Trip to Newgrange and Tara

Saturday Nicole and I took a bus trip north to County Meath to check out Drogheda, Newgrange, and Tara. Our bus driver was quite a colorful individual. His name was John Bolton and he told us extensively about his family history, including that we were obligated to call him "Your Grace" as there had been an archbishop in his family. He talked for basically the entire bus ride with the exception of part of the drive back into Dublin. Two women of considerably advanced age sat in the front seat and laughed at all his jokes.
We stopped several times just north of Dublin so John could show us some old cottages along the road. He explained how they were built by neighbors and friends, and incorporated mud, rock, and thatch. There are a good amount of these fallen-down cottages everywhere, most of them are over 100 years old.
A bit north of Dublin we passed through the town of Drogheda. It's a good sized place in a nice area and a little river running through it. In 1649, Oliver Cromwell came to Drogheda and laid siege to the city as part of his campaign to suppress the Royalist resistance to his anti-Catholic Puritan regime. He ordered his men to put the captured garrison, all Catholic clergy, and a number of other Catholic civilians to the sword. The death-toll was somewhere between 1,000 and 3,500, though most cite the upper limit.

St. Peter's Church in Drogheda, which contains the relics of St. Oliver Plunkett, the last Irishman to be canonized and the latest Irish martyr in several centuries. After Cromwell's terror campaign, the practice of Catholicism was highly illegal, and Plunkett was the Archbishop of Armagh, or the Catholic Primate of Ireland. He continued to carry out his duties until he was arrested, hanged, drawn, and quartered.





Oliver Plunkett's mummified head, on display in St. Peter's.


















For Kyle, who suggested I go to Drogheda.











From Drogheda we moved on toward Co. Meath and stopped to explore the ruins of the monastery at Monasterboice. There is a round tower there, a key feature of Irish monastic sights, as well as several high crosses, which were used to teach stories from the Bible to illiterate parishioners. The tallest high cross in Ireland, as well as one of the best-preserved, are found at Monasterboice.







The first high cross in Monasterboice churchyard, considered one of the best preserved in Ireland.

















The second high cross, and the tallest in Ireland. However, the middle section is not original, so it's not exactly a legit claim.
















A view of the round tower that shows its height.
















From Monasterboice we moved on to Newgrange. We stopped first at the Boyne Valley interpretive center, a really nice facility with a museum and a restaurant. The Boyne Valley is probably the most strategically important location in Ireland. It acted as a kind of "fertile crescent," when the first Irish began farming many thousands of years ago. These people grew in wealth and importance, eventually constructing Newgrange, the largest passage tomb in Ireland and one of the oldest Neolithic constructions in the world at about 3200 BC, before the Pyramids at Giza. The valley continued to be of strategic importance into modern times, after the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, when William of Orange defeated James, solidifying Protestantism in Britain ending the Stuart dynasty, and assuring that Ireland would remain in a penal state for many further generations.


The entrance to the tomb. It goes in a small passage into the center, in a cruciform fashion. The hole at the top is a "lighbox," and at the winter solstice, the rising sun shines into the box and illuminates the inner chamber. They don't allow you to take pictures inside, but the intricate carvings on the rock in front are all over the inside. There are three recesses in the chamber, which rises in a dome of igloo-style rock, covered at the top with a few meters of earth and grass. There were stone basins and urns inside, as the tomb was probably used as a site of renewal, when the cremated dead of the tribe (or maybe just the leaders) was placed inside urns in the chamber for a year, until the life-giving sun god illuminated their remains and sent them forth into the next life. All in all a very cool experience.



After Newgrange we moved on to Tara Hill. Also a site of massive political significance in ancient Ireland, Tara was a ceremonial site and the capital of Ireland when it was ruled by High Kings. From its crest one can supposedly see 16 of Ireland's 32 counties on a clear day. This image shows the Lia Fáil, or stone of destiny, which was touched during the coronation of a High King. It was said that if the rock cried out when touched, a man was fit to be High King. The ceremonies were wedding ceremonies, as a High King was thought of as being wedded to the land of Ireland. If he was doing his duty dishonorably or incompetently, famines, droughts, and disease from his bride Ireland would expose him as an unrighteous ruler and he was deposed. The last High King of Ireland was Brian Boru, who died defeating an army of Vikings in the Battle of Clontarf, 1014.


A statue of St. Patrick on Tara Hill. When Patrick arrived in Ireland in 432, he set about converting pagan customs and beliefs into similar Christian analogs. He lit the first Easter bonfire on Tara hill, which was a violation of Irish law. According to custom, the High King was to light the first bonfire at Tara to begin the pagan fertility festival of Beal Taine, or May Day, and the fire would spread when it was seen by the next watch-hill and another bonfire lit. Patrick's stunt triggered the sequence too early, causing the Irish to unwittingly commemorate Easter. Patrick was brought before the High King to answer for his crime, and there he used a Shamrock to explain the mystery of the Trinity to the King and his court. The rest is history.






A nice view of the waning sun and the view from the top of the hill. It was a bit hazy but it was still a good view of the countryside.











This ditch-thing is referred to as the "feasting hall," but the historian-author-old guy that gave us a slideshow about Tara says he thinks it was just the grand entrance to the palace complex.







After Tara we cruised back to Dublin in time to learn that Ireland lost a close match to France in Paris. Given that French were heavily favored after Ireland's poor showing last week, the 26-21 scoreline was positive for the Irish. The Welsh were victorious against Scotland, giving them a share of first place with the French. England got back on track with a close win over Italy today.
Tennessee had another close shave against LSU, who held us to 40-some-odd points, when we had put up over 100 on Florida. Given that LSU is the worst team in the SEC, it was a discouraging result. Hopefully the team will get this out of their system and have some positive showings before our big showdown against Memphis. A win over them will catapult us into the top-5, and possibly into a 1-seed in the tournament, depending on the performance of other teams.
All in all it was a fun weekend, and the guys had a great time in Amsterdam. The details of their trip are not best suited for a wider audience, so I'll save them. In other news, the assclowns that live beneath us have begun setting off their house alarm. They don't know the code that shuts it off. They may not be alive much longer.
More photos can be seen from my Facebook album.