Megalithic Co. Meath, of ancient passage tombs and celtic ruins...
Up we got bright and early one morning to set out and see
Loughcrew Cairns, one of several ancient passage tombs in neighbouring Co. Meath...
Apparantly (according to guidebooks, official internet site a recent newspaper article) one could collect a key from the cafe in nearby gardens to open the tomb and take a look ... and as we thought that sounded like the neatest thing.... to arrange our own private viewing of one of these tombs, out of season.... off we went in seach of the gardens, the cafe, the key and the cairns. But, sadly, it was not to be.... the gardens and cafe were not open and we were failed yet again by a non functioning Irish system. oh well.... we still went up and had a look
from the outside and it was still a very beautiful thing (~5000 years old) and a great place to wonder around and have our p
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However, the darkness, rain and clouds soon came, it was still beautiful......but now it was
ab-so-lu-te-ly freezing. After rambling around and admiring the view, we abandoned the picnic idea and had a cosy and yummy warm lunch in a beautiful nearby town called OldCast
le...
On the way home we thought we would check out famous Hill of Tara... (seen here from the sky
) ...although the visitor centre was closed for the day (we arrived there quite late in the day), we wondered around there too... The Hill of Tara is thought to be the ancient seat of the High Kings of Ireland.. The area includes several sites/artefacts including the Stone of destiny (pictured) which (according to legend) when touched by the High King would let out a scream which could be heard throughout Ireland, and something called the Mound of the Hostages, (pictured) which was used as a burial chamber (from Neolithic times to ~1600 BCE) and is thought that up to 500 bodies are buried here. (cremated)
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The mound and passage are aligned so that during the Spring and Autumn equinoxes, the sun shines down the passage, illuminating the chamber -like something out of Indiana Jones. And..the similarities do not end there! This place is shrouded in mysticism and I have just learnt (from Wiki) that The Hill of Tara was at one stage thought by some to hold the Ark of the Covevant itself!! Very Indi indeed! There are countless of loopy people creating their own websites about the mystical significance of these sights, and I've just seen one that claims that new research suggests that the Hill of Tara could be the capital of the 'lost kingdom of Atlantis' no less.
More grounded but still fascinating info on the Hill of Tara here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_of_Tara.
Anyway, we will have to come back for a proper look at these things, but we have enjoyed our glimpses so far...
Other passage tombs around include the famous
Newgrange which is aligned to light up during the winter soltice... Though this would be great to see, visits to Newgrange at this special time are usually organised as a 'lottery' or lucky dip. If your lucky enough to have your name pulled out of the hat, you can experience the real thing... However, if you're not so lucky, you can still experience the 'simulated' passage lighting that is organised each and every day at Newgrange.
Sadly and quite comically, even if you are lucky enough to be chosen to experience the real solstice at Newgrange, the Irish skies could let you down, it could easily be overcast, giving the sun no chance to shine through this great passageway... How infuriating for the poor neolithic people of Newgrange, to experience nothing after waiting for the longest night of the year to end and to experience this annual great moment! Poor things. Newgrange is still on our list to see....
Megalithic Co. Meath, of ancient passage tombs and celtic ruins...
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) ...although the visitor centre was closed for the day (we arrived there quite late in the day), we wondered around there too... The Hill of Tara is thought to be the ancient seat of the High Kings of Ireland.. The area includes several sites/artefacts including the Stone of destiny (pictured) which (according to legend) when touched by the High King would let out a scream which could be heard throughout Ireland, and something called the Mound of the Hostages, (pictured) which was used as a burial chamber (from Neolithic times to ~1600 BCE) and is thought that up to 500 bodies are buried here. (cremated)
.
.
Anyway, we will have to come back for a proper look at these things, but we have enjoyed our glimpses so far...
Hi out there...
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