Kingscourt to Dublin (in blue)
Okay, this first picture needs some explaining:
We left our hotel this morning with the usual fog, but soon the sun was shining brilliantly. We headed south, toward Dublin, with plans to stop at several places on the way. When we neared our first stop, we found ourselves just east of major construction for Ireland's future north/south motorway. Unfortunately, the sites we wanted to see were on the west side of that construction. We're not sure if the signposts for these sites (they were pretty major historical sites) had been removed because of the road work, or if they just got lost in all the confusion. After driving up and down the road several times, we decided to just head west on any road we could find. Since they love to not mark roads, we had no idea what road we were on, but by now we were pretty comfortable with just heading down a road and figuring that out later.
So as we passed unmarked junctions, I tried to figure out our location. Usually, we would pass a little town, which would place us on the map. But this morning, there were no little towns or signs, so we just drove aimlessly for 15 minutes or so. Finally we came to a fork in the road. Both roads looked equally small, not too promising. So we took the left road, heading west again. After only a mile or so, we realized that this couldn't have been the right choice. The road narrowed drastically and there was actually grass growing in the middle! That was a first. So we decided to turn around at the next opportunity. As we rounded the next bend, we found something standing in the road. We stopped and watched as a big Springer Spaniel turned it's head toward us, revealing a huge bone sticking out of either side of his mouth. As we watched in fascination, he boldly walked up to the front of our car! We laughed and decided that this guy was confirming our suspicions, that we had gone the wrong way. David started to back the car up to find a place to turn around, and the dog just kept walking with us! As if to say, "That's right, just get the heck out of here!"
I snapped this picture as we pulled away:
We actually gave up trying to find the site we were looking for and headed for another. To our surprise, we soon stumbled on the first site (Monasterboice)! That was the only time that we really didn't know where we were!
This stunning 110-foot-high round tower sits in the very secluded village of Monasterboice. This and several structure walls are all that remains of the former monastic settlement there.
This carved-stone high cross dates back to 923 A.D. It stands nearly 20 feet high and is considered to be the best-preserved example of a high cross anywhere in Ireland.
The presence of the sun sure makes better pictures.
Our next stop was Mellifont Abbey. It was much easier to find.
These beautiful ruins were once part of the first Cistercian monastery in Ireland, which, at its peak, presided over almost 40 other Cistercian monasteries throughout Ireland. Founded in 1142, it lies on the eastern bank of the River Mattock.
The octagonal lavabo, or washing place, shown above was build in the 13th century.
Below is the entrance, or gate.
Flowers growing on the gate walls.
This picture also has a story. We wondered into this small graveyard, with the ruins of a church and this bell tower. I see David, of course, immediately disappear into the bell tower. He loves to climb. So I wait outside to see if he makes it to the first small window, so I can take his picture. Surprisingly, he pops out at the top. There is another couple here and I see that the male of that pair is also on top. He calls down to his companion in German and she quickly disappears into the tower. I yell up to David, "Can I make it up there?" He says, "Yeah, come on up." So I enter the tower.
The circular stairs are the smallest we've been on throughout our trip. I believe you couldn't have turned around if you changed your mind. Because there was only one small opening mid way up, much of the time you couldn't even see the stairs, which were triangular, of course. And no nice rope to hold on to, like the tours provide. So I continued up until I reached sunlight and found myself at the top. As you can see, the windows at this level are full body length, with only one bar across the middle; plenty of room to just fall out! And as if that wasn't bad enough, the floor, which was obviously new, sloped from the middle at about 30 degrees. I don't know what the purpose of that was, since drainage wouldn't be a problem with windows that went to the floor, but let me tell you that it felt like one false move and you would just slide right out the window!
I glanced carefully around at the view and then followed the German couple down the stairs. Apparently she didn't feel like staying long either! Fear is the same in any language!
Here was another surprise. We checked into our hotel around 3 p.m. for our last night in Ireland. After getting a bit of rest, we started looking around for something to do. I had marked on the map a place called "Marino Casino", which I knew was not a casino as we know it, but an architectural landmark built between 1762 and 1771.
It was such a beautiful day, we decided to walk, which took about an hour. We found that the only way to see the inside was with a tour, so we waited 15 minutes for the next one to start. When it did start, we were the only two in it! That was fun. So we got to see the inside of this beautiful Palladian-style Greek temple. A hint of the architectural mystery of this structure is that, although it looks pretty small, it actually has sixteen rooms inside!
After our 40-minute tour, we walked a different route back to the hotel, just in time to clean up for our 7 p.m. dinner reservations.
Clontarf Castle Hotel
Part of the original structure, built in 1172, still stands today. However, most of the hotel is quite modern, although they have made a nice effort to give the common areas a very medieval feel.
The following morning, we were off to the airport at 7:30 a.m. We checked in the car and proceed through to the international portion of the terminal where I continued one of my favorite passtimes, shopping! We were amazed at how many duty-free shops they could fit into that fairly small airport. It was great!
That completes our trip, all 1021 miles of it! David and his Ford Focus managed to stay on their side of the road almost 100% of the time! And my navigating wasn't too bad, either. It was a great trip; if you ever get a chance, don't pass it up.
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