Wednesday, May 4, 2011

High Kings and Passages

Wednesday, May 4, we went on a Mary Gibbons tour to the Hill of Tara and Newgrange. The Hill of Tara is where the high kings of Ireland ruled way back in the day (the exact time frame escapes me right now. We heard so many dates today, I can't keep track). Newgrange is a Neolithic Passage Tomb, which has been dated to about 3200 B.C., and makes it the oldest intact structure in the world, 1000 years older than the pyramids of Egypt.

Here we are getting ready to leave on our bus from Dublin City Center.
 First stop, the Hill of Tara. This is one of the views from the Hill. It was said that 23 counties of the 32 in Ireland could be seen from this hill on a clear day. Today was a little too hazy, but the view was fabulous!
This mound on the Hill was called the Mound of the Hostages. There were no archeologists with us, so we didn't get a detailed description. Another problem is that scientists don't exactly agree on what was on the Hill.
 An ancient tower in the distance, possibly an abbey.
 Inside the mound of hostages.
 Another view inside the mound of hostages. Note the art work on the door.
Me, on the Hill of Tara, between two monuments. One had illegible words, the other had no markings on it at all.

 Another view from the hill.
 These next three photos show some of the terrain on the Hill. It is hard to tell at ground level, but from the air, these form circles.


A statue of St. Patrick, erected many, many years after the hill of Tara had been abandoned. The word is that St. Patrick brought Christianity to the Hill of Tara in 432 A.D.
We left the Hill of Tara, and journeyed on down the road to Newgrange.

This is the River Boyne
 The Neolithic passage tomb known as Newgrange.
The stone at the entrance to the passage, it is carved with swirly patterns.













It is believed this monument took anywhere from 10 to 60 years to complete, around 3200 B.C. The different rocks and stones used to create it were brought from far away parts of Ireland. It can only be speculated how the larger stones (found around the base) were brought here. When excavated in 1969, a narrow passage which ended with three alcoves was found. In each alcove was a large stone that had been somewhat hollowed out to make a type of bowl. Within the bowls were found ashes, bone fragments and trinkets made from stones and bones. It was also discovered that on the 21st of December, the shortest day of the year, the Winter Solstice, the sun shines into that top opening in the entrance, and shines down through the passage, and illuminates the back of the passage for about 17 minutes. It occurs about 6 days surrounding that day. The rest of the days, it is completely black. We were given a demo while we were in there. Creepy dark! Anyway, the reasons for putting cremated remains into the passage (they had been cremated outside the tomb), is unknown.
More carvings outside the tomb.

Here we are on the back side of the tomb. Erica is doing her "model" impression.
 On our way back to Dublin, we passed this field that was completely yellow. I don't know what's growing there.
Before going home, we stopped at The Temple Bar restaurant and pub for a snack, beer, and some Irish music. We had a great time.

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