On my first trip I was 18 and we worked our way around the country with Dublin as our starting and ending destination. We traveled south to Kinsale and Cork, west to Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula, north into Belfast and finished back in Dublin after a scenic drive through Wicklow. I had properly poured a pint, blind tasted whiskey, received the gift of gab, looked out for Fungi, and explored the Giant's Causeway all in ten days time.
My second journey to the Emerald Isle was two years later. I was 20 and on my own to embark on four months of studying abroad. This is a time when the farthest I traveled in Ireland was just a few hours outside of Dublin. This is when I truly fell in love with the city.
As a study abroad student, I had some really great experiences thanks to two different programs. First, I took a class called "Exploring Ireland", which was a course that required you to attend three of four available trips to different places in or just outside of Dublin . You also had to keep a journal including pictures, and that was it. Free trips to different places, write about them, turn it in to Tadgh (the head of Archaeology who was our tour guide/professor). The second program was one that was done through the international office and was only open to study abroad students. It was a program where you put down a deposit of 5 euro to go on a trip on a certain day and when you showed up to the bus, you got the fiver back and went off. Another free trip. They allowed me to see things that I normally wouldn't have. I'm going to try to make this a sort of series and I'll start today with Meath and Westmeath...
Kells
I'm sure that if you've ever been to or heard about Trinity College Dublin, you've heard about the Book of Kells. An ancient illuminated manuscript done on calf vellum by monasteries and took over three centuries to produce, the Book of Kells (also known as the Book of Columba), now housed and displayed in the Library of Trinity, gets it's name from it's previous home in the Abbey of Kells.
While Kells is no longer the home to the Book, it is still interested to tread the ground where it lived for many centuries and survived through countless Viking plunderings thanks to it's round tower. *I just want you guys to know that I was OBSESSED with seeing a round tower on the first trip and I didn't.* **It's not that cool, just sayin'.**
Additionally, Kells is home to five high crosses; four in the yard of the Church of St. Columba (see above where I mentioned Book of Kells = Book of Columba) and one in front of the town hall. Basically they are intricately carved crosses and, like the Book of Kells, are interesting in that they combine Celtic knot work with Christian iconography.
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| This is my favorite image from Kells of the round tower and a high cross. |
Loughcrew
Alright, so first let me explain this one. As this was an archaeology class, this trip was quite normal, but if you're creeped out by ancient burial grounds, you'll want to skip this one. Loughcrew is one of four main passage tombs in Ireland (Newgrange is one of these as well, I'll get to that in another post).
Loughcrew is a megalithic passage tomb that is aligned with the sunrise of the Equinox, meaning on the mornings of the two days of the year that the Equinox happens, the entire passage will be filled with light. This is an amazing feat that in 3500 BC, without modern day technologies, builders could calculate such a thing.
If that isn't enough to get you there, then the views might be. On our journey uphill, I quite frankly thought I would never make it; the hill was steep and muddy from the rains (and I was not in shape). But the views of County Meath were amazing, and really show that patchwork Ireland that I love.
Fore
Fobhar, the Irish for Fore, means "the town of the water-springs". Fore Abbey was founded in 630 by St. Feichin, who was said to have induced the water to flow from the ground and thus Fore is named for the saint. Today, the abbey stands in ruins, but at it's height was home to 300 Benedictine monks. Having been burned 12 times in 400 years, it still stands and is still a beautiful site to encounter with it's intricately carved arches and humbling vastness.
On the long way out from the Abbey back to the road there is a Fairy, or Wishing Tree. What appears to be a tree with discarded clothing, ribbons and litter-like items, is actually a very sweet tradition of giving thanks to the spirits for fulfilling a wish. A sock tied on a branch may be thanks for healing a broken foot, a bib could be thanks from a parent for a spirit's help. I've seen other that are perhaps prettier, but the sentiment is beautiful here in Fore as well as in other places.
Somehow this turned into a history lesson, but I guess if you're into that sort of thing then you'll have enjoyed this. My next post for this series will be more...entertaining, you'll see what I mean.
Until next time,
-J
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