Bru na Boinn and beyond

I must've been seriously tired as I slept 12 hours last night. I was asleep by 8, and didn't have dinner either. This morning I went over to Bru na Boinn which is an ancient site with aspects of it dating back to the Neolithic people, and other parts that came later. The site is older than the pyramids and encompasses three major and about 30 smaller monuments. They call them passage tombs and Newgrange is one of the finest that you can still go into. Building it was a feat for the times and it includes rock from far away (like Wicklow, which is in southern Ireland). It also has 10+ ton kerbstones, about 60 of them, which were brought from 20 km away and rolled up the hill. Some of these are carved: 

They don't allow photography inside. Really it is a miracle they allow people inside. Inside is a passageway, at times very narrow and low (had to duck and squeeze--but so did everyone) to a central chamber with three smaller alcoves. It's cuneiform shape, not unusual. What is amazing is that it is perfectly aligned so the sun comes into it and penetrates all the way to the end a few days a year at winter solstice. They mimic this with electric light so you can get a sense of what it's like. Also the chamber has a high, vaulted ceiling made of corbeled stones set in a spiral shape. Stones are also angled to shed water, and grooved. The ceiling is amazing, trust me. There's some lovely carvings as well. 

From there I went to Drogheda, a nice town. Then to Monasterboice, monastic ruins dating from pre-521, as its founding saint, Boice, died that year. There's also a church of "little interest" from the 13th century...oh to have so many sites that one can be of little interest! I suppose it is like Egypt in that there's so many one takes it for granted or loses all interest. Except that Ireland seems to take much better care of them. The really old interesting remains are three gorgeously carved crosses which aren't even terribly worn away by weather. They are called scriptural crosses because the imagery is from scriptural stories. There's also a round tower, burnt in 10 something. 

The small structure to the right of the cross is the uninteresting one. 

Boy I look grumpy! This is the door to the uninteresting structure which is barely my height, as was the door to the tower. 

I found it interesting that the graveyard is still in use and has many lovely flowers planted in it. Irish graveyards are much more interesting that the American ones I have been in--graves are everywhere, every which way, and gloriously different and flowered. 

From there I drove to the coast and north to Carlingford, a medieval town with super narrow streets and tightly packed buildings. Dinner at a pub with a glass of Guinness...even more delicious than I remember in England. 

Oh yes! Driving is definitely interesting. There are two road signs I'm fond of. One is "traffic calming" which is essentially "we are making you go slower". I love the concept of calming traffic not that it appears to work really. Irish people drive kinda fast and rather crazy in their narrow roads but of course they are used to them. One does have to remember though that really 80 km/hr is about 35...so I guess it isn't that fast even if it feels like it when you are zooming around an unmarked curve! My complete favorite, found on a country lane this morning, was "no road markings." Again, a tiny and windy road on which I had observed no road markings for several kilos. That one I found hysterical as there are quite a lot of roads around without the benefit of any markings. 

Apparently music is something done late here--so far it starts at 10 everywhere and I was too tired last night...not sure I'll make it tonight either.