Ireland - December 2003

Malahide Castle is quite a walk from the center of Malahide, but a pleasant one. It took maybe 20 minutes to walk though the woods to get to the castle. There is a tour you can pay for, but no photography in the castle is allowed.

A cab ride from Malahide to Sords Castle was about €7. The castle was under 'construction' while we visited. it was off season so no one else was here except an archaeologist. She let us into the tower and answered our many questions on the structure and the plant life in the area.

While in Swords, we decided to visit the round tower which is a very short walk from the castle. Looking into the tower from the ground all we could see was darkness. A photo later revealed a dozen beady eyes peering down at us. The tower makes the perfect roost for birds. Creepy!

The round tower was situated next to a church with a cemetery. A rectangular tower next to the round tower was locked.

We drove from Malahide to Garristown, which was a very pleasant drive. We stopped in the intersection shown in the photo above and walked over to the old church (left side). We then stopped for directions at the shop with the gas station (on the right down the road towards Ballybogal. We discovered that if we went in that direction, we would finally find Fourknocks.

Visiting Tuama Pasáiste na bhFuarchnoc was a highlight of the trip. It is a pleasure to be able to visit a site that is not swarming with tourists. We did not have difficulty finding it once we got directions from Garristown, and getting the key from the Whites was also simple. it is important for visitors to respect the history there and not to do any harm to the site.

We stopped in Duleek for a quick bite to eat. While there, we saw an old church or abbey in the distance. We drove in a few circles to get to it, but the stop was worth it. There are two high crosses at the Abbey. One is behind a protective fence and the remains of the other is mounted on a rock.

On the way to the Athcarne Castle we saw in the distance, we stopped at this cross on the side of the road. This cross was erected in 1675 by Dame Cecilia Dowdall for her husband Sir Luke Bathe who lived in Athcarne Castle.

This castle is on private farm land and is fenced off and falling apart. It sits amidst piles of stone and concrete and appears very dangerous to be near. It is not worth the trip for most, but we could not tell that from the map until we got to the castle.

On the way to Tara, we came across Rath Maeve. Rath Maeve was once a hill-fort measuring approximately 750 feet in diameter. All that remains now is a well defined ditch near the road. The hill fort was named after Queen Maeve, also spelled Medbh, where the "bh" is pronounced like a "v". Queen Maeve was queen of Connacht during the Iron Age. Alway room for a legend in history, Lug and Medbh were the god and goddess associated with Tara Hill. As the story goes, Medbh provided drink to the king during the rights of fertility (drunkenness prevails). When a suitable king was not available, Medbh ruled Tara.

For a little more information on Rath Maeve, see Megalithomania

We waw signs on the road to go to this church. We never saw this on our map, understandably since the site was so small.

We saw a sign for St. Patrick's Well along the way to Tara Hill. It is right around the bend from the parking for Tara. It looks like it might have become a 'water feature' later in time.

We were there off season in a rain storm, so the crowds were minimal. Unfortunately, some of the sites here were inaccessible so that they could grow back some of the grass. The tomb was locked for the season as well.

Ah, Loughcrew! This site was the gem of the trip. You need a lot of energy to hike up to the site and back, and then hike up to the next site. The countryside was gorgeous, and in the early winter the place is almost desolate.

Newgrange and the surrounding tombs of Knowth and Dowth are a must do trip. To protect the sites, you must pay admission and are limited in the amount of time you have inside the Newgrange Tomb. They do not allow indoor photography following complaints from other tourists who could not hear the guides over the clicking cameras, not to mention the blinding flashes. At least according to the second guide we had there.

Hill of Slaine was a close place to Newgrange and worth the extra few minutes. it was a quiet place with beautiful ruins and a cemetery.