Travellingoldies: HILL OF TARA AND NEW GRANGE

SUNDAY- Went of to see the Hill of Tara this morning. The rain seems to have gone for a while. THe Hill of Tara is a pretty significate site for the Irish as this is where the ancient Irish Kings where annointed. Really very low key. After a quick walk around with a guide we could just wander ourselves. The views from the top of the hill are great. This is the highest spot around which of course was why it was chosen by the ancient people. We were finished wandering and had had lunch by 1.30 and a little at loss as to what to do for the afternoon. We have been warned not to go to the other sites after lunch as the bloody tourists flock to them in hundreds on tour buses. After a bit of a debate and with Lonely Planet in hand I said to Ian that is says to throw away the guide book and go to some of the little places along the Royal Canal. We spent the next 5 hours following this virtually unused canal from Kilcock to where it comes out into the Shannon River just west of Longford. A great thing to do. The skies were overcast and the reflections in the still waters just beautiful. Loads of little old stone bridges and on Longwood the canal flows over an aquaduct with the road underneath. It was 8.30 when we arrived back at the B&B which was half time at the World Cup and a nil all score so watched the second half and the extra time. It always seems a bit sad to me when teams play for so long and a winner is decided at the last minute. Anyway I was hoping Spain would win, so a good result for the Spanish fans.

MONDAY - Went off to New Grange today. This is an extremely organised site. Huge car park, then the Centre and a walk across the river to where the buses pick up to take you to the sites. Each person is given a sticker to say what time you catch the bus. We went to Knowth first. This is a collection of passage tombs. The guide we had there was a bit of an actress but went over the 6,000 years of history in about 6 minutes and gave a great background. These are actually about 500 years older than the pyramids. The stones that we used to built these came from miles away. It is all pretty mind blowing when you consider that some of the outside boulders are up to 10 tons. Pre wheel days they believe they brought them up the river and then used logs to roll them to the hill. The celtic engravings are still visable on many and they are quite intricate. It was then time to catch the bus to New Grange site. This is a huge single passage tomb. Virtually the same as Knowth however you can actually go into the tomb. The construction is pretty amazing and also acts as a sundial. Both the mid winter and summer suns reach down the passage to the tomb through a box opening above the entrance and along a long narrow passage. Whilst there we started chatting to a fellow Australian only to discover he grew up in Hunters Hill and knew people Ian did. Finished up having lunch with him before heading off to the Battle of Boyne site. Bit uncanny really because today is the anniversary (12 July). We looked through the exhibition there but were both over the history tour by then and just drove back to Carlanstown. Great sunny day with nice blue skes.

TUESDAY - Heard on the news this morning that 80 police were injured in Belfast last night during marches. Although 'The Troubles' are over the problems and resentment still exist. So glad we were there last week and night this week. Left Carlanstown this morning and drove to Slane where we thought we would walk along the tow path that was marked on the map near the old canal and river however it was really non existent. We walked for a while but gave up as the canal is completely overgrown with tall grass and we were away from the river. Drove on towards Mellifont via the Hill of Slane. Went to the Mellifont Castle which must have been beautiful once but now just a ruin. The original priory lavabo is still fairly much intact and some nice pieces of stone work still visable. Had lunch at Monasterboice and then headed for Dublin via the coast. Had a drive around Skerries, Rush and Malahide but by now the rain had really set in again and you could only just see the headlands and out to sea.