Dublin to Kingscourt to Keady (in red)
After navigating the streets of Dublin one more time, we headed north to the city of Trim. There we stopped at Trim Castle, the largest Anglo-Normal fortress in Ireland. Buildt by Hugh de Lacy in 1173, the castle was soon destroyed and then rebuilt from 1190 to 1220.
In the movie Braveheart, the fortified city of York was actually filmed at Trim Castle.
For more information on Braveheart filming: www.highlandfilmtrail.com/braveheart.htm
For more on Trim Castle: www.historic.irishcastles.com/trim.htm
The outer castle wall is almost 500 yeards long, and five D-shaped towers survive.
Just across the river from Trim Castle is the Yellow Steeple. Originally a 13th-century Augustinian abbey, the structure was destroyed in 1649 to prevent its falling into Oliver Cromwell's hands. Today only the striking, 125-foot-high east wall remains.
The view from the abbey to Trim Castle.
Just before our tour of the castle, we noticed this flock of swans swimming in the river. We were happy to find them still there when we were finished.
Our next stop was the Hill of Tara. This is one of the country's most important historic sites, being the seat of the High Kins of Ireland in the early centuries A.D. However, there a many Stone Age passage tombs here that date back to 2000 B.C.
David is posing beside an ancient phalic symbol! There was also a church on the hill, built by the Christians to dispell any ancient religious meaning.
Later this afternoon, we decided to take a ride to Northern Ireland. David didn't have his passport with him, so I teased him about not getting in. Our hotel was only about 15 miles from the border, so we picked a town about 5 miles in and headed that way. We drove in silence for quite a while, not knowing what to expect. With all the stories about violence in Northern Ireland, we thought they might ask a lot of questions.
After quite a while, David said he thinks we're "in". I said, "I know we're in." We had just passed a lake that was on my map and it was definitely in Northern Ireland. The only sign that we had crossed into another country was a money changing shop at a gas station (Northern Ireland uses British pounds). Not even a sign!
We drove into town and walked around for a bit. Then we headed back and stopped at this Forest Service site to take a couple pictures.
Below are pictures of our hotel, Cabra Castle Hotel. Formerly Cormey Castle, Oliver Cromwell and James II once stayed within these walls.
Our room was located in what was formerly a 1750 granary and blacksmith. I don't know when they were updated, but we were a bit disappointed that everything was quite new. We were hoping for more of a "castle" feel.
This was the view from our bedroom window.
This Irish Wolfhound apparently lived on the grounds. We saw him twice, but he had absolutely no interest in us. He obviously had something very important to get to! This picture does not do his size justice!
We dined this evening in a town called Carrickmacross, on our way back from Northern Ireland.
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