On the Viking Trail in Dublin City Centre
The cache is not at the posted coordinates.
In order to find the location of this cache you must complete the 5 stages of "The Viking Trail in Dublin City Centre" Adventure Lab caches and collect some information.
I recommend you start the adventure caches in the "Woodquay end".
Each stage will give you a number to use in the formula below. The bonus cache and the adventure lab caches are available 24/7.
To play The Adventure Lab Game, download the Adventure Lab App to your phone and use your phone's native QR code scanner to open this adventure in the Adventure Lab mobile app, or share the following URL:
https://labs.geocaching.com/goto/f5c481ac-0e01-496e-860b-24526af459aa
Visiting Dublin today is to visit a city founded by Vikings in the 9th century! Walking along the streets means following in the footsteps of these intrepid sea-faring people. Look out for commemorative pavings and hints as you stroll the streets. Along with the streets and sites other places to visit to complete your Viking experience in Dublin are recommended.
Remains of Viking Dublin have been found in several locations near Temple Bar, the city’s thriving hub of bars and restaurants, and many of the streets layout and names date back to the Viking Age. Temple Bar was once a major marketplace for Viking traders and beneath these streets lay the remains of houses, roads, animal enclosures and graves. .
The Steine or Long Stone, Ivar the Boneless' Pillar can be found at the intersection of Pearse and College Streets, north of Trinity College. The original pillar was erected by the Vikings on the banks of the river to prevent their longships from running aground. It originally stood 12 to 14 feet high, and was probably erected in the 10th or 11th century. It was removed before 1750. The present stone was carved by Clíodna Cussen and erected in 1986. The faces commemorate Ivar, one of Dublin’s Viking rulers of the 9th century, and the local convent of The Virgin Mary de Hogges, founded by Diarmuid Mac Murchada, who sought help from Henry II as the Normans began to arrive in the 1170s.
Fishamble Street is thought to be the oldest street in the city leading as it goes straight down to Woodquay, the site of an extensive Viking settlement, stretching from Winetavern Street to Fishamble Street. Excavations here by Dublin Corporation between 1974 and 1981 revealed much of what we know today about their time here.
The Vikings used copper to make barrels, kegs and churns. Wood turners could also produce containers such as bowls, cups, dishes, ladles and spoons. Wooden items were also decorated and stylised heads would have been common on crooks of sticks and ship fittings.
It leads to Christchurch Cathedral, which is thought to have been founded by Sitric Silkenbeard, King of Dublin around 1028 and would have been linked to the maze of medieval streets and buildings at that time.
Dublinia
Connected to Christ Church Cathedral by a medieval footbridge is Dublinia, which features a Viking exhibit. In this exciting interpretive centre you can learn about Viking homes, pastimes, skills and weaponry, and get to try on their clothes! It is said they introduced trousers to Ireland.
Dublinia is located in Dublin city centre at the crossroads of St Michael's Hill, Patrick St, and High Street. The original footbridge was built in wood by Sitric Silkenbeard, King of Dublin, in 1028. Just around the corner from Christchurch Cathedral is Winetavern Street, along which is set the full-size outline of a Viking house, complete with hearth and outside lavatory.
Located in the heart of the city in Dublin City Council Civic Offices, Wood Quay, City Wall Space is a conference, meeting, exhibition and performance facility featuring a stretch of the original Hiberno Norse (Viking) City Wall dating from 1100AD. Two significant stretches of this phase of the north end of the city wall survive in a modern context along the south side of Cook Street and here in the Wood Quay Venue. Extensive archaelogical digs took place here in the 1970s and revealed many interesting Viking finds now on display in the National Museum.
Excavations that took place at Wood Quay uncovered one of the world's most important Viking sites. A large town of over 200 buildings was revealed as well as quays and part of the original city walls. Thousands of artefacts including leather materials, weapons, ceramics and metal work were also unearthed. From these finds archaeologists were able to put together a detailed picture of Viking life in medieval Dublin. Wood Quay is, however, most famous for the huge protests starting in 1978 to preserve what would ultimately be significant Viking finds. Plans were made, and followed through, to build Dublin City Council's offices over this important Viking settlement, right at the historic core of Dublin. Thousands of people took to the streets to display their outrage at these plans. Sadly it did not stop the building, but what it did do was allow for more time to carry out excavations on the Viking site. A number of bronze plaques depicting the artefacts can be seen at the locations they were supposedly found.
At the National Museum of Ireland on Kildare Street you will find the largest collection of artefacts uncovered from the Wood Quay site including a vast array of weaponry, jewellery, combs, and silver as well as a model of a Viking ship. The National Wax Museum just off College Green also has a section on Vikings.
Dublin Castle
The original medieval castle was constructed in 1171, but much of it has been replaced over the centuries. Most of what stands today dates from the 18th century. The castle is believed to be the site of the first Viking Longphort in Dublin. Also, Dame Street recalls the fact that it used to be part of the Liffey Estuary until a dam was built here. This meeting point between the River Liffey and the River Poddle meant it was an excellent place for the Vikings to settle and build their first Irish longphort in 841.
Below the Castle, excavations have uncovered parts of the structure of the medieval castle alongside the remains of some of Viking Dublin’s original defences. These defences take the form of a stone covered embankment, a section of which has been preserved within the massive circular walls of the thirteenth-century Powder Tower. Visible to visitors is a section of the Castle’s medieval curtain wall with a postern gate and a set of steps that led down to the original moat.
Recent discoveries
There have been more recent discoveries of Viking settlements in Dublin. A well-preserved Viking-era terrace was discovered on a site in Dean Street near the city centre, on the site of plans for a new hotel. The find uncovered a treasure trove of artefacts, including copper alloy, a decorated stick pin, a 12th century copper alloy key and worked bone objects.
In very recent time archaeologists discovered the remains of a 1,000 year old medieval house during the construction of a supermarket in Aungier Street. Rather than excavate the items and build on top of the site, the store installed glass flooring that provides shoppers with a literal window into history. Through one panel shoppers can see the remains of the 18th Century Aungier Theatre staircase. At another section of the store, you can peer at a sunken floored structure dated to the 11th century. The Longford Street Arches, which also date from the 18th century, can also be viewed from within the store.
This cache:
The information required to obtain coordinates for the location of this cache can be found in The Viking Trail in Dublin City Centre Adventure Lab caches as explained above on this page. The correct answers to the 5 questions will supply you with information to use in the formula below:
N53 20.ABC W006 15.BDE