Around the World in Thirty Days

29^th September, 2013 – fields, crosses and mountains.

Today was a driving day. We left Galway fairly early (it looks very different first thing in the morning!)

We had to stop to see Athenry, and the fields of the song. The town is just off the main road and surrounded by suitably lonely-looking fields.

Athenry has a castle (most towns do!) and since it’s included in our Heritage Ireland pass, we popped in for a look. It’s a 12^th Century tower house, similar to other castles we’ve seen but with a few surprising modern additions to the interior including a glass floor/ceiling between the ground floor and the basement, and a cinema.

Our next stop was the wonderful monastic site of Clonmacnoise. After exploring a bit, we have some advice for anyone planning to visit (and if you’re not planning to visit, change your plans! Go to Clonmacnoise) – this isn’t how we did it, but it would work wonderfully. Buy your ticket, then go right around the edge of the site, past the modern cemetery, about 500m to the Nuns’ Church. After you’ve had a look, walk back along the road and into the cemetery. Through the middle is a trail of paving stones – this is an old pilgrims’ path.

Follow the path through the gate. The churches and towers of Clonmacnoise rise up in front of you, and you can take the path right up to the tiny Temple Ciaran, traditionally believed to hold the tomb of St Ciaran who founded the monastery in 546. After you’ve done this, go in to the museum and interpretive centre, then come out and have a poke around the site. We did the museum first, and it was great, but this way would be an incredible way to arrive.

The museum is a very important part of the preservation of this site. There are many precious carved works including high crosses from around the 9^th Century – these are considered too valuable to keep in the original outdoor setting, so they have been placed in a safe, dry location in the museum with replicas in their original places.

It is amazing to stand and look at the crosses and other stone carvings. What a depth of history this place contains.

There are a number of small churches, called temples, as well as the cathedral. All are ruined – the monastery was attacked dozens of times by local tribes as well as Viking and Norman invaders, and was continually rebuilt until it was destroyed by the English in the 16^th Century.

You could spend a lot of time here, just being in a place with such profound history and faith.

We eventually moved on and headed out over the Slieve Bloom Mountains. Like the Clifden Sky Road back in Connemara, this was a ridiculously narrow, winding road with incredible views.

By late afternoon, we arrived here in Kilkenny. We booked a hotel which offered huge internet discounts on Sunday and Monday nights, which happened to be just what we wanted. So, for a similar price to our very basic budget accommodation in Galway, we are staying in a completely over-the-top luxury hotel!