I went to Church the other evening.  It was very different to my previous visits.  Yes there was an organ, stained glass windows. and ‘Our Leader’ said a few words…

My visit has taught me humility!

Remember I was boastful about adding the photos from my phone to my laptop?  Well for my sins, I lost half of them this time. 🙁  The window above was the only survivor!

Formerly St Mary’s Church of Ireland, it was built at the beginning of the 18th century and an early example of a galleried church with a Renatus Harris built organ.  St Mary’s closed for worship in 1964.  Finally this ‘List 1’ building was purchased by John Keating it was extensively and sympathetically restored over a seven year period.  The present owners renamed it The Church and it is a must visit for any trip to Dublin.

So who was there before us…….  ( I don’t mean last week!)

Arthur Guinness founder of Guinness brewery was married there in 1761

Sean O’Casey playwright and author of ‘The Plough & The Stars’, ‘Juno & The Paycock’ and Shadow of a Gunman’ was baptised there in 1880.

John Wesley founder of the Methodist Church delivered his first Irish sermon there in 1747.

Handel‘s Messiah was first performed in Dublin in April 1742 and he regularly used the Renatus Harris built organ to practice!

Have you ever noticed how the voices in the next room always seem to be having more fun?  Of course, if you are having fun where you are, the voices in the next room never register.

I heard of a room full of fun about to happen in The Church in Dublin and I was determined to join in this time.  That Jason is a grand lad, it was all his idea:

“…. we decided to run another Blogger-Twitter-Whatever (BTW) meetup”.

The plan was to meet in the The Church Bar (Dublin) at 7pm on Thursday 29th July.  The friendly guys over at Blacknight sponsored some drinks and the venue The Church offered to top up the tab and provide free finger food.  It was delicious and disappeared faster than lightening!  Now add to that a great mix of people and it became a banquet of fun friendships and laughter – some at my expence!:lol:

I added faces to many names and met new people.  I talked, listened, laughed and I learned how to play with an iPad!  People gave me contact details on business cards, One guy apologised while handing me a sheet of paper.  Right in the centre of the page was what looked like a puzzle.  Elly who was hovering on the periphery, as she always does when I chat up the Toyboys, began to laugh out loud and said “Mum show Jamie your ‘southern mobile phone’.  Ever the good mother, I produced the phone and the whole circle of people burst out laughing’.

Why were they laughing at me?  Since my normal mobile phone is from the UK and while in the South the calls are charged at an international rate, I keep this old phone with a pay-as-you-go SIM card for all local calls and text messaging.

Jamie’s piece of paper had what looked like a chopped up and randomly pieced together bar code.  Bar codes I am familiar with.

All barcodes that start with
690.691.692 until 695 are all MADE IN CHINA.
471 is Made in Taiwan
00 – 13: are Made in USA & Canada
50: is made in United Kingdom
539: is made in Ireland
890: is made in India

BUT, and there was a big But; Jamie’s puzzle was a QR Code. It was the first I had come across and since I did not have a smartphone, I was unable to read the matrix barcode!  You see I might be good for a laugh… but I learned something on Thursday.

Thank you Jason for organising the BTW and Hi to all the guys and gals that I met!  I am already looking forward to the next one!