Dublin Day Three: Knowth, Newgrange, and Clonmacnoise

On Sunday we stopped at the Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth Visitor's Centre.  We only got to see Newgrange from afar because apparently they don't like taking large groups of our size inside the passages.  We did get to see Knowth up close but the rain was coming down hard, and the wind was blowing even harder.  So by the time we got back inside everyone was freezing and soaking wet, which didn't help anyone's cold feel any better.  After lunch we hopped back on the bus and headed off to the early monastic settlement of Clonmacnoise.  The ride was longer than anticipated because of a few wrong turns but by the time we got there the sun finally made an appearance.  The wind was still relentless, but as long as the rain stopped I was happy.  Clonmacnoise is the site of an early monastic settlement and has a very turbulent history as it was sacked and burned on multiple occasions by invading peoples. Today the ruins of some of the churches still stand, but the original high crosses are preserved indoors while the replicas stand outside in their place.  We were there on a day that a mass was being conducted outdoors so there were lots of visitors and kids running around and climbing on the different rock ruins.  I was surprised by how recent some of the headstones were, as I didn't realize it was a cemetery that was still in use in the past century, but local people still seem to come to this place for worship.  The blue sky was a treat, too, and made the ruined churches look amazing!

 

 

 

 

Looking inside a fake geode on display

Just a little bummed about the weather.  And maybe a little bored too.

Knowth burial mound

Knowth and some satellite mounds

Newgrange from the observation room, very far in the distance

Recreated wood-henge for equinox rituals

Some stone carvings can be seen here near one of the passage openings

More carvings, which the rain actually made clearer since the wet stone turns darker in color

Many of the carvings were simple but some had intricate series of lines and repeating patterns

This ruin is on the way out of the Clonmacnoise settlement and was unlabeled so I have no idea what it was but it looked cool

Ruins of churches and one of the high crosses at Clonmacnoise

The Whispering Arch, where people go to whisper nonsense without being heard by the nuns since it travels around the ridges in the arch and can be heard perfectly from the other side.  I think this was a knock knock joke.  Probably a dumb one.

Standing with Shannon by the Shannon River!

Over looking the Shannon River--longest river in Ireland.  The water was very choppy due to strong winds.

One of the high crosses

This little boy kept climbing up but the wind would knock him back down the second he got to his feet.  If you look close you can see his tongue sticking out in complete concentration. 

That concludes my Dublin trip! This weekend I will be staying in Galway, but there are a lot of exciting things going on over the next few days!  I start my service project with Enable Ireland on Thursday and then will be helping them out again on Saturday during an all-day street festival.  Friday is Culture Night and there will be music and dancing all over the city and then Saturday is a hurling exhibition at Pearse Stadium.  Stay tuned!