From the book itself....

"It was in Warwick Castle that I came across the curious stranger whom I am going to talk about. He attracted me by three things: his candid simplicity, his marvelous familiarity with ancient armor, and the restfulness of his company-- for he did all the talking. We fell together, as modest people will, in the tail of the herd that was being shown through, and he at once began to say things which interested me. As he talked along, softly, pleasantly, flowingly, he seemed to drift away imperceptibly out of this world and time, and into some remote era and old forgotten country; and so he gradually wove such a spell about me that I seemed to move among the specters and shadows and dust and mold of a gray antiquity, holding speech with a relic of it!"

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Trip to Tara, Bellifont, Newgrange



















After all the wonderful weather we have been having, yesterday made up for it all in 24 hours.

I spent the whole day outside at the historic sites of the Hill of Tara, the monastery at Bellifont and Newgrange. Both Tara and Newgrange date back to over 3,000 BC, and Bellifont dates to the early 5th century.

I was very excited to visit these site, take tons of pictures and learn a lot about them all, but that was very difficult to do on the day we went with temperature fluctuating between 31-34 degrees all day.

At our first stop, Tara, we were met with wind and snow. Lots of it. Were we up on that hill on a good day, visibility could be all the way north to the Mourn mountains, east to the Irish sea, and vastly into the west. We could see maybe a mile in either direction.

At the other site, the snow turned to heavy rain, and the wind blew it in such a manner you were wet no matter what you did.

So though I did not get to take many pictures, or stay dry, it was still a great experience to be in the place of ancient peoples from 5,000 years ago. The incredible skill that went into building these sites and the meanings behind it all add to the already vastly rich irish history.



Now I want to try to go back on some nice days!
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