Is this Friday?? Oh Yeah we're at New Grange.

Well as much fun as we have had it's Friday and we are really beat and I think just about ready for home.  Today, however, we are at a site that is a UNESCO world heritage site and is actually older than the pyramids of Egypt.
This is actually part of a complex of 3 tombs built by the first people to live in Ireland almost 5,000 years ago. It is believed that when people died they were cremated and once each year to great ceremony their ashes were taken inside the tomb.

The lower entrance is a passage to the tombs where the remains would have been taken. The upper entrance is a shaft which penetrates to the deepest part of the tomb, and once each year on the winter solstice as the sun comes over the horizon a beam of sunlight enters the tomb.  It goes through the upper shaft and lights a symbol at the very back of the tomb. It only happens once each year, and some say it was used as a way of marking time. Others say that part of the ancient faith involved veneration of the Sun God Lugh.  Each year Lugh entered the tomb and gathered the souls of those who had died the previous year. A somewhat romantic notion, but just as acceptable as any other theory. You can go into the tomb which we did but photographs and video are strictly forbidden because of the fragility of some of the ancient artwork inside.

We had absolutely wonderful weather today so we traveled along the Boyne Valley taking in the scenery and getting some great nature shots.

Until we arrived at Monasterboyce site of one of the greatest remaining collections of medieval high crosses left in Ireland. I'll show you that later.

Wednesday and Thursday

 Well for the past two days we have been tramping all over some of the greatest historical sites in the nation. Yesterday we went to Clonmacnoise the monastic community founded by St. Ciaran in the 9th century and destroyed, for the glory of God, by the Puritan Oliver Cromwell.  After he murdered all the remaining monks and nuns of course.

 It is also home to some of the oldest and best preserved of the Irish High Crosses.  We learned something interesting today about the ring holding up the arms of the cross. You will note that the center of the cross is formed primarily of curved lines and of course there is the ring itself.  It is believed they were carved this way because the Celts thought evil spirits live in corners. So everything  is rounded. Which also explains the round towers found at most of these ancient sites.

We got back late last night and were entirely to tired to mess with this electronic beast.

Well today started out in Dublin at the statue of every body's favorite fish monger Molly Malone. This statue was built to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of Dublin's founding. Getting a look at the young ladies cleavage she was promptly renamed "The Tart with the Cart". From here we caught a bus to the Wicklow Mountains (from whence the water for Guiness comes) and the great pilgramage  site of Glendalough.

Glendalough was founded by St. Kevin the Gentle around the same time as Clonmacnoise and is still to this day a site of pilgrimage and retreat for people from around the world. The name translates as "The glen between two lochs and was sacked numerous times by the Celts, Vikings, and English before finally being destroyed by Cromwell. It is however believed to this day that one may acquire a bit of good luck by touching the "Redemption Stone" located just in side the front gate.

The Redemption Stone. This was where you needed to be if you needed sanctuary. Once you made it to this site and touched the stone you were safe from harm. Tomorrow we are off for New Grange to explore the pagan past. I need to gather some sacred herbs and a few grams of soil from under the old holy site. I figure if this whole Christian thing doesn't work out I'll at least have a fall back. Before I forget though.

Happy Arthur's Day to one and all. This day commemorates the birthday of Sir Arthur Guiness and is regarded as an unofficial holiday in Ireland. This evening at 5:58 PM Wren and I were in the Temple Bar district of  Dublin with about 5,000 other folks to raise a pint in honor of Sir Arthur.  Considering the soccer hooligans, Euro Punks, businessmen, and tourists it was an event not to be missed.

Slainte

She Said -- Tuesday. Roscommon and the West Lands

Wren here.  We went 'Off Roading' today, off the beaten track.  Rick wanted to see Roscommon, the home where his paternal grandfather grew up before emigrating to the States.  He'll tell you about his take on that at a later time.  It is a typical Irish postcard of a town, where the residents speak Gaelic and herds of school children walk home for their noon meal.  From there, we picked the scenic route on the GPS and got immediately lost in beautiful countryside. Here is a picture of Rick in the tiny car we rented, to give you an idea of its size. . . . . so that when I show you a picture of said car on a little road we followed,
 

you will understand that
1) The roads are definitely NOT designed for cars and
2) We were in quite a fix when we ran into someone coming at us in the other direction.  On this road, however, we DID find the remains of an old church.  It was almost a surreal experience, with the 1,000 old  ruin here, cows and sheep grazing in the distance.  It is sobering to realize that the people who built the church are long gone, the names on the grave stones in the church yard long washed away, but the God in which they put their trust  back then is the same in which we trust today.  We took in scenery like this for the rest of the day, then came back to the hotel to crash.  Tomorrow, more west country.  We've booked some day trips for Thursday and Friday.  I hate to say it, but then Saturday we head off for home again.

A day in Gallway

Got off to our usual start this morning, and drove the entire way from the east coast to the west coast in two and one half hours.  Not to bad for a couple of beginners, and we ended up in one of the oldest and best preserved cities in Ireland. Gallway is an ancient sea port and trading outpost founded, you guessed it folks, by the Vikings. It's most noteworthy feature is the fact the the old city wall is still intact over large areas of the city. They just built the new city around it.

 

By far the largest structure in town, which can be seen from anywhere is the great Cathedral of Gallway Which originally was designed to hold 2,000 worshippers for daily services.

 The one event which has left a deep and permanent scar on the national character was the Great Famine, which we refer to as The Starving Time.  Gallway was the port many of our people used to flee to new lands in search of a better life.  The folks back home have never forgotten, and you see memorials to it everywhere.

 

But being a college town you notice all the things we have in common both here aand across the pond in the States.  Culture really does travel around the world.

 

So  as I close out today I just want to show one of us alive and well  because tomorrow we are sleeping in after driving the whole way across the country in one day we are beat.

    

She said (Day 2 in Dublin)

Wren here at the computer tonight.  We spent another day in Dublin.  Typical of Irish weather, it was a glorious sunny day . . . .  several times today, usually for about 15 minutes at a shot.  The rest of the time was various stages of misty to pouring buckets.  Needless to say, both of us, in spite of the fact that we were having a blast, suffered from bad hair day today.

We started the day today trying to drive to the Park and Ride because it was raining too hard to walk the half mile to the light rail station.  All I can say about that is that I am glad it is Rick and not I driving on the wrong side of the road, on roads that were designed by Spyrograph and driven by complete EEDGITS, while listening to a GPS that sounds like an Uptight Julie Andrews.  Phrases like "Please keep to the pink route on the screen" from her were often answered by Gaelic responses from the driver.  The difference, I would say, between USA and Ireland, is that in the USA, we'd have gotten some interesting comments from other motorists.  Here, we get people looking at us and shaking their heads with a sad expression on their faces.

We finally parked and WALKED, took the rail.  Our first stop was St. Patrick's Cathedral, where we communed in an 800 year old cathedral church built near the reported site of St. Patrick's well, where he baptized the nobility and other converts in the 5th century.

Our next stop was a museum called "Dublinia", which depicted the Viking and Medieval history of the city.  Rick has some great shots from that I'm sure he will be sharing at a later time.

Dublin Castle was our next stop. Originally built by the Royals to provide PRESENCE while they were in Dublin on matters of English Rule, it was turned over to the Republic of Ireland when the southern counties gained independent status.  It was here that, after Hurricane Charlie knocked down an old tower once used for storing gunpowder, that fascinating archeological artifacts were found depicting the city's life dating back to the Vikings.  More recently, we found evidence of Rick's ancestry connections dating to 1800.

After all of that walking and fun, we came back to the Hotel for a quick bite, and now we are winding down.  Tomorrow Galway.

P.S.  I'm glad we have separate beds.  The Irish are usually smaller than my 6 foot plus Celt.  The beds don't come in King Size.  (Tomorrow I want to get a picture of him next to the Hot Wheels micro car we rented from Hertz.

Just enough energy left to spend the day in Dublin

We had just enough energy left to spend a few hours in Dublin before crashing for the day.  We both have been up for 24 hours straight and there wasn't much left.

 

It turns out that the Red Cow is actually a district outside of Dublin where the stockyards used to be.

This is the famous Half Penny bridge.  It is the first iron bridge over the river Liffey, which flows through the center of Dublin. In case you haven't guessed yet the name comes from the 1/2 penny toll you paid to cross.

O'Connell Square in the heart of Dublin... I wonder what the Great Liberator Daniel O'Connell thinks about the secular city his image over looks.

A great place for lunch in Temple Bar.
Well we are off to the hotel for a much needed sleep. Tomorrow we are worshiping at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, and then it's off to spend the day in this ancient capital city. Founded in the year 988 by of all people the Vikings.

Well we made it

After a long day in the airport, a five and 1/2 hour flight, the paperwork at the rental car company we finally made it to our hotel room with only one argument, and we're all checked in.  Driving on the left is a real adjustment, but the good news is I only did one dumb thing on the road (which would have gotten me a major fine in the States).  So far so good.  Now for a cup of tea and we are off to hop the light rail into center city. 

Just in case of difficulties.

This will make it easy to identify the bodies when I make that wrong turn off the cliff.  LOL

T-minus 2 hours and counting

The Bags are packed, the passports ready the dogs are worried.  In two hours we hit the road its finally here, and if we haven't packed it we'll just have to buy it in Ireland. You can hear the baying of the suffering hounds all the way from Horton's in Schoeneck.

Getting Ready to go.

Just a couple of days before we take off.  All the last minute little details to worry over.  It is starting to feel real now. This is probably one of the most recognized symbols of Ireland other than the shamrock, and it's a good image to start our trip with.  Here's hoping God makes it a safe journey, watches over us while we are there, and brings us home again to share great times and stories with our friends.  We'll keep you posted.