21st September - time to hit the road.

Up early after our busy day and late night, ready for another big day. Today we we hopped in the car to start our drive around Ireland (well, some of it!)

Our first stop was the Hill of Tara. This is a complex of archaeological sites from Neolithic, Iron Age and Celtic eras. It is traditionally the seat of the High Kings of Ireland. It contains earthworks including hill forts and burial chambers. We were there very early in the morning, not long after sunrise, and the ancient and mysterious atmosphere was incredible.

We spent ages exploring the different parts of the landscape. How could you not follow a path that looks like this?

There is also a rag tree – this is a Celtic tradition, possibly pre-Christian but clearly as active as ever. Objects representing prayers, wishes or vows are tied to the branches of the tree.

We drove from the Hill of Tara to Bru na Boinne, a group of 3 Neolithic chamber tombs. These are older than Stonehenge, older than the pyramids, and were built by a culture we now know very little about. You start the tour at a visitors’ centre, and they take you on minibuses to see 2 of the tombs (the 3^rd one, Dowth, isn’t open to the public). We started with Knowth. This is the largest of the sites, with a large main tomb and several small ones. It was in use for various purposes, on and off, from before 3000BC until the 12^th century.

There are stones with ancient carvings on them.

The site had fallen into disrepair over the years and has been changed and modified many times as it has been rediscovered over many centuries, so archaeologists have had to guess a bit when they have put it all back together – but it seems to have been designed with a very specific alignment. The entrance to the tomb has a stone with a carving including a vertical centre line, and nearby is a standing stone which casts a shadow on this line on the Spring and Autumn equinox. So it is very special that we happened to visit on the Autumn equinox!

From Knowth, we went to the other tomb – this is Newgrange, a very famous World Heritage site. The facade of white and grey stones has been repaired – when the site was discovered, the soil on the mound had slid down and buried the stones. The current arrangement is likely to be similar to the original, based on how the stones were discovered, but no-one knows for sure – another theory is that they formed a path around the front of the chamber.

Amazingly, this site is over 5000 years old and constructed so solidly that the roof has never leaked a single drop of water.

At Newgrange, you can walk right into the chamber under the mound. The guide uses electric lighting to simulate a remarkable feature of this site. As you enter the long passage into the tomb, you walk very slightly uphill. As you can imagine, by the time you get to the chamber (right in the middle), it would be completely dark without the electric lighting. The guide switches the light off to demonstrate this. However, the alignment of the passage and a special window box above the door allow a narrow beam of sunlight to enter the chamber for a few minutes, once a year – on the Winter solstice. No-one really knows why a tomb would be built with this feature, although there are many theories. The electric lighting is set up to give an idea of what it looks like – it is a chilling experience, standing there in the dark as a thin, sharp finger of light reaches into the tomb and then slowly recedes.

Newgrange doesn’t have as many of the carved stones, but the ones they have are beautiful.

There are also a several standing stones around the mound.

From Bru na Boinne, we headed to the Hill of Slane. This is a site associated with St Patrick and the introduction of Christianity to Ireland in the 5^th century. There is a ruined 16^th century abbey there which we explored.

We kept driving North, and with no fuss at all, we soon entered a whole new country as we went from the Republic of Ireland to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Our destination for the night is Carrickfergus, a town in Northern Ireland near Belfast. Our hotel has a great location, on the waterfront next to a 12^th century Norman castle!

The castle is largely surrounded by water, although the tide was low so we walked all the way around.

After that, we had a rather more mundane visit to a supermarket, then back to the hotel.