

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is the most stunningly beautiful view of mountain and of sea.

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And what I think of is the fantastic engineering achievement

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and how this formidable topography had to be dominated

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to build this railway line.

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I'm now taking a back seat again to continue my journey.

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My beautiful intercity train is now entering Dublin

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and my Bradshaw's tells me that it's the capital of Ireland

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and the second city of the British islands, on the River Liffey.

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And Dublin Bay, he says,

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"Unfolds one of the finest land and sea prospects ever beheld.

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"Rendered extremely picturesque

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"by the bays and creeks into which it is broken."

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My chief interest in Dublin is as the origin,

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the birthplace of the railways in Ireland.

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My train terminates at one of the city's fine Victorian stations.

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Connolly Station in Dublin. I've been looking forward to seeing this

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because I've been told it's a thing of beauty.

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The main station opened in 1846,

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and is an imposing Italianate building in white granite.

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As the railway network rapidly expanded, more capacity was needed,

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and this magnificent extension was added in 1876.

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And here it is, a glorious structure with beautiful arches

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in iron and in brick, and this impressive roof of glass.

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A station worthy of a capital city.

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I'm now exploring Dublin with the help of my 19th century guide.

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It tells me,

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"The appearance of Dublin is very much improved of late years.

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"Streets have been widened, new squares skilfully laid out

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"and many public monuments freed from buildings

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"which concealed their beauties."

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But amid that apparent prosperity there was also deprivation.

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Huge numbers of people arrived in the city fleeing the famine.

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And levels of poverty were among the worst in Europe.

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My Bradshaw's Guide holds a clue to the social problems that ensued.

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I am often surprised by the places that Bradshaw's mentions

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as being of possible interest to the tourist.

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Here in Dublin, of course, it mentions bridges and churches

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and fine public buildings, but also Kilmainham Jail.

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Crime and punishment were much debated in 19th-century society

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and when my guide book was published,

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this prison had just been transformed

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to bring it into line with Victorian penal philosophy.

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I'm taking a tour with expert Niall Bergin.

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-Michael.

-Good to see you.

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-Welcome to Kilmainham Jail.

-A kind of chilling place I find it, actually.

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-A very impressive space.

-What's the history?

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The jail dates back to 1796,

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when it opened as the new county jail for Dublin

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and it closed in 1924, some incredible history here.

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Interestingly, as the building stands today, just two wings,

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the west wing and the east wing which we are in at the moment,

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which is a late addition,

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classic Victorian and dates to the 1861, 1862 period.

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As cities rapidly expanded in the 19th century, crime soared.

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But modern thinkers regarded punishments like transportation

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and execution - except for murder - as barbaric.

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The answer - to expand the number of prisons.

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And between 1842 and 1877, 90 were built or extended.

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Why did the Victorians build it in this shape?

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This is the classic panoptic design.

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It is an all-seeing eye and it comes from the Greek "panopticon".

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When the prison staff were here, they could virtually see all the cells.

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It is all about observation and surveillance.

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Also the Victorians were great believers in the healing power of light,

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and all Victorian prisons, be it in London,

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Britain or Ireland, all have massive canopy skylights.

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They contradict themselves in a sense,

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because punishment was all about denying them light,

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and all the punishment cells are right below us.

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What sort of crimes were people here for?

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I found a number of instances of railway connected crime,

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so things like not paying their fare

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or travelling on a train without proper tickets.

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There is a brilliant incident of a gentleman travelling on a buffer

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and he got two weeks' imprisonment for his crime.

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There was a child here of nine years of age

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for playing marbles on a train and annoying passengers.

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Really interesting stuff.

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The Victorian east wing provided the jail

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with an additional 96 cells of 9ft by 6ft each.

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Visiting today,

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I am trying to imagine what life was like for the prisoners.

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So here we come across an open Victorian cell.

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How many prisoners were meant to be in here?

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All cells are for one person, but very rarely did that happen.

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There are records of up to two, three, four people per room.

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Prisoners could have spent up to 22 hours per day in these cells

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without running water or toilets,

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leaving only for exercise or hard labour.

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This actually is a photograph of a typical cell.

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You can see the bed, something like a wooden board, a mattress,

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but during the day it was placed against a wall,

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just for more room for the prisoner to move around.

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Also the rules and regulations are up there for the prisoner here.

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You can see the vents to let air in. Table and chair. Very basic.

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A chamber pot. Very, very basic.

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The windows are very highly placed

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so the prisoners are looking up towards heaven.

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The whole redemption thing again.

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It's a fascinating insight into Victorian penal practice.

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But Kilmainham Jail is remembered today

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for its role in the story of Irish nationalism.

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Rebels against British rule were imprisoned here

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throughout the jail's life.

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But it was a 20th-century event

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that secured its place in Irish history.

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This yard, this space,

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this is the scene where the leaders of the 1916 uprising were executed.

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So this is the Easter Rising, this is where there's a huge rebellion,

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they seized many government buildings.

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Obviously the rebellion failed

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and that failure led to the executions of 14...

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Well, actually, 16 men were executed,

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but 14 in Kilmainham Jail by firing squad.

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As you look around the yard, you see the crosses at either end,

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and the crosses are marking the spots where the men were shot.

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During the rising, some 1,600 rebels

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held Dublin city centre for six days.

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Around 450 people were killed, many of them civilians.

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At first, public opinion was largely hostile to the rebels.

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But the crackdown that followed

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created sympathy for the Republican cause.

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These days the Easter Rising is seen as a turning point

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in the history of Irish nationalism.

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Kilmainham is one of the busiest heritage sites in Ireland today,

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and if we were to ask even the visitors today,

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"Why are you here, what do you want to know?"

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They want to learn about the political history of Ireland

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and see the spot where these men were executed.

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Now it's back to Connolly Station.

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Because I'm in search of a bed for the night,

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and I've a rather special hotel in mind.

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It's just outside Dublin, in the coastal resort

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of Dun Loaghaire, or Dunleary.

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And to get there I am taking a service

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known to Dubliners as the Dart.

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On my travels I've often found that the earliest railways

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were built for freight, not for passengers,

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but that's not true of this particular line.

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I'm travelling along tracks that were laid in 1834 by William Dargan

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specifically for commuters.

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In fact the Irish claim it is the world's oldest commuter railway.

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It's still doing the same job today as it was in the 1830s,

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and today it is part of the Dublin area rapid transit.

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To my excitement,

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this was also 19th-century Ireland's first railway.

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The route was chosen because a smart new harbour

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had been built at Dunleary, making it a fashionable place to live.

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Wealthy Dublin businessmen soon embraced the commute,

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which thousands of people still make each day.

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-How are you?

-Hello, Michael.

-Have you heard of William Dargan?

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Yes, I have.

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-Who was he?

-I don't know, but I've heard the name.

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He was the engineer who built this railway line.

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Look how beautiful it is here. Isn't that fantastic?

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Have you been on this railway before?

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No, I've never been on this railway.

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Is it mentioned in your trusty guide?

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Absolutely, it's mentioned my trusty guide.

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But this is supposedly the first commuter railway in the world,

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opened in 1834.

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5,000 passengers on the first day. Isn't that a thought?

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-Well, I hope you have a wonderful time.

-Thank you.

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-Goodbye.

-Enjoy your trip.

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So, Dunleary.

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The last thing I saw from the train as I came into the station

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was the harbour, right by the waterside, a beautiful spot.

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Luckily for me, Dunleary's 19th-century gentrification

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included the building of a luxurious new hotel.

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And on the first day of my Irish railway journey I've developed

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an intense admiration for William Dargan.

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He wasn't just a railway engineer.

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He was also in the business of supplying hotels.

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And so for my first night in the Republic,

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I've decided to stay in one of his finest.

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The Royal Marine Hotel, built between 1863 and 1865,

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even played host to Queen Victoria herself.

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A fitting spot for me and my Bradshaw's Guide to pass the night.

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Day two of my journey, and it's back on the Dart for me

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to take a fuller look at the Irish capital.

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From Dunleary I'm headed once more to the heart of Dublin,

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a city of which I have many memories,

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and of which I'm very fond.

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And I shall be exploring it using my Bradshaw's and the tips it gives me,

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starting with this handy map of the city from the mid-1860s.

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It's wonderful to have my Victorian map,

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but when it comes to Dublin, it's of limited use.

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Although the layout of the city has not changed too much,

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many of the street names have,

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reflecting Ireland's turbulent history.

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Bradshaw's greatly admired what was Sackville Street, with its monument,

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splendid hotels and the column erected in honour of Horatio Nelson.

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But in this building here, the Post Office,

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the Easter Rising of 1916 reached its climax and the column of Nelson

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was blown up in 1966, and a spire erected in its place.

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And this is now O'Connell Street,

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so whilst the generous proportions of this boulevard have not altered,

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the names commemorated here have changed completely.

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The spire's official name is the Monument of Light.

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Made of stainless steel, it reaches 120 metres into the sky.

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-How are you?

-Very well. May I ask, are you from Dublin?

-I'm from Cork.

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-And you're visiting today?

-No, I live here now.

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-This spire, what do you think of that?

-Opinion is divided about this.

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Some people feel it wasn't the best use of resources,

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but it is actually astonishing to look at.

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There's no doubt it has a magnetic pull about it. It's beautiful.

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-So you might be one of its fans, I think.

-I wouldn't go that far.

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But yes, it is nice to look at.

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To reach my last stop on this leg of the journey,

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I'm using another feature of modern Dublin, the tram.

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-MACHINE:

-Please select a ticket type.

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'The Luas light rail system opened in 2004,

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'and carries 80,000 passengers per day around the city.'

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I do love trams, they add such personality to cities.

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I'm so sorry that so many British cities have lost theirs.

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But I'm pleased too that some of them have got them back.

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These ones in Dublin are really smart and new.

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Dublin got its first tramway in the 1870s, initially horse-drawn,

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but later using electrical power.

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That original system was phased out in the 1940s,

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and now the city is proud of its new network.

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Hello. Well, it is. It is my first time on the tram.

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-Do you use it much yourself?

-Only when I'm visiting my sister.

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Don't you think there is something more romantic about a tram

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than a bus?

0:22:080:22:09

-It's very modern. Not like the old trams.

-They were good, weren't they?

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You preferred the old trams to these lovely modern ones?

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-Why would you do that?

-Well, I'm old-fashioned.

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Tell me about the old ones. What were the sounds?

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-Did it have a bell?

-Yes, it would go "Ding!"

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I've left the tram at Heuston Station,

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built in 1846 and recently restored.

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It's one of three main line stations in Dublin

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which in Bradshaw's day became the transport hub

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for the whole of Ireland.

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Soon the trains were bringing visitors to a famous park

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for a new and educational experience.

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My Bradshaw's tells me that Dublin's famous Phoenix Park

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is seven miles around and contains barracks and zoological gardens.

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Today, Dublin Zoo is one of the city's most popular attractions.

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And in the early days, the railways helped to get it started.

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I'm meeting zoo archivist Catherine de Courcy to hear the story.

0:23:110:23:15

I believe Dublin Zoo dates all the way back to 1831.

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-Was Dublin in the vanguard of zoological gardens?

-It was.

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London Zoo was opened in 1828, and that was really the first

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purpose-built zoo, and a lot of the modern zoos

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were modelled on London Zoo.

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The Dublin people, in 1830, founded a society specifically

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to create a zoo like London Zoo in Dublin.

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These early zoos weren't for entertainment,

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but for serious study.

0:23:390:23:40

The Victorians were fascinated by the natural world,

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and seeing exotic animals in the flesh was superior

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to reading about them in books.

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London Zoo was happy to spread the movement to Dublin,

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and sent a batch of animals to help the new zoo on its way.

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When we talk about animals being sent to Dublin Zoo,

0:23:560:23:58

I've never thought about it, but how did they make the journey?

0:23:580:24:01

They arrived in a variety of different ways.

0:24:010:24:04

Many of the more exotic animals through the 19th century

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would have arrived by ship, directly from Liverpool.

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A lot of animals sent by people from Ireland came by train to Dublin.

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And they often travelled free of charge

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in the care of the train staff.

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For example, in the 1880s, a Reverend Brett sent us

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a crocodile from Wexford and somebody sent us a macaque monkey from Sligo.

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I think if I was a ticket collector and came across a crocodile

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on the train I probably wouldn't seek to extract the fare.

0:24:300:24:33

Now, these tall fellows behind us, I don't think they travelled by train.

0:24:330:24:36

We did receive one that came on a long train journey

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to Dublin Zoo in 1902.

0:24:390:24:42

We were given a present of a fully-grown giraffe by an Irishman

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living in the Sudan.

0:24:460:24:47

It went on a train to Cairo and had to go under six bridges.

0:24:470:24:52

The giraffe was far too tall in its car to get under each bridge,

0:24:520:24:55

so they created a sliding roof, and as it approached each bridge

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the sliding roof gently closed and the giraffe's head dropped down.

0:25:000:25:04

It went under the bridge,

0:25:040:25:06

and the roof was opened again and he had air once more.

0:25:060:25:09

When zoos were first founded, they were private societies,

0:25:090:25:13

aimed squarely at wealthy amateur naturalists.

0:25:130:25:16

But while London Zoo remained exclusive until 1847,

0:25:160:25:19

Dublin offered public entrance for sixpence right from the start.

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Then, in 1840, the zoo launched penny tickets on Sundays.

0:25:230:25:29

During the 19th century

0:25:290:25:31

when the masses could come here quite cheaply,

0:25:310:25:33

I would love to think they came by train. Did they?

0:25:330:25:35

Initially, it was largely for Dubliners.

0:25:350:25:39

It was a local facility,

0:25:390:25:40

but then we see, in the 1870s and 1880s particularly,

0:25:400:25:43

a whole movement of people coming to Dublin for a day out,

0:25:430:25:47

for a brief period, excursionists, tourists, to come to the zoo,

0:25:470:25:51

and that was clearly evident in the fact that the zoo,

0:25:510:25:54

which had no money, put a lot of money into advertising.

0:25:540:25:58

And in the 1870s they would place every year, for a number of years,

0:25:580:26:02

framed advertisements with lions and tigers

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in 20 railway stations around the country.

0:26:050:26:07

It was no coincidence that lions

0:26:070:26:10

were chosen as the zoo's poster boys.

0:26:100:26:12

In the 19th century, Dublin's lions were renowned,

0:26:120:26:17

as might be judged from the grand former lion house.

0:26:170:26:20

Our lions were so famous that American visitors were known

0:26:200:26:24

to disembark in Cork on the way through to Europe

0:26:240:26:27

and come up by train, by the Great Southern Railway, up to Dublin

0:26:270:26:31

specifically to visit our lions.

0:26:310:26:33

American tourists were mostly headed for London or Liverpool,

0:26:330:26:37

so stopping in Dublin was quite a detour.

0:26:370:26:40

One especially big beast even attracted VIPs.

0:26:400:26:42

In 1878, the zoo's secretary, Samuel Horton,

0:26:420:26:46

showed the lions, including a huge one called Charlie,

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to former US President Ulysses S Grant.

0:26:510:26:54

He lit up a cigar and contemplated Charlie, the extra-large lion,

0:26:540:26:57

and at that point Horton decided to break the ice a bit

0:26:570:27:01

and told the President that, in fact, the lions had been

0:27:010:27:05

responsible for a 2% rise in the value

0:27:050:27:07

of the Great Southern Railway,

0:27:070:27:08

specifically because American tourists

0:27:080:27:10

came to Dublin to have a look at our famous lions.

0:27:100:27:14

Travelling with my guide book is always full of surprises.

0:27:140:27:17

But I never thought that a trip to the zoo would uncover

0:27:170:27:21

quite so much railway history.

0:27:210:27:24

What a joy it's been for me to revisit Dublin's fair city.

0:27:240:27:29

And I'm delighted to discover that two characters helped

0:27:290:27:31

the development of railways in Ireland,

0:27:310:27:35

to whom train passengers should give thanks -

0:27:350:27:39

the engineer, William Dargan, and a lion called Charlie.

0:27:390:27:44

On the next stretch of my journey I'll be discovering

0:27:500:27:53

an industrial railway built on inhospitable bogs...

0:27:530:27:57

What scale of rail operation do you have here?

0:27:570:28:00

Well, in total, we have 600 kilometres of permanent rail line.

0:28:000:28:04

..admiring a marvel of Victorian railway engineering...

0:28:040:28:08

Brendan, it's certainly worth seeing the viaduct from here, isn't it?

0:28:080:28:12

It soars above the town and is a wonderful combination

0:28:120:28:15

of iron and stone.

0:28:150:28:16

..and unearthing extraordinary underground secrets.

0:28:160:28:20

-So now we're at the sharp end.

-Yes, this is where it all happens.

0:28:200:28:23

Just mind your footing. Just follow me is probably the best thing.

0:28:230:28:27

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