Castles in the Air

Belfast Castle with wedding reception in the garden.

Coat of Arms of the original owners. 

As long as a cat is in residence at the Castle, all visitors will have good luck!

Belfast Castle is on Cave Hill overlooking the city.  It is now a special events venue, owned by the city, with a restaurant and antique shop.  There was a wedding reception the day we visited.  The castle is surrounded by a beautiful city park.

Castle Trim is in the town of Trim, in the South.  It is the best preserved Norman castle in Ireland. Several scenes in Braveheart were filmed here.   Remember the prince's boyfriend being thrown out of the window?  That's Castle Trim.

We passed by Castle Slane, twice, during our visit in the South.  It is still privately owned, with the owners in residence.

Great Danes and Giant Crosses

The Older Dane wasn't sure he should bark or come close for a rub.  Notice the younger one running to see us.

The younger Great Dane making sure we kept moving.

Looking for Mainistir Bhuithe, a cemetery with several giant crosses, we came across two Great Danes.  They were very interested in us, but still didn't want us stopping at their house.  If we had thought to bring some treats, it might have been a different matter entirely.

The remains of a tower behind the cross.  The tower was used to protect valuables when the Vikings were on the rampage.

Through out Ireland there are giant crosses, built in the early Christian era.  They are carved with stories from the Bible, to help educate the heathens.  Many are attributed to St. Patrick, but only 1 or 2 were built during his lifetime.  They are still impressive to see, even if the carvings are rather primitive.

Picture carvings on the cross.

Decorative carving on the side of one cross.

Thisis Muiredach's cross  named for an Abbot who died in 923.  It is 22 feet tall.

Each cross had different stories, but they all had the crucifixion carved on the cross arms.

Antrim Tower

Antrim Tower in the city park.

We have passed near to Antrim tower many times, but we finally made a special trip to find it.  The tower was originally part of a church, long gone.  Now it sits in a lovely city park.  Towers were built as safe houses.  The door was 20+ feet off the ground.  When the Vikings, or some other pests, were coming, all the treasures of the church, plus the locals, food and water were put in the tower and the ladder pulled up inside.  Nothing to burn, nothing to climb, nothing to see.  Move on.

Next to the tower is the Witch's Stone.  Seems a witch was very upset that the tower was being built so she flung herself off in protest.  She landed on a rock, leaving the impression of her elbow.  The depression in the rock always has water in it, even during severe droughts.  I love stories like this!

The Witche's Stone

Yes, it had water in it.

The Coat of Arms for the City of Antrim, dancing deer with swords in their mouths.

St Patrick's Cathedrals of Armagh

The Old St Patrick's Cathedral.

The New St Patrick's Cathedral.

That's right, Catherals, plural.  The older one, originally built in 400, started off Catholic and changed when Henry VIII wished to divorce his wives, so it is now Church of Ireland.  The newer one, only 140 years old, is Catholic.  Both are beautiful buildings.

The older cathedral is the last resting place of Brian Boru, the first king of all Ireland.  Along one wall sit several iron age stone statues.  One is King Labhraidh Loingseach, who had ears like a donkey.  Another is Nuadha Lamhairgil, who successfully invaded Ireland, but had his arm cut off in the process.  The original inhabitants, not liking the new rulers, retreated to the Aran Islands   Oh, and Nuadha had himself a new arm made out of silver.  It's good to be king.

Labhraidh Loingseach showing off his donkey ears.

Nuadha Lamhairgil holding his detached arm.

We thought this one looked like a bear, but there aren't any bears here now.

In the back of the cathedral is the military chapel with the banners of the troops on display.  Several were presented by Queen Victoria to her Irish Regiments.  There is also a small wooden cross that was brought back from the Battles of Somme in WW1.  The Irish troops suffered unusually heavy casualties, but were also known for their bravery.

Regimental Banners in the Military Chapel.

The cross from Somme Battles.

The newer cathedral doesn't have the historical artifacts.  It does have beautiful tile work on the floors and walls.  One item it has which we have never seen before in any of the many, many cathedrals we have visited over the years; an electric votive wall for prayers.  Instead of getting a candle for your 50p, you get to flip the switch on the votive light of your choice.  We wondered if they were on a timer.

Tile work in the Sanctuary.

The Electric Votive Wall!

Three Ancient Irish Places

The Boyne Valley, full of Irish History.

The Hill of Tara is one of the most revered sites in Ireland.  It has always been considered a place of great power, both spiritual and political.  This is were the High Kings came to be crowned.  This is were the Druids held power, and the Head Druid still visits.  The Hill contains 2 rings, with chambers underneath, a mound, where you can see inside the chamber, and a smaller ring to one side.  All is now covered in grass.

Standing stone on the Hill of Tara.

On one edge of the site is a tree covered in offerings, bits of string, keychains, shoestrings, business cards, papers.  I decide to weave some pieces of grass into a wee braid and tie it to a branch. You never know....

The Hill of Tara. 

Finding Newgrange was a challenge.  They have built a gorgeous new visitor's center, while changing the way the access and tours are handled.  It works beautifully, except, they forgot to change the signage on the highway to reflect the change of only one way in.  Maybe that's in next year's budget?   We are greeted by a docent who explains that the tours are timed.  Did we want to visit both sites?  Are we on a strict schedule?  It's at times like these being retired and basically without schedule are priceless.  Tours timed and paid for, we visit the cafe.  The food is surprisingly good and we each have a glass of white wine with our lunch.

The restored mounds at Knouth.

Decorated curb stone at Knouth.

Entrance to the first chamber at Knouth.

Decorated curb stone at Knouth.

The sights of Knouth and Newgrange are accessed by two 24 passenger shuttle buses per tour. They arrive every 30 minutes, but each tour is allowed to stay for 1 hour. It means there are less than 100 people on each sight at any given time.  At Knouth, we have a tour guide who explains what we are looking at, then stays around if we have any questions.  At Newgrange, the guide explains what we are looking at, then takes us 24 at a time inside the tomb.  What a unique experience.  While explaining how the tomb was used, she asked it we would like to see what it looks like with the lights off;  pitch black.  Then instead of turning the lights back on, she shows what it looks like at the winter solstice when the sun lines up with the window above the door and gradually lights the entire chamber.  Stunning!

Main tomb at Newgrange, now restored. 

Entrance to the burial chamber at Newgrange with the light window over the door.

Decorated curb stone at Newgrange.

Bill at the entrance to Newgrange with the carved stone.

Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery

A covered tomb at Carrowmore.

One of the joys of traveling is finding the out of the way spots you really want to see.  Carrowmore Megalithis Cemetery is such a place.  To put the location into BiB, Bill pulls up the road map, then touches the spot nearest to where we think it might be.  Most of the time it works fairly well.  This time it worked perfectly!  Also helped there was a sign when we reached the marked crossroads.   The South is a wee better organised about signs, although they may be in Irish instead of English. 

Cool and windy, but we enjoy the walk up the hill.  Several of the graves are not on the National property, but the landowners seem to be farming around them.  The don't mind if you walk the fields to have a look, just don't let the cows out.  These stone cairns match any fancy burial monument we seen.  Even Napoleon's tomb!  The dead were cremated, then placed here.  More than likely, they were folks of some importance, as there were not a lot of remains found.   There were women and children as well as a baby, so eveything is just speculation.

The biggest tomb is the one they are most proud of.  Very well preserved and on top of a hill, it is impressive.  One oddity, though.  Any of the other tombs whose rocks I touched, the rock was warm.  However, all the rocks on the big tomb were cold.  Same cold wind and location, no sunshine, why the difference?  Bill suggested that no one was there anymore. 

Back on the road, there is a Vista Point for Lough Key.  Now we had to stop because this is the only marked Vista Point we have seen in all our traveling around.  There is a huge metal sculpture of a Gaelic Chieftan on his horse.  Impressive.  The Lough is long, narrow and famous for it's fishing.

The Gaelic Chieftain on his horse.

We stop at the first B&B that is off the highway in Mullingar.  The hostess was at the door before I could knock.  The master of the house is a terrier mix, Buddy.  We were told, after Bill had given him a good rub, that Buddy doesn't like men.  Maybe it's just Irish men?  The next morning as were we loading the car, Buddy was sitting outside their side door, barking.  I walked over until he could see me and start talking to him.  He stops his barking, sits down and proceeds to wag his tail and listen to me.  I can hear the owner through the open door saying, "Would you look at that?  He's stopped barking and is sitting for her.  Amazing!"

Bulmer's Irish Cider with lunch.  Yum!

Our bedroom at Pettiswood House B & B in Mullingar.

A Visit to Ardara

Semi tropical plants growing in the front yard of a house on the main street of Ardara.

Ardara is on the coast north of Killybegs.  It is the weaving capital of Donegal; even the visitor's center is in a weaving shop.  The pubs are known for their traditional music, and there are lots of pubs.  All the road signs in the area are in Irish, most without the English subtitles.  Good thing the map we have has the towns labeled both ways.

The Diamond.  There are lots of tractors in Ireland.  Many of them are John Deere, but not this one.

With the help of a lovely girl at the Triona Design Shop, which doubles as the visitor's center, we have a room at the Brae House B&B for euro 70.  Walking around the town didn't take very long, although we did find a great photo exhibit of local people from 1920 - 1970.  It was a treasure.  We spotted an internet cafe, but their computers weren't working.  While sitting in the diamond, we watch a car pull up with 3 nuns and a very elderly priest.  They help him out of the car, then walk very slowly down the sidewalk, before trying to cross the street so he can go to the Pharmacy.  It was comical to watch, as the priest's footsteps were only 4 inches at a time.  Why they didn't park closer, we'll never know.  We went our way before they tried to cross.  I guess they made it ok, we never heard any sirens.

A hotel on the main street, which was built in 1814.  Hope they have updated the rooms.

I  offer to buy Bill a beer, so it's to the Corner House pub for a pint of Smithwick, which has a silent W, Smithick.  The pub is set up for a music night this evening.  Bill is impressed by their Bose speaker system, which is easier on the ears than some others.  We wander on down the street to another pub, this time for a Guinness.  After getting our pints, we realize this place serves food in the back.  While walking through to find a table, we also spy what we will have for dinner.  I go for a huge bowl of mussels steamed in wine sauce, while Bill has the broiled crab claws.  Both were delicious, when we finally got them.

The remains of my mussel dinner.  Yum!

We had to wait for the waiter.  He was an older man, who always seemed surprised that there were people sitting at the tables wanting to order.  He never came to a table with his pad, "Oh, you want to order something?  Give 2 minutes, I don't have my pad."  Most of the time is longer than 2 minutes before he appeared again.  Since most everyone in our litle room was on holiday, none were in a hurry.  We all ended up laughing about him.

On either side of our table were a couple from Germany and a couple from France.  The Germans had been coming to Ardara for 15 years for the music.  He had even learned to play the Bohdrum, a soft sounding drum, and would be at the Corner House this evening.  The French couple were entertaining themselves by reading the sugar packets.  They were similar to fortune cookie sayings, only with an Irish twist, written both in Irish and English.  When they had finished reading their bowl, he asked if we would trade so they could read our packets, so we did!   Dinner took a long time, and not because we were lingering over our food.

A visiting singer  on holiday from Dublin.

The fiddler.

The music at the Corner House started about 10:00, by 10:30 the place was packed.  We arrived early enough to get a good seat.  The band had a fiddle, 2 guitars, a slide dobrow guitar, bass guitar, tin whistle and the drum.  Everyone but the fiddler, tin whistler and drummer, also sang.  Throughout the evening, they were joined by another drummer, a replacement bass player, and several different singers.  One young couple played a couple of songs as a flute and drum duet. 

Most of the band.  The German drummer had gone for another Guinness.  His bohdrum is to the left of the stool.

The most fun with a song was Turkey in the Straw.  They started out at a nice tempo, then through 7 or 8 different time changes until they were literally flying.  The tin whistle lady was the best.  She played with the whistle to one side of her mouth, fingers moving so fast they didn't appear to touch the whistle, head bobbing side to side and then her left foot bouncing up and down to the time.  We kept waiting for her to become airborne!     We left at 12:30 and they were still going strong!

I've always heard folks say, "She has the voice of an angel.", but it wasn't until this evening that I truly knew what they meant.  A 10 year old girl was called up to the microphone.  I had seen her earlier running around with her younger sister, acting like a 10 year old.  When she started singing acapella, the entire pub went silent.  She sang 3 very traditional Irish songs; no show off, no trying to sound like a rock star, just a  sweet, clear voice:  the voice of an angel.