What a fantastic conference! Probably one of the most interesting I’ve ever attended. The European Mineralogical Conference 2024 was held at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland in the third week of August. I went there as a convener and presenter on the carbonate session but without hardly knowing anyone of the other attendees. Thus at first I really considered whether I had chosen the right conference but during the week I got more and more enthusiastic about all the interesting talks. I learned so much about new and cool science taking place. There are really new frontiers in science right now, one of them being space science, e.g., all the carbonates found on Mars and on asteroids. Who would have thought that a decade ago, all the amazing findings made on Mars today and on other planetary bodies. The conference field trip that I took part in took us to the National Museum of Ireland’s Collections Resource Centre at Swords. Our brilliant and entertaining guide, Dr. Patrick Roycroft made it an unforgettable visit. He guided us through the Geology of Ireland and the highlights of the Irish mineral collection in a couple of hours that felt way too short when we had to depart. We could have spent the whole day there. However, arriving back in Dublin in decent time gave me the chance to do a little bit of sightseeing in Dublin and I went to the Dublinia museum featuring the history of Dublin. It all started with the Vikings, the Norwegian ones that founded Dyflinn/Dublin. Then came the Normans, the English, and the Scots. Ireland has definitely had its share of foreign invaders along with civil war and a huge emigration to the US due to famine. This being my first visit to Ireland, I must confess I didn’t know much about Irish history but I’m glad this visit has accomplished gaining more knowledge. Irish culture and music is another fascinating feature of Ireland, and the following night when the others went to the conference dinner, I went to the Gaiety Theatre to watch the Riverdance. It’s been on my wishlist for decades and it was worth all the money. On the last day of the conference, we had our carbonate session, which I co-convened with Dr. Juan Diego Rodriguez-Blanco and his PhD student Remi Rateau from Trinity College Dublin. I presented our latest results from the ikaite column experiments currently running at the University of Gothenburg and Uli Kunz’ fantastic underwater video from Ikka Fjord. Thanks to Juan Diego and Remi for all the effort to make this a well-functioning and interesting session!
Erik flew in from Iceland that same Friday and directly after the conference, we began our one week of holiday in Ireland. We had a great week and were sincerely impressed by the all the interesting cultural castles and ruins seemingly found everywhere as well as beautiful landscapes, all very green. You understand why this island is called the green emerald. Two days were spent in Cork County at my cousin’s Irish wife’s family. Conor and Audrey welcomed us to their home and arranged a nice Sunday dinner with other O’Keeffe family members. The following day, Conor took us the Cork Midleton Whiskey distillery where we had guided tour by a young girl, who did a great job in explaining all the different parts of the Irish Whiskey production and how it differs from the Scottish Whisky production. I found my new favourite drink in the Jameson-Ginger Ale drink served at the end of the tour. Another highlight of the day was the visit to the Titanic museum in Cobh former Queenstown, the last port in Europe for Titanic before that fatal journey to New York in 1912. With Conor as our guide, we got more insight into Irish history and what drove almost two million Irishmen and women to leave their home country for good in the hope of a better life in America. Thanks to Conor and Audrey for taking so good care of us and spending time on showing us around! Other places we managed to visit were the Cliffs of Moher, the Doolin Cave, Trim Castle, Cashel, Lough Gur and the Grange stone circle, and the Glengowla Mines. Here at this last place we got a chance to witness a super impressive performance of a border collie herding the sheep. Our own smooth collies were very happy to see us again upon return but have as always been in excellent care at Hundpensionat Soläng with Miriam and Bosse.
Photo: Erik Sturkell. Welcome to the Midleton Whiskey Distillery in Cork, home of among others the Jameson Whiskey.Photo: Erik Sturkell. Gabrielle in front of the Jameson Whiskey barrels and looking happy 🙂Photo: Erik Sturkell. Irish Whiskey in Midleton, famous for its triple distilling process.Photo: Erik Sturkell. The test laboratory with its tripple distillery.Photo: Erik Sturkell. The recipe for my new favourite drink, Jameson, Ginger & Lime 🙂Photo: Erik Sturkell. The cathedral in Cobh.Photo: Erik Sturkell. The ruins of the once grand Cashel (https://www.cashel.ie).Photo: Erik Sturkell. The other side of Cashel.Photo: Erik Sturkell. Cashel seen from a distance.Photo: Erik Sturkell. Gabrielle at the visitor centre and archaeological site of Lough Gur (https://www.loughgur.com).Photo: Erik Sturkell. The lake of Lough Gur.Photo: Erik Sturkell. The Grange stone circle of Lough Gur (https://www.loughgur.com/grange-stone-circle/)Photo: Erik Sturkell. Gabrielle inside the Grange Stone Circle – Ireland’s Stonehenge.Photo: Erik Sturkell. The Cliffs of Moher (https://www.cliffsofmoher.ie) with the Atlantic ocean at its neighbour, which reminded us a lot of Iceland.Photo: Erik Sturkell. The Cliffs of Moher looking in the other direction towards the lighthouse.Photo: Erik Sturkell. Pip, the fantastic and enthusiastic 2 year old Border Collie collecting the sheep from a nearby pasture at Glengowla Mines (https://glengowlamines.ie/index.htm).Photo: Erik Sturkell. Pip lay down… once she had brought the sheep to the farmer, she had a little bit difficulty letting them go again 🙂Photo: Erik Sturkell. But she managed to nicely line them up.Photo: Gabrielle. At the Dublinia museum (https://www.dublinia.ie) they feature the Danish Viking ship ‘Havhingsten’ aka ‘the Sea Stallion from Glendalough‘ who made the replica journey to Dublin in 2014.Photo: Erik Sturkell. Trinity College Dublin, where the European Mineralogical Conference (https://emc-2024.org) was held.Photo: Erik Sturkell. Trinity College Dublin (https://www.tcd.ie), an old university founded in 1592.Photo: Gabrielle. I was lucky and got accommodation at the Trinity College during the conference. It felt like being a student again. 🙂Photo: Gabrielle. First morning of our holiday started with a nice breakfast at the local café in Malahide.Photo: Gabrielle. We stayed the first two nights in Malahide north of Dublin.Photo: Gabrielle. Super nice accommodation at the Malahide Guest Rooms – highly recommended!Photo: Gabrielle. The cozy dining room at Malahide Guest Rooms (https://www.malahideguestrooms.ie).Photo: Gabrielle. Erik enjoying the view towards Trim castle (https://heritageireland.ie/places-to-visit/trim-castle/).Photo: Gabrielle. An impressive Norman castle, famous for serving scenes for the movie ‘Braveheart’.Photo: Gabrielle. The entrance to Trim Castle.Photo: Gabrielle. Trim Castle seen from a distance.Photo: Gabrielle. We had a nice lunch at a pub in the vicinity of Trim Castle. Notice the Guinness sign behind Erik.Photo: Gabrielle. Another ruin next to Trim castle at the other side of River Boyne.Photo: Gabrielle. The Loughcrew Megalithic Cemetery (https://heritageireland.ie/places-to-visit/loughcrew-megalithic-cemetery/) – a 3000 BC neolithic site.Photo: Gabrielle. Another stone circle at Loughcrew.Photo: Gabrielle. There is a spectacular green landscape around the highhill tombs of Loughcrew.Photo: Gabrielle. Heading towards Cork county, we had lunch here Corbett Court.Photo: Gabrielle. Horses are important part of Irish culture, too.Photo: Gabrielle. Family visit to Conor and Audrey’s beautiful home and garden.Photo: Gabrielle. Conor served us true Irish breakfast 🙂Photo: Gabrielle. Conor being a former tourist guide was good at explaining Irish history, here visiting a cemetery with important historical monuments.Photo: Gabrielle. You can tell how inspired the Scandinavian Vikings must have been by Celtic culture.Photo: Gabrielle. Monday morning at the Midleton distillery for a guided tour.Photo: Gabrielle. They have a huge selection of different whiskeys, some of them really pricy.Photo: Gabrielle. You can buy your own share of whiskey in a barrel.Photo: Gabrielle. The older the whiskey, the more it evaporates and the darker the colour.Photo: Gabrielle. There is a whole science department at Midleton.Photo: Gabrielle. The tasting at the end of the tour was popular.Photo: Gabrielle. The port of Cobh with a statue of the first Irish emigrants going to America. This woman was the first person/Irish to be registered on Ellis Island outside New York.Photo: Gabrielle. When you enter the Titanic museum in Cobh (https://www.titanicexperiencecobh.ie) you get a copy of a real ticket to RMS Titanic in the name of a real person who was on that journey. At the end of the tour, you can read more about that person’s history and whether or not he/she survived. Photo: Gabrielle. The ship’s bell.Photo: Gabrielle. Father Browne, the nephew of an Irish bishop departed Titanic in Cobh and thereby probably saved his life, but he took several photos on the journey from England to Ireland. The photo above is of Titanic’s Sea Captain Edward J. Smith (to the right) and Chief Purser Hugh W. McElroy (left). More info about the photos here: https://www.irishstar.com/culture/nostalgia/gallery/pictures-last-known-photos-titanic-30292519Photo: Gabrielle. A model of RMS Titanic – a luxury liner of the time even for 3rd class passengers.Photo: Gabrielle. Conor and Audrey’s cute dog Alfie.Photo: Gabrielle. A view from the kitchen to the beautiful garden.Photo: Gabrielle. Conor working in the kitchen preparing breakfast.Photo: Gabrielle. This was the perfect kind of breakfast for Erik!Photo: Gabrielle. The café where he had lunch next to Cashel.Photo: Gabrielle. The Lough Gur lake park area.Photo: Gabrielle. My photos of Grange Stone Circle.Photo: Gabrielle. My selfie of us inside the Grange Stone Circle.Photo: Gabrielle. Some additional information about the Grange Stone Circle.Photo: Gabrielle. My photos of the Cliffs of Moher.Photo: Gabrielle. It was quite windy at the Cliffs of Moher, just like in Iceland when you are next to the Atlantic Ocean.Photo: Gabrielle. The impressive stalactite in the Doolin Cave (https://doolincave.ie), being 7 meters long and weighing 10 tons!Photo: Gabrielle. The dark side of the stalactite is the ‘dead’ side where no new calcite is being added, whereas the white side is continuously growing with new calcite being precipitated.Photo: Gabrielle. The same family have lived and worked as farmers for generations on the land at the Glengowla Mines, using herding dogs. They have four Border Collies, Pip being the youngest.Photo: Gabrielle. All four Border collies at the farm are shorthaired border collies. Don’t know if there was an advantage for them in being shorthaired.Photo: Gabrielle. This area is famous for the Connemara Marble.Photo: Gabrielle. We can highly recommend a visit to the Glengowla Mines (https://glengowlamines.ie), both the mine itself and the herding dog demonstration!
