Dublin: Finding Our Inner Scorsese!

We “garls” have had a wonderful time these last three days getting to see the sights and sounds of the fair city of Dublin.  Rick Steves and the folks at Fitbit would have been proud of the number of steps we took in our quest to see all things Dublin including Trinity Church, the Book of Kells, Christchurch and St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the Guinness Storehouse. But our time together was not all about fun and learning—we had work to do and movies to make!

Eight months ago, Pat, a 40 year, recently retired English teacher began her own YouTube channel, “Book Chat with Pat.” The channel with more than 1800 followers, covers a panoply of literary topics, including the works of many famous Irish authors.  Pat hoped to film a set of “shorts,” videos of less than a minute, highlighting as many of these well-known authors as possible.  The problem was that the idea was a great concept, but the details had been, shall we say, less than fleshed out.  

Although bleary-eyed, on the morning we arrived we stumbled across a wonderful exhibit on W.B Yeats at the National Library of Ireland. We were all in awe of this amazing find, which included overviews of the poet’s life, original poems in the author’s own hand, his eye glasses and even a lock of his hair! It would have been a great place to film Pat’s first short…had any of the three of us thought of it.  But we didn’t. In retrospect, I am blaming this missed opportunity on the unaccommodating accommodations on Aer Lingus. 

In fact, our filming “plan” did not come together until late-afternoon on our last day in Dublin.  After a busy morning, and an awfully long lunch break, we decided to return to the Library to see if we could film a bit of the exhibit while Pat talked about Yeats.  We should have done a little less chatting at lunch because by the time we returned to the Library, it had just closed! Fortunately, we were not deterred by a locked door because we just readjusted the plan to film the short in front of the picture of Yeats that was on the sign in front of the Library. 

And that’s when our filming problems began.

Although the film would be less than one minute, 5 pm on a Monday afternoon in the heart of the largest city in the Republic of Ireland may not have been the optimal time to film. After 40 years of talking over high school students, Pat has a strong voice but it could not compete with the Dublin buses and emergency vehicles all of which appeared to be on Kildare Street at that very moment.  

And then there was Pat’s “rag-tag film crew,” i.e. June and me. I think it is fair to say that we were not up to the task for this first short as we couldn't figure out how best to hold the phone camera, capture both Pat’s face and voice and the photo of Yeats, all while trying to film between moving commuter buses. Also, our “on-off” mojo was completely off. I was the cameraman and we filmed several unsuccessful takes with either Pat talking and me not filming or vice-versa.

After five or six takes, we moved on down the street to the home of Bram Stoker, the author of “Dracula.” Here, our problems continued. I was only able to capture both Pat’s face and the sign marking the home when I filmed from the street.  It was about 5:20 pm and the traffic had yet to die down. But that did not deter us. June then took over as traffic monitor to ensure that I was not mowed down by an oncoming bus. June’s other big role was to play “understudy” for Pat so that she could look through the phone camera to ensure that I was capturing just the right “view.” 

We finally made the long trek back to the hotel, each of us feeling quite bedraggled. We entered our room, took off our Hokas and collapsed on the beds. Pat however, always the professional, immediately began reviewing the films we made. While the Stoker piece cut the muster, the Years attempt was a bust. We then discussed whether we should go back to the Library gate and start again. The discussion as to whether or not we should return began with each of us describing our current medical maladies. While June’s feet were killing her, Pat’s and my backs were screaming “NO” to an additional 1.5 mile walk. Pat, who describes herself as directionally challenged, asked whether the restaurant was near the Yeats exhibit. As the restaurant was located practically across the street from the hotel, the answer to that was a “big no.”

While still a bit weary, I remembered that during our group’s Dublin bus tour that morning, our guide Sheila, told us that Jonathan Swift, the author of “Gulliver’s Travels,” was the dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. We couldn’t have been luckier because the cathedral was located just around the corner from our hotel! We could check off Swift from the list of authors and keep our body aches and complaints to a minimum. We all immediately put on our shoes, took two Tylenol and headed out the door.

Time was not on our side as darkness descended and we knew we needed to film quickly. While the traffic had dissipated, we still had trouble getting the job done. Even though June’s and my filming had improved exponentially in the few short hours since our initial short, our struggles continued. We soon got the impression that the Dubliners passing by us had never seen a film being made because every one of the proceeded to walk in front of us while we were filming! We had so many retakes that I don’t think I will ever forget Pat saying over and over again, “Swift was the dean of the cathedral from 1713 until his death in 1745 and that he likely lived a long life due to his commitment to exercise and cleanliness!” I recognize that Dublin is their town but after about our seventh unsuccessful take, I was ready to scream, “Would it kill you to walk around us!?” Fortunately, at least for Swift, our mission was eventually accomplished but now we are trying to figure out how we are going to find the time tore-film the Yeats short! 

This morning we are traveling south of Dublin, through beautiful County Wicklow to visit Glendalough, Waterford and Kilkenny. I am a little nervous to ask Pat whether or not any famous authors come from these areas….