Ballyhown

On our drive south, we went through a little town called Ballyhown.  We stopped to have a look around.  The fountain was really cool and the sculpture was made of bog wood. 

This Church building was begun on October 2, 1896.  It was dedicated and the first mass held on October 15, 1902.

This building had been the original National School built by John Ennis in 1863.  It was closed in 1982 when a new school was built.  It is now a craft shop and tea room.  The Craft Center is a project called CORE, and it is described as "a centre of learning and excellence of crafts in the midlands."

The outdoor seating area!

 It is a lovely town and the gardens are well-tended.  Lots of great shopping and a lovely place to stop for tea.  We stopped on our way back home as well (though just for a break, not for tea...).

Grogan's Pub

As always, we like going to Grogan's Pub when we are down near Glasson, so we went again on the way back from Clonmacnoise.

Cheers!

Clonmacnoise

For our first day trip we went to Clonmacnoise.  Steve and I were there in November 2013 with Jeff and Zach. It is an interesting place and the scenery is gorgeous. Parking was a little iffy for me - I am not very confident with the small spaces!  In fact, I got out and let Steve park my car too! 

Summer Adventures with Dad and Sharla

The next several entries will be of our July adventures with Dad and Sharla which included trips to see Clonmacnoise, The Rock of Cashel, Blarney Castle, The Ring of Kerry, Killarney, The Gap of Dunloe, and Adare.

They arrived in Dublin on a Wednesday in July and we picked them up at the airport.  They had flown to Europe and traveled around the continent for a few weeks before coming to see us.  Incredibly, they only had two small rolling bags for luggage.  I was impressed - and Steve eyed the small amount of luggage quite wistfully...

We did not venture around Dublin.  Instead, we drove back to our place to have a home-cooked meal and to enjoy the good company.  We did a day trip on Thursday, and on Friday we left for a 5 day adventure to the south of Ireland.

Since our car only seats 5, we had to rent another car.  Thus, Steve and I both had to drive.  Dad and Connor rode with Steve, and Sharla, Zach and Haley rode with me.  We had such a good time!  Sharla was a great travel companion and only startled once on the entire trip!

I am sure I startled about 500 times when I first rode with Steve in Ireland.  Just ask him.  Seriously, the roads are tight, sometimes you whack the summer hedges with your side-view mirror,  on the other side of the hedges could be a stone wall, and to top it all off, you are riding on the wrong side of the road and that can be disorienting! 

So, we traveled hither and yon and enjoyed ourselves immensely.  Everyone had a lovely trip and we all traveled quite well with each other.  Now the only sad part is wanting them to come back again and hoping we will get more visitors this year!

Cow Love!

Okay, they aren't REALLY kissing, but they look like it!

The Archaeology Museum in Dublin

So one day Zach and Connor and I drove to Dublin to see the Archaeology Museum.  It is free admission!  We parked in a lot that then required a bit of walking, but it's always enjoyable to walk around Dublin.  This is a shot along the River Liffey and near the O'Connell Street Bridge.

In the Museum the boys did a crayon activity...

The Museum was really fascinating.  There were all kinds of tools and jewelry that were found in and around the Megalithic ruins.  It really filled in some of the blanks about the people who lived at the Mounds that we had visited earlier in the year.  Some of the jewelry was simply gorgeous and very finely set.  There was so much of it. - it was truly amazing.  (I did not take a lot of pictures though I am not sure why not - I think I had a low battery or something.)

There was a section with finds from the bogs, including human remains that were very fully intact.  The information they had about the people was quite fascinating.   It is well worth a visit to the museum if you ever have the opportunity to go.  I am glad that Zach pushed for us to go there, as it was truly a remarkable experience.  I am still amazed that it was free!

I thought this was interesting.  The Cross of Cong was created to hold a fragment of the True Cross.  I found that rather fascinating.  Another point to note, to Village of Cong lies on the border of County Mayo and County Galway.  It is the town used for the filming of The Quiet Man! (The two things are not connected except by location...)

This is the Bell of St. Patrick.  It is very plain and simple, but it has a shrine or cover that is much more ornate.  The bell itself is used on rare occasions, such as at a Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II in Phoenix Park in 1979.

Though you can't see it so well, the shrine for the bell is on the top shelf.

Carrowmore

So, on our way up to Strandhill for dinner, we first stopped at Carrowmore.  There are four Megalilthic sites in Ireland that are part of the Passage Tomb tradition.  The four main clusters are:  (1) The Boyne Valley (which includes Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth); (2) Loughcrew; (3) Carrowkeel,; and (4) Carrowmore.  We have not yet visited Carrowkeel but it is on the list os things to do while we are still here.

Carrowmore has about 30 tombs that are laid out in an oval pattern around the central tomb.  Many of the monuments around the Central Tomb are dolmens, and they are often surrounded by stone circles.  It covers a large expanse of land, and is quite a hike if you plan to visit each of the numbered areas on the map.  Our starting point was where you see the P for parking.  We just walked the small loop as we didn't have a whole lot of time before our dinner reservations.

That is Connor in front of the Central Tomb.

This is Connor and Steve openly laughing at me for some reason...

This path leads into the center of the tomb.  It would have been a lower path and the top would have been covered by stone 5000 years ago.  Apparently the excavations here were not performed with the same care as in Newgrange and Knowth.  Sometimes these tombs are really just stumbled upon...

This was a dolmen-like structure inside the tomb.  It has more rocks in it than a regular dolmen. It almost seems more like a table or altar.  Who knows?

That is the main tomb of Carrowkeel on the hill in the distance.

Often the stones, tombs, and dolmens are just in a pasture....

This gives you an idea of the expanse of land upon which Carrowmore sits.