Celebrating Haley's Graduation!

The pictures on the cake are a graduation hat and Herky!

We took her out for dinner on the last weekend in June.  We had to wait for Connor to arrive on the 20th, and for Steve to get back from a work  trip to China!  Then we were ready to go out and celebrate.

Rugby likes to be a part of things...

She really is a bit taller than me...

We ate at the Viewmount in Longford.  It was a fabulous time, and the place is  lovely.  The road to get there, a bit skinny...

Connor is here!

Connor arrived on June 20th at 5:30 in the morning - woohoo!!

Within the week, he had stepped up and was ready to mow the garden!

And the weather has been quite lovely too!  Here we are relaxing on a bench looking at the River Shannon in the town of Carrick on Shannon!  So happy to have him here!!

Last Stops on our June Bank Holiday

Everywhere you go in Ireland, there are cemeteries with old head-stones and usually they also have some kind of ruin or tower on the property. We stopped here on our way to Trim to learn about the tower and the ruin.  Of course, there had once been a church and monastery on the property as it is Ireland you know!

I took pictures of the Iron Crosses for my gymnast, Connor.

Now this was disconcerting.  Felt sort of like we had found Dracula's resting place!

Complete with a family crest...

From there we went on to our final stop:  Trim.  We had to go so Steve could finally get a tour of the castle and get inside the castle grounds.  It was again, well worth it.

After Trim, we then headed back home.  Though a little weary from our travels, we thoroughly enjoyed our June Bank Holiday Weekend!

Dubhadh or Dowth

There are 3 great passage tombs in the Bru Na Boinne Valley:  Knowth, Newgrange, and Dowth.  The area known as Bru Na Boinne is a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site, and is considered one of the world's most significant archeological finds.

Steve and I have been quite awed by the Passage Tombs, and decided it was time to see the third, lesser known, passage tomb in the Bru Na Boinne (Boyne) Valley.   So, after Monasterboice, we headed on to Dowth.

When we first tried to find the entrance to Dowth, we came upon this estate.  We could not access the drive as it was gated and locked.  It appeared to be a private residence, but in looking up information about it, it would seem that it may either sit empty or has been recently renovated to be run as a guest house.  I am not sure, as there were no signs indicating that one could try to book it as a guest house.

Anyway, from what I can gather, this is Dowth Manor which belonged to the Netterville family.  According to the web site www.nci.ie, Hugh DeLacy granted the medieval castle to the Netterville family in the 13th century.  In 1641 Viscount Nicholas Netterville was declared an outlaw by the Crown, and he was deprived of his estates until he was pardoned 10 years later by Oliver Cromwell's Government.

The Sixth Viscount John Netterville, built Dowth Hall in the mid 18th century.  He moved into the hall in 1780 and let the Castle to fall into disrepair.  He built a tea house on top of the nearby Dowth Mound where he reputedly attended mass using a telescope from that vantage point to view a nearby church.  He died in 1826 and left the Castle to be used as an alms house for aged women. 

The Netterville House was apparently built in 1877 according to the web site noted above. 

Dowth is not built up for tourism, but it is as large as the other two.  Dowth was constructed in the Stone Age, about 5000 years ago and is surrounded by 115 kerb stones.  It suffered a lot of damage when a group was searching for the Ark of the Covenant and attempted to excavate the site.  Unfortunately, they used dynamite and left a large crater in the top of the mound. I am not sure if the passages are really considered safe now, and they are locked off so you can't enter, though I believe one can contact OPW to see about being able to tour part way into the passages with a guide.

This is the story of how the Mound got it's name.

This diagram shows you where Knowth, Newgrange and Slane are in relation to Dowth.

In the distance here I think is Knowth.

North Chamber entrance:

South Chamber entrance:

This is the Stone of the Seven Suns:

Sheep and Goat...Yes, you have to step with care....

This is how close the mound is to the Manor.  In the distance you can see Newgrange.

Below you can see the Hill of Slane in the distance.  That is where we were the day before.

The crater left in the mound.  Those stones are just exposed, they are not one of the entrances.

I am not sure what is the story of the circle of stones.

Dowth had this feel to it that was wild and untouched (except for that dynamite crap...) but it was amazing to be there, just me and Steve, walking around an ancient passage tomb with no other sound except the sheep and the goats.  The views are amazing, though we didn't take the opportunity to look for a mass to attend!  It is worth the drive, and it is, of course, free.

Mainistir Bhuithe or Monasterboice

After a lovely breakfast at the restaurant on the Tankardstown grounds, we packed up and went on for more touring.  This was the first weekend in June, which was a Bank Holiday weekend.  Bank Holidays are roughly every other month throughout the year.  On that Monday, almost all businesses are closed, as well as the banks.  I guess it is comparable to the American Holidays of Labor Day, Memorial Day, Martin Luther King Jr Day, Presidents  Day, etc.  But here, on the Bank Holidays, they are serious about taking a holiday!  Anyway, it was a Bank Holiday Weekend so on Monday morning Steve and I headed out for more touring.

First stop in the morning was Monasterboice.  This is the only early Irish monastery that uses the Irish word, Mainistir in the Gaelic title.  According to the signs on the grounds, it it believed to have been a center for spirituality and learning for many centuries until the Cistercians arrived at nearby Mellifont in 1142, taking over as such a center.  There are 2 churches on the grounds that were probably built in the 14th Century.  The Round Tower is believed to have been a treasury and a belfry.  It is believed the High Crosses were used to tell stories from the Bible.

Below is the West Cross which was built in the early 10th Century.  On the east face of the Cross Head is a depiction of the Second Coming of Christ, and on the other side is a crucifixion.  This shot is of the east face.

Below is a shot of the west face.

Steve seeking shelter from the rain.  We had quite a shower while we were there, but then the day cleared up.

This is Muiredach's Cross.  It is one of the most perfect, intact high crosses in Ireland.  It is named after an abbot, Muiredach mac Domhnaill who died in 923.  The two sides of the cross tell stories of the Bible from both the Old and New Testaments.

The third High Cross is in this enclosure.  It clearly required some repair.

Even with the rain, it was a lovely place to walk.