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