This past Friday Jess and I woke up at the crack of dawn to go on a day trip to Newgrange and some other historic sites. We met our tour group in city center and our bus driver pointed out things as we drove out of Dublin. After a cat nap, we arrived at our first stop- Bru na Boine (palace of the Boyne). Newgrange is one of three prehistoric passage tombs located in the Boyne Valley. We made our way through the exhibition at the visitor center and watched an audio-visual guide so that we had a better idea of what we were going to see. Then we boarded a bus and headed out to Newgrange where we were given a guided tour. Our tour guide, Mary gave us the history of the passage tomb, how it was believed to be built, and then led us into the tomb. I was surprised we were actually allowed in but unfortunately no photos. The burial ritual involved cremating the deceased and then bringing their ashes and bones into the tomb for a ceremony. The roof box above the entrance to the tomb allows light to enter--it is perfectly aligned so that only on the days surrounding the winter solstice light can enter the tomb. It is believed that the people who used these passage tombs were extremely fearful that when the days were getting shorter, they would continue to shorten until the world was covered in blackness and the Earth froze over. The deceased were part of the ritual to ensure that their god would restore the light as he had in the past and the days would begin to get longer.
Newgrange has 97 kerb stones around its exterior, the most impressive of which is the entrance stone. The artwork on this stone depicts three large spirals going in a counter-clockwise direction followed by a line and a series of smaller spirals going in a clockwise direction. There are three theories about what the artwork on the entrance stone mean: 1. the three large spirals represent the three large passage tombs, Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth, the line represents the Boyne River and the smaller spirals represent the "baby" passage tombs located throughout the valley... 2. the three large spirals represent the days leading up to the winter solstice, the spirals going counter-clockwise to show the days getting shorter, the line representing the winter solstice and then the spirals going clockwise represent the days getting longer again... 3. the people who made the artwork were on drugs. So after our tour guide explained all of this to us we were allowed to go inside. Once inside they shut off all the lights and we were left in complete blackness before they demonstrated what it would look like when the sun entered the tomb. It was absolutely amazing. Afterward, we were free to walk around the exterior where we saw other decorated kerb stones and the vast landscapes of the Boyne Valley (and even some sheep!).
Left: Exhibition at the Visitor's Center, Right: Boyne River
Left: Newgrange, Right: entrance stone
Left: me with the entrance stone, Right: me with some sheep in the background
Left: one of the decorated kerb stones, Right: Jess and I with another decorated kerb stone
Left: me with the wall and kerb stones, Right: sheep!
After learning a ton about Newgrange, our bus driver took us to Monasterboice, an ancient Monastery. It was smaller than the one I had seen at Glendalough but it was very interesting. There were three high crosses each depicting scenes from the Bible. It is also one of very few Monasteries that had churches for both male and female.
Next and last stop (after a quick lunch at an authentic Irish pub) was the Hill of Tara.This was where the ancient kings ruled from. It is said that on a clear day you can see 23 out of the 32 counties of Ireland. Unfortunately, it wasn't a clear day for us but the views were still extraordinary. Our bus driver/tour guide gave us some background info before letting us roam around on our own. There were a bunch of different things to see on the hill. King Lear is buried there. There was a hostages chamber (unfortunately under construction/restoration) where the royals would hold people, generally women and children, hostage in order to get what they wanted from their family. We found another wishing tree which caused me to lose another hair tie. Oh well, hopefully my wish comes true! There was also the Chariot Stones. Well there is only one as the other was stolen many years away and is somewhere in Scotland and has yet to be returned. These stones would determine if you were fit to be King or Queen. In our guide's explanation I got to be High Queen. Basically, the stones were placed a distance apart and if you could ride your chariot through them then you were fit to be King or Queen. Except they weren't placed far enough apart for any chariot to fit through so it was basically a way for the royals to control who sat on the throne. If the majority banded together and said that they had seen someone (me) ride their chariot through the stones and others wanted someone else on the throne, all they had to say was they'll have to ride their chariot through the stones. Obviously it was impossible so I would become High Queen. Anyways, I found that kind of cool. After wandering around a bit, it was back on the bus to Dublin.
Left: with one of the fairy trees, Right: the beautiful view
Left: my hair tie on the wishing tree, Right: the hill that King Lear is buried on
My panoramic shot.
Left: the singular chariot stone, Right: church and graveyard
It was definitely a day well-spent. The rest of the weekend was spent working on my internship assignments--almost done! We did have some excitement yesterday when birds kept coming into our kitchen and pecking at our food. Never did I ever imagine myself having to clean up bird poop in my kitchen more than once in one day... not a pleasant experience. I am never opening the kitchen window ever again even if it is a mystery how they could possible fit. Tonight, I am going to a concert with Jess so hopefully that is fun. Tomorrow is a bank holiday so no work = three day work week! Yay! Only 13 more days until Mom gets here and 24 more until I'm home! So close!
Slainte!
