A short drive away from the Hill of Slane and the site of Saint Patrick's famous paschal fire is the Hill of Tara. Most of the monuments and ruins at Tara are so worn down that one can only "see" them if at the site themselves or if in the air.
Rocket Man and I have yet to grow wings, so we had to wait until we arrived via tour bus to see anything. While we had been unable to see any of Tara from Slane, we were able to see Saint Patrick's tower, church and monastery from Tara:
There are many ruins, mostly very worn down, at Tara. One of them is a hill fort, which looks like a circular shaped moat around a raised bit of land. Inside of one of these large circles are smaller ones, known as ring forts.
The most popular and widely photographed ring forts are the two which are connected. One is the King's Seat and one is known as Cormac's House. Cormac is perhaps the most well known high king, which is why the ring fort is known as his.
I think that the two ring forts connected like that look very much like the drawings we saw in Fourknocks passage tomb. We were told that they represented the sun and earth and their relationship to one another, but they sure do look a lot like the two forts at Tara.
Granted, the passage tomb is way older than the ring forts, so perhaps they modeled the forts after the carving in the tombs.
Located in the center of the King's Seat fort is the Lia Fáil, also knows as the Stone of Destiny.
Dah dah daaahhh...
The legend goes that when the next high king of all kings touched the stone, it would let out a roar of approval so great that it shook the ground. Thus all would know a new king had been found and so named.
We tested it and...well...it is obviously showing its age because we got nada.
Also on the premises is a passage tomb known as the Mound of Hostages. This tomb is closed to the public. It is the oldest ruin on the hill. It gets its name from the fact that many of the high kings would take hostages while ruler of the lands. One took a hostage from each of the provinces of Ireland. I suppose this was to aid everyone in their allegiance to the king.
The old church on the Hill serves as a visitor center where those who wish to may watch a short video. The graveyard there has a few stones from long ago that many believe to be statues of important gods. Another legend has it that somewhere on Tara are two stones that stand close together. Those who wished to be the new high king had to drive their chariot towards the stones; he who was accepted as king would find that the stones would part in order for him to pass through. Those who were not "chosen" met with a much less appealing fate.
Thus concludes our time in Ireland. We had a very good experience overall. We would both like to visit the country again in order to see some of the other areas; all we've ever heard is that the country is so beautiful. We agree based on what we have seen and we'd love to explore some more.
Hope you've enjoyed the tour!
Señorita Clementina,
Today you are six months old. This photo? I put it first to show that you are tired.
Sleeeeeepyyyyyy.
In need of a snooze.
I would like to make a suggestion. No need to accept it; I am just throwing it out there.
Sleep. All night long. Just once.
Don't look at me like that. I am not crazy. In fact, there are many babies out there who manage to sleep all night long pretty much every night.
Holy smokes; I know!
Oh, stop it. I know what you are trying to say: "Bull!"
It is not. I am telling the absolute truth, miss thing. Oh, how much happier you and I would be if you slept all night.
Mostly me, but also you, so just get with the program already!
Okay, I'll leave you to contemplate that one.
As should be pretty obvious at this point, you don't sleep through the night and haven't ever since we visited Virginia for your Geat Ganny's birthday. Woe is me.
On the plus side, this has been the month of making faces. My, oh my have they been varied and entertaining. They are due in large part to the fact that your teeth are a movin'. You just shove everything you can into your mouth and even chew on your tongue and lips. Whatever works, I say.
Towards the beginning of the month, your Dad and I fed you some cereal just to see how you would take it.
You were less than impressed.
The cereal itself is so thinned out that you could have been taking it from a bottle, so I am fairly certain that the faces were more about the spoon in your mouth than anything else.
Seriously guys? What is that thing, and why are you shoving it into my mouth? Also, why exactly am I naked? Are we supposed to remove our clothing to eat?
That could be a problem in a year or so. I can see it now...we'll be out at a restaurant and you'll be flinging your clothing all over the place. Excellent.
This month you have been very content on your belly for long periods of time. Recently you've been figuring out how to scoot yourself around a bit. The fact that you insist on having both hands in your mouth while you scoot has impeded your movement, but you don't let it get to you.
You are also changing in the looks department. You began life looking exactly like your Daddy did when he was born. Then you changed and looked very similar to my baby photos. Now, you are changing again. I enjoy these changes because we all get to discuss who we think you resemble most.
You are definitely looking different than the beginning of the month:
In addition to shoving your hands in your mouth and chewing on clothing, cloth diapers, lips, tongue, and whatever you can grab, the feet are still high on the list of things to put in your mouth. You are able to grab them and shove them in there as easily as you breathe, and you are quite adept at getting just the first two toes in so that you can suck on them.
The weather finally cooled off enough this month that we needed to put a hat on you. We both promptly died from the cuteness.
We soon recovered and were able to take you walking and out and about. Oh, how you love to be out and about. You are so very happy if you get a field trip and you absolutely expect your evening walk.
There you go with the faces again. I know, we put your hokie hat on ya and we want to take a picture. You're just starting to figure out the photo thing. I guess I've shoved the camera in your face often enough now that you're starting to understand what is expected of you:
Then again, it lights up and beeps, and we all know you enjoy those things, so perhaps you're just demonstrating your pleasure.
I am thinking it may be the latter.
Why?
Well, aside from the fact that you are only six months old, and are therefore technically still zero, there's this:
I am pretty sure you're not just saying who's number one.
How 'bout this. I'll try not to take too many photos and pester you with the camera if you try to sleep through the night.
What's that?
Oh.
I agree: we're pretty much both gonna fail on that front.
Oh well. This too shall pass...
...right?
Love,
Mom
We headed out after our lunch to the Hill of Slane, made famous by Saint Patrick. The hill affords all visitors a fabulous view; one can see the passage tombs at Knowth and Newgrange as well as the nearby Hill of Tara.
Each year, the pagan kings of Tara met to celebrate the Festival of Easter (spring equinox). They lit a large fire as part of their celebration; the law was that no other fire was to be lit within a certain (visible) distance upon penalty of death.
The story goes that Saint Patrick lit a fire in defiance of the pagan celebrations. The high king of Tara could see his fire and sent sentries to take Patrick into custody.
At this point, the stories differ. Some say that Patrick was simply able to talk his way out of being killed or imprisoned. Others state that the high king challenged Patrick to a contest in order to prove that his gods were more powerful than Patrick's Christian God.
In that version there were three challenges between Patrick and his bible and the king's magician and (I assume) his spell book. The first was to place their book in water; whichever survived undamaged won. Patrick was willing; the magician was not.
The second challenge was to place their books into fire; whichever survived won. Again, Patrick was willing and the magician was not.
Patrick's faith impressed the king enough that although he disagreed with Patrick's beliefs, he did allow him free reign, so to speak, within the country. This enabled Patrick to travel all over Ireland, bringing Christianity to those he met.
On the hill, where all of this supposedly occurred, there are now ruins of Saint Patrick's church, complete with bell tower, as well as those of a Franciscan Monastery.
It is said that one can still climb the bell tower to get a good look of the surrounding area, but Rocket Man and I were not so brave as to climb so high in the ruins. Our next stop was the Hill of Tara, which I will show you tomorrow.
The Celtic tour we took on our last day was indeed a fabulous one. Of course, after the shoddy treatment by that other company, these people could have just done the minimum and we would have been praising them. They didn't at all. Over the Top Tours gave us a good look at a lot of the area north of Dublin and the driver/guide was knowledgeable and personable. In all it made for a great day.
Their tour buses hold a very small number of people, which makes the day much more enjoyable. We could go just about anywhere in the small van and we never felt like we were wasting our time at a stop...this would mostly be due to the fact that we only stopped when at a sight/location or for lunch. No uselessness here, people.
Our morning consisted of a visit to the Fourknocks passage tomb, a tour of Mellifont Abbey and a stop at Monasterboice to see the round tower and high crosses. We were all ready for some lunch at this point, and it was the next stop on our tour.
We stopped in Slane Village for lunch. There is an intersection in Slane Village with four identical three-storey houses on each corner. Our guide informed us that there were four sisters who wanted to keep an eye on each other's comings and goings. I don't have a photo as we were on the bus, but an interesting story nonetheless. I suppose those sisters were a tad competitive...assuming the story is true.
Remember how I told you that when the Queen (of England) passed away, back when England ruled Ireland, people were asked to paint their doors black...but in Ireland they rebelled and painted them every other color? Well, 'tis true away from the city as well:
I thought this house (cottage?) was quaint. Yup. I said quaint. Only because it is in Ireland, I am sure. Either way, you get to see a photo of it:
The name of the restaurant at which we ate is Conyngham Arms. We had a decent meal there, and if I recall correctly, it was a typical Irish meal to boot. Rocket Man and I were a tad worried about the food, since everyone we knew who had been to Ireland went a while ago when the food was still quite boring and bland. These days, however, things have changed. Yes, potatoes are still a major part of each meal, but they were used interestingly and tasted good to us. No boring stuff where we ate, no siree.
Perhaps the best part of our lunchtime stop was that behind the restaurant, there was a small parking area. Within that area was this road sign:
Not just slow, people. Dead slow.
After lunch we headed over to the Hill of Slane where Saint Patrick gained his fame.
Ugh. Sorry about that one, folks.
I guess I'm not completely rid of the elementary school music teacher yet...
