Ireland--Days 1 and 2 Valley of the Boyne

We really didn't plan our Ireland trip before we left, so after we got there we were trying to decide what we wanted to do and what we should see. That wasn't very smart. I think we wasted most of the first two days because we weren't prepared. So, our Ireland trip could've been better. We left on Friday morning and had an early flight out of Bristol. So we had to drive an hour to Bristol then hop a plane to Dublin (45 min. flight) then collect our luggage, get our rental car and drive to our hotel which was probably another 35 minutes. By the time we got to our hotel it was noonish.

After getting lunch and relaxing for a little while we decided that we wanted to see a place that we found in our guidebooks and it was called "Bru na Boinne" which means "dwelling place of the Boyne". It's a famous archaelological site where they have discovered burial mounds--three or four in this area called Valley of the Boyne (30 miles north of Dublin). These burial mounds are older than the Egyptian pyramids and older than Stonehenge. So, we drive the 40 minutes to get there and get into the visitor's center and they tell us that all the tours are booked for the day. There are two different sites that you can go and tour. But you have to go through the visitor's center to get a tour time. You have to take a bus ride to get to either one. One is Newgrange that you can actually go in and the other in Knowth which you can't go in. So he told us that our best bet is to come back at around 9 in the morning and get our names on the list for a tour because they fill up fast. So, since we were already there, we decided to go through the museum and then come back in the morning to go to Newgrange. It was really interesting and a really nice museum. So, here's an explanation of the burial mounds. (Taken from our guidebook and the internet--they explain things so much better than I can!)

"Newgrange is one single mound, the more restored of the Bru na Boinne sites. Dating from 3200 B.C. it's 500 years older than the pyramids at Giza and a thousand years older than Stonehenge. While we know nothing of the builders, it most certainly was a sacred spot dealing with some kind of Sun God ritual. During the tour, you squeeze down a narrow passageway to a cross-shaped central chamber, located under a 20 foot high igloo-type stone dome. Bones and ashes (they sometimes cremated their dead) were placed here under 200,000 tons of stone and dirt to wait for a special moment. As the sun rose on the shortest day of the year (winter solstice, Dec. 21) a ray of light would creep slowly down the 60 foot long passageway. For 17 minutes it would light the center of the sacred chamber. Perhaps this was the moment when the souls of the dead would be transported to the afterlife via that mysterious ray of life-giving and life-taking light."

"Newgrange is a colossal mound once believed to have been completely dressed in reflective white stone. The mound was so skillfully built that in the 5000 years it's stood, its roof has never leaked. "

Considering that this is Ireland and that it rains a lot--that's pretty impressive!

This is a picture that we took of the side of Newgrange.

This is a picture of the front of it that I found on the internet.

This is an aerial shot of it, obviously from the internet. Anyways, after touring the museum, we headed back to the hotel and ate dinner in the hotel restaurant. The next morning, we got up and got over there at about 10:30 and by then the first tour was at 1:30. So, I'm not sure what happened, but we spent the whole time waiting there (not intentionally at first)-feeding Bella and bathroom breaks took more time than we thought. We were supposed to be back at 1pm to get on the busses, so we just decided to hang out and eat lunch at their expensive cafe. It was pretty rainy and chilly that day, so it was kind of miserable out. When we got there, a tour guide gave a very interesting talk about the history and the people and the burial mound. This is looking directly at the front of the mound and the entrance.

Me and Maggie at the entrance. Entrance with a kerbstone in the front. Notice the swirly designs on the rocks. This kind of art was found all over the stones inside and out. Lots of swirls and triangles. Once again, an explanation from the internet:

"The Threshold Stone (the one in front of the entrance) is elaborately carved with spirals, concentric circles and diamond shapes. Their meaning is not known, and theories abound. Some hold that the three main spirals represent the tombs of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth, with the wavy line below depicting the River Boine. Others think the three spirals represent life, death and eternity."

The girls in front of the kerbstones.

Aren't those designs amazing?

Then she led us inside for the tour. It was so neat! These people must have been pretty small to be able to get though the passageway. I had Bella strapped on the front of me and it was rough getting in there. Poor Garrett had to crawl in on his knees and by the time he got back out, his knees were bloody. Considering how big it looks from the outside, it was pretty small inside. Our group had about 20-30 people in it and we were crammed in there. I found this picture of the inside on the internet since we weren't allowed to take pictures. You really can't tell how awesome it was from the picture though. It was just amazing!

This is a picture inside the mound. You can kind of see the ray of light coming in at on the floor. I'm not sure if that's simulated or if they took that on the winter solstice. This is a picture of the roof. If you were inside and looking straight up, this is what you saw. It's crazy the amount of stones they used to build this thing. They would use the larger stones to build it up and then they would use smaller rocks and stones as "mortar" to fill in the gaps. So once we were inside, the guide talked some more about the three different rocks inside that were used as altars. This is where they'd put the cremated remains of their dead--we don't know if they were royalty or who they were exactly. They said in one of the mounds they found the remains of a three year old child. Makes you wonder who they were.

This is one of the altar stones.

Then she tried to simulate how it would be during the winter solstice. She made us split up and had us squish to one side or the other. She only used a flashlight, but the effect was pretty cool. She turned out the few lights that were in there and it was pitch black. Like serious blackness! She told us before hand to grab our kids hands and assure them that the lights would come back on. Then slowly she shined the flashlight towards the opening like how it would be if the sun were beginning to shine in. It was probably one of the coolest things I've experienced. I guess they have a drawing for people to come and experience it every year. If they draw your name, then you and a friend can come to Newgrange and sit in there (in the dark) during the winter solstice and experience the 17 minutes of light. How awesome would that be. She said that if it's a cloudy day, then you won't be able to see the sun come in. But ever since they started drawing names for this experience, the sun has come in every year except for the year 2000. Go figure! :)

"Unfortunately, the tomb has been empty of its original contents since 861 AD, when it was plundered by Viking raiders. More recently, Newgrange was "rediscovered" in 1699. The landowner at the time, Charles Campbell, needed some stones and had instructed his labourers to carry some away from this structure. It was at this time the entrance to the tomb was discovered. Since this time, it was left open and unprotected; thus suffering further damage from treasure hunters and looters."

The main alter inside is broken from a treasure hunter, and inside you can read lots of grafitti written on the walls. The guide said that if you can read it, then it's not from the neolithic time in which it was constructed. We did see things written (or carved I guess I should say) from the 1800's. Even seeing that is pretty cool, even though it kind of ruins the burial mound. The tour guide also said that people also used to come in and take little stones from inside (the ones used as the mortar) as souveneirs. They had to put a stop to that, or else the whole thing would come tumbling down.

Trim Castle

After we left here we thought we'd try to squeeze in one more thing since the past two days were dedicated to Newgrange. So, pretty close by there was an old castle called Trim Castle. So we got there in time for the last tour of the day. It is the biggest Norman castle in Ireland. It was completed in the 1220's. It was also used in the movie Braveheart, I guess, although I never saw the movie.

"Construction of Trim Castle was undertaken by Hugh de Lacy in 1175. Hugh died in 1186 but his son, Walter de Lacy continued construction and the great castle was completed by 1204. The second stage of the castle’s construction took place in the second half of the 13th century, by Geoffrey de Geneville. He is thought to have added wooden towers, built the Great Hall, and improved the North Tower, the fosse and drawbridge."
"Hugh de Lacy, who was the original owner) was so powerful in his time that the King of England was afraid that de Lacy would deny allegiance to him and declare himself the King of Ireland. This shows the great power and intimidation that Trim Castle was meant to display, especially over the native Irish people."

You could only go through the castle with a guided tour and it was pretty interesting. The guide talked a lot about how it was built in three phases and how with each time it was added to, it would add things that added greater defences to protect the castle. It had twenty sides, and was protected by a ditch, curtain wall and moat. Later, they also added wooden walkways that were on the outside of the castle. They had holes in the floors so they could drop things on anyone trying to invade the castle. If by chance these walkways caught on fire, then they could pry them away from the castle and then the fiery mess would fall onto the intruders as well.

Here is another description of the castle:

"Trim castle is located above the banks of the River Boyne, and covers more than three acres. Its main, large square keep, which is relatively isolated from the rest of the structures, is twenty-five meters tall and has walls eleven feet thick. This keep, also called a donjon, has four smaller square towers on each of its sides (only three of which remain). The towers have thin walls (which were not good defensively) and were added for either extra rooms or simply for the sake of appearance. Inside the main keep there are three levels. The first and second levels were split in half by a central wall, while the third was left open and was probably used as the lord’s chamber. The keep also contained a public hall, great chambers, a chapel, and quarters for a chaplain, officials, and a small garrison. It also contained cellars full of food so that the keep could withstand a long siege. The one and only entrance is on the main floor of the east tower, below the chapel. In the southwest and northeast corners of the keep are winding staircases that lead to the three levels."

These staircases were so tight and were kind of scary coming down them--3 flights of tight and winding narrow stairs. I had Bella strapped to me coming down and Garrett had to hold onto Paige and Lydia coming down who were also pretty scared. This is looking down from one of the walkways that spanned across the top floor to get from one side to the next. This is a view of the River Boyne looking from the top of the castle. This is looking up at the catwalk that we walked across. This is a view inside the castle and one of the walkways that they built. This is a view of the outer wall of the castle from the parking lot.

Lydia wanted to be "locked up" again!

This is a video from walking around Newgrange--just to show the lovely weather conditions we were in and Garrett trying out an Irish accent.

This video is up on the top of Trim Castle trying to listen to the tour guide. It was too windy to hear anything!