Last night when we went to bed in Drogheda (pronounce as if there was no "g") the sky was clear and the stars were out for our viewing for the first time. This morning and for the entire day it has been cloudy with no breaks and with a persistent threat of rain. It had rained earlier this morning before we awoke and before school began for our neighbors next to the Scholars Townhouse. The ground was still wet when we left.
Our first stop was to be at Newgrange. We plugged the necessary info into our GPS, sat back, and away we drove. We passed the area of the Battlefield of the Boyne River where 60,000 forces struggled against each other in 1690. This was the battle in which William of Orange (Protestant) defeated James II (Catholic) for the rule of Ireland. James II retreated to France and the seeds for the eventual divisions in Ireland were planted. We continued on our way and followed directions from the voice within the box. Well, we travelled some of the narrowest and muddiest roads (previous rain and farm tractors) we had yet faced. Finally we reached Newgrange only to learn that we were not welcome. Not quite in those terms but the pleasant lady at the admission office wondered out loud how we had arrived where we did. We quickly blamed our presence on Garmin. She told us we had to travel 20 minutes back to a reception center from which location we would be bussed to the site at Newgrange. Personal vehicles were verboten. She also indicated that to enter the passage grave and visit the monuments guided by the required tour guide would take an additional hour. The more she talked, the less time we had. We decided to move next to the Hill of Slane.
From a previous posting you should remember the Hill of Tara (cows, sheep and others) where the Druids held their celebrations, crowned their kings and held forth in Ireland for centuries. That was until St. Patrick arrived. In 433, St. Patrick decided he would build the Easter eve Pascal fire on "The Hill of Slane" which was located in sight of the Hill of Tara. The Druids under King Langhaire would have their own fires on the Hill of Tara but in seeing the Easter eve Pascal fire the Druids knew there was a "new kid on the block." In fact, it was not long after that some of the Druid pagans were converted to Christianity and St. Patrick's influence was cemented. The present ruins include an early 15th century church and a monastery (undated) but which had predated the church. Again, driving to this site was not easy. Road sign postings are not good and you are left with the impression that there is an effort to diminish some of these religious sites. The signage which is provided on the sites seems religious neutral and it seems there is some secularization ongoing in Ireland as well. Nevertheless, each year on Holy Saturday the Pascal Fire is rekindled on the same spot by locals.
Now it was time to travel to Dublin. It was smooth going all the way and traffic was not a problem. In arriving at Brownes, now Bentleys, we were greeted by a host of photographers. It didn't take long to learn that they were not there for us. Bentleys is next to the Anglo Irish Bank and in recent days we have learned the the financial problems in Ireland are as great, if not worse, than ours. One of the culprits: the Anglo Irish Bank. Today the fraud Garde (police) were executing a search warrant at the bank and we just happened to be there at the right (?) time. We unloaded, I moved the car to a parking garage and they were still there. We fooled around in the room before going for a walk and for dinner and they were still there. We came back from dinner and some of them were still there. Before unloading, I jumped out with my camera and started shooting some pics too. Nobody said anything but if they had I would have told them I was from the Journal Messenger.
For dinner we returned to O'Neills (went there the first night on the crawl) where we both enjoyed a LARGE bowl of Irish Beef Stew cooked in Guinness. On top of the stew healthy helpings of vegetables were added. My choices included mashed potatoes, cooked carrots (hello Amy), and cooked peas (again). Delicious! and filling. As if the cooking with Guinness wasn't enough we added a pint glass to share. We staggered home to Bentleys and although we had talked about walking the pub area tonight (Shrove Tuesday) I think we've decided to stay in our room. I think I will continue working on some of the other pics I've taken so that I might get that much closer to filling in some of the holes in the blog. Some of the "plugs" may need to be made after we return home.
The Pics (suffering from a thick cloud cover)
Newgrange (the burial chambers) from a distance as we could not enter.
The Hill of Slane with the remains of the church to the left and the monastery remains on the right.
The church with a statue of St. Patrick in the left foreground.
Again, remains of the church.
Another angle and pic of the church.
Looking across from the Hill of Slane to what we believed to be the Hill of Tara. My telephoto lens and Canon are at home.
Another view of the Hill of Tara (we believe) from the Hill of Slane.
Remnants of the church on the Hill of Slane.
The gentleman is being interviwed by a reporter and we haven't yet identified who he is. The others just hanging about are the photographers.
Til tomorrow (perhaps even later tonight) ...
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