Last week, I went to Newgrange, County Meath - that's on the eastern side of Ireland. Newgrange is a megalithic passage tomb mound, dating back to 3,000 years before Christ. That's older than even the pyramids of Egypt.
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| Some colorful personalities here... |
Above is the entrance way to Brú Na Bóinne - Newgrange. On the 21st of December, sunlight passes through a window above the passage way for a brief 17 minutes. Little is known about what went on that day, 5000 years ago, but it probably had something to do with religious rituals and laying the privileged few to their final resting place. It was really serene on the inside, something I was not expecting. The stone roof is basically waterproof, so the passage has been dry for as long as we can tell.
We stopped next at the ruins of Mellifont Abbey. At one point this abbey was home to four hundred monks and introduced new religious ideas and new architecture. Malachy, the Bishop of Down, felt that the local crowd of brethren were too worldly, and so he invited a group of hard-core monks from France. The remains of the abbey consist of a central tower, surrounding towers, the crypt, a storeroom, other buildings, arches and archways, and the remains of what used to be walls. A number of us, after considering the pros and cons, jumped into the crypt.
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| Reverend Montgomery - my professor and a local Presbyterian pastor |
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Paying homage to the queen |
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| Assassin's Creed IV |
And that was how my morning started. We went next to Monasterboice - this one's easy to pronounce, just "monaster boyce." Home to a 30 meter round tower, two ancient church ruins, and two of the best tall crosses to be found in Ireland, it was places like these that were inspiration of the hymn "Be thou my vision." Round towers were possibly used as bell towers to announce meal times and prayer times, but a major function would be to store treasured possessions of the monastery, including gold, jewels and important artifacts. The door to the round tower requires a ladder, being built 10 feet above the ground. This was, indeed, a strong tower, the safest place for what was of value.
Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;
be thou my whole armor, be thou my true might;
be my soul's shelter, be thou my strong tower:
O raise thou me heavenward, great Power of my power.
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Above is one of two tall cross on site. At the center of the cross is the Christus Triumphans - Christ alive and without suffering. Above, on his left and right, are two angels. A soldier pierces his left side, while the other holds up a cup (substituting for the vinegar-soaked sponge). Between Christ and each of the soldiers is a head, possibly representing the two thieves.
After passing through, we rejoined with our bus driver, who took us then to the Hill of Slane and the Hill of Tara. According to tradition, the Irish High King Laoire began a three day feis (festival) by lighting a bonfire on the Hill of Tara. There were NO OTHER fires to be lit during this pagan festival, which contributed. Nearby, on the Hill of Slane, St. Patrick lit a little fire of his own, in defiance of the king and the pagan festival. Despite this act (or perhaps because of it), the king honored his devotion and allowed him to continue his work in Ireland as a missionary. We went to the Hill of Slane first - on top of the slope were two groups of ruins.
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| Rainbow sighted, on the way from hills of Slane to Tara |
The Hill of Tara was nothing like the Hill of Slane. Completely different. Once past the visitor center, we came to a range of... intense slopes. And I mean they were intense. Running down them, you would almost lose footing as you gained speed. The ground was also rather wet and soft.
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| Mound of the Hostages, an ancient passage tomb on Tara Hill |
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| Trust me, these slopes were steeper than they look! |
