Category: Ireland

Christ Church - Dublin's Other Ancient Cathedral

9/14/2013

Christ Church Cathedral is located in the former heart of medieval Dublin and there has been a church on the site since Viking times in 1028. As usual, the huge beautiful cathedral lured me in like a siren, where I basked in my addiction for religious art and architecture.

Dúnán, the first bishop of Dublin and Sitriuc, the Norse king of Dublin, founded the original 11th century, wooden Viking church. In 1163, Christ Church was converted to an Augustinian priory by the 2nd Archbishop of London, Laurence O’Toole (later made a saint).

Archbishop O’Toole was an important actor in Dublin’s history, and even acted as a diplomat in negotiations between the Dubliners and the Anglo-Normans invaders including Strongbow (Richard de Clare) following the capture of the city of Dublin in 1170.

Strongbow was a medieval Norman-Welsh peer and warlord who came to Ireland at the request of King Diarmuid MacMorrough. His arrival marked the beginning of English involvement in Ireland and his tomb is said to be located inside Christ Church. There are actually two tomb effigies side by side.

An old tale says that the small tomb beside him is that of his son. It is said that he believed his son a coward and cut him in half in a rage, and that is why the tomb sculpture appears to show only the top half of the body. Great story but who knows if it’s really true!

Strongbow - Picture of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

This photo of Christ Church Cathedral is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Since the original cathedral was a wooden building, in the 1180s, Strongbow and other wealthy Norman knights helped to fund a complete rebuilding of Christ Church in stone. They built the choir, choir aisles and transepts, the crypt and chapels.

During the Reformation In 1539, King Henry VIII converted the priory cathedral to his new “Church of England” and ensured Christ Church adhered to his new church structure.

In 1562 most of the cathedral collapsed, leaving only one nave wall standing, and immediately had to be repaired. Strongbow’s tomb effigy was destroyed and a new medieval replacement was supplied from Drogheda. Nobody knows if he is really in the tomb or not.

Much of the cathedral you see today is from the Victorian Era and designed in the Neo-Gothic style, due to the extensive restorations and renovations carried out by the architect George Edmund Street between 1871 and 1878.

If you want to experience the oldest part of the cathedral, head down underground to the arched crypt. The crypt contains several tomb monuments and beautifully carved sculptures, even some from the middle ages.

Interestingly, during the 16th and 17th centuries, Christ Church’s crypts were used as a market, a meeting place for business, and at one stage even a pub! I tried to imagine busy market and pub patrons bustling between vendor stalls which would have vied for space with elaborate tombs.

Christchurch is a beautiful cathedral full of history and amazing architecture and well worth a visit!

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A Day Trip South from Dublin: Windswept Wicklow Mountains & The Monastery of Glendalough

9/13/2013

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Have a rental car? Drive south into the wild windswept Wicklow Mountains, check out the bogs and visit magical Glendalough.

I don’t know what I expected, but the miles of rolling windswept hills marked by black streaks of peat waiting to be chopped neatly out of the bogs was a surprise. The Wicklow Mountain National Park is 50,600 acres (204.8-square-kilometres) and as we drove through it, we met only a few other lonely cars.

Most of our journey was isolated. The blue sky was huge above us with clouds floating across it, aloft the same winds that rustled the pale grasses. Hiding in those grasses are bluebells, wood sorrel, bracken, ferns and mosses all shading the grasses with their vibrant colors.

Jim still brags about what he considers a wonderful experience…….Peeing in a bog. As he points out, not very many Americans can claim that distinction! I’m not sure that is actually so unusual!

Darkening the bright fields are stacks of black peat which is fascinating for anyone who has read about historical Ireland. Visions of smoky fires filled our heads and we embarked upon our quest to find a real peat fire to enjoy.

Leaving the spartan hills, we eventually entered the deep green forest valley filled with pines, holly, hazel and mountain ash trees, with wild rivers flowing to the south where the lovely ruins of an early Christian monastic settlement can be found.

The Glendalough Valley was carved out by glaciers during the Ice Age and the two lakes, from which Glendalough (glen of two lakes) gets its name, were formed when the ice eventually thawed.

The recorded history of the wooded valley dates from the 6th century - the dawn of Christianity in Ireland. The Valley is home to one of Ireland’s most impressive monastic sites founded by St. Kevin in the 6th Century.

Kevin, a descendant of one of the ruling families in Leinster, studied at what then must have been the wilds of Glendalough under the care of three holy men. He was to return later, with a small group of monks to found a monastery where the 'two rivers form a confluence'.

St Kevin’s fame as a holy man spread and he attracted numerous followers. He died in about 618. For six hundred years afterwards, Glendalough flourished and became an important center for religious learning, but also was a settlement that experienced its share of Viking raids.

In its heyday, the settlement included not only churches and monastic cells but also workshops, guesthouses, an infirmary, farm buildings and houses. Most of the buildings that survive today date from the 10th through 12th centuries.

Among the ruins of what remains of the small monastic community are the:

Round Tower which sits away from the main group of buildings, and would have been used for storage, and possibly a place for retreat during invasion.

St. Kevin’s Church, a stone roofed building with a distinctive round belfry with conical cap at the west end.

The cathedral; which is the largest building at Glendalough and was built in several phases from the 10th through the early 13th century.

The Priest’s House; which is a small Romanesque building with a decorative arch at each end. Its original use is unknown, but it may have housed relics of St. Kevin. Its name comes from the practice of burying priests there in the 18th and 19th centuries.

St. Mary's Church, from the 10th century which belonged to the nuns and St. Kieran’s Church; which probably commemorates St. Kieran, the founder of Clonmacnoise, a monastic settlement to the northwest that had associations with Glendalough in the 10th century are also at the site, (Sorry no photos).

The arrival of the Normans in Ireland ended the golden epoch of Glendalough. In 1214 the monastery was destroyed by the invaders and the Diocese of Glendalough was united with the Sea of Dublin. After that, Glendalough declined as a monastic establishment and gradually it became deserted.

The buildings fell into decay and more than 6 hundred years elapsed before a reconstruction program was started in 1878 and began the preservation of what you see today.

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Touring the Boyne Valley: Finding Braveheart at Trim Castle

9/11/2013

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Our last stop on our day trip from Dublin with Tour Dublin, through the Boyne Valley, was Trim Castle.

Trim Castle is the largest Anglo Norman castle in Ireland. It was constructed over about a thirty year period by Hugh de Lacy and his son Walter beginning in 1173. In 1172, Hugh de Lacy was granted the “liberty” of Meath by King Henry II in an attempt to curb the ambitions of Richard de Clare (Strongbow).

During feudal times, the “liberties” were a grant of lands where the baron would hold economic and legal power, and de Lacy was granted the lands of Meath and control over all the villagers and farming peasants who lived there.

The massive Stone Keep (tower) was twenty sided and was built in the shape of a cross. A Keep from this period would have had very thick stone walls and few windows. Turrets would be used as a high vantage point for soldiers to watch for enemy attack.

The entrance to a Stone Keep was through outside stone stairs, directly to the first floor of the keep, while the kitchens and the lower hall were on the ground floor. The living quarters and the upper hall would have been on the floors above. Stone keeps provided a much more solid defense against attack compared to previous wooden keeps.

Wonderful models of how the castle ruins would have appeared in the middle-ages help you visualize how families and servants would have lived in Trim castle. The tour is guided, so knowledgeable guides tell you all about the castle and its history.

This tower was protected by a ditch, curtain wall and moat. The Castle was used as a center of Norman administration for the Lordship of Meath, one of the new administrative areas of Ireland created by King Henry II of England.

Several noble families owned the castle throughout the next three centuries with the castle finally ending up in royal hands by 1423, when it passed to Richard of York and his son Edward IV.

Interestingly for those who have heard the term “beyond the pale” Trim Castle actually marked the northern boundary of “The Pale” which was the area in Ireland directly under English control during the middle ages. The lands beyond that were considered wild and treacherous.

You must take in the views from the heights of the keep where you can see not only the defensive curtain walls, but the rolling countryside that the lord of Trim Castle would have ruled. You can also see the ruin of St. Mary’s Abbey, founded as an Augustinian Abbey.

The abbey is situated on the north bank of the River Boyne opposite the castle on land given to St. Patrick. It is said that he founded the abbey. The abbey was a prominent pilgrimage site, famous for the healing power of its statue of the Virgin Mary, until it was dissolved by King Henry VIII during the Reformation.

Little remains of the abbey except for the Yellow Steeple, the ruin of the abbey bell tower named for the yellow color of the stonework in the setting sun, and Talbot's Castle, an abbey building that has been converted to a manor house which is to the left of the abbey tower.

The castle fell into decline during the 16th and 17th centuries, but for us, while the castle’s history was very interesting, what really caught our interest was the fact that the castle had been used in scenes from the film, Braveheart.

I know…… How shallow of us! But it was pretty fun to imagine how they transformed the castle into the city of York in the movie and to see where the London Square had been located by the castle wall!

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Touring the Boyne Valley in Ireland: Newgrange (Bru na Boinne)

9/10/2013

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Our third stop on our day tour from Dublin along the Boyne Valley with Tour Dublin, was at Newgrange (Bru na Boinne), and this was the site I was most excited to be visiting.

Imagine a spiritual site older than the Stonehenge, older than the Pyramids! Newgrange is over five-thousand years old. Newgrange was built during the Neolithic or New Stone Age by a farming community that prospered on the rich lands of the Boyne Valley. People of the area knew about the mound throughout history, and it was not disturbed after it was originally sealed eons ago. It wasn’t until 1699 that a farmer decided to dig it up for stones to use on his farm and it became the focus of antiquarians and archeologists.

The mound, while looking circular from the ground is actually Kidney shaped and the interior is the location of what Archeologists label as a “Passage Tomb”. Some of those who continue to research the tomb believe that it was also a place of astrological, spiritual and ceremonial importance; almost temple-like.

Newgrange is best known for the illumination of its passage and chamber by the winter solstice sun. Above the entrance to the passage at Newgrange there is an opening called a roof-box. Its purpose is to allow sunlight to penetrate the chamber on the shortest days of the year, around December 21, the winter solstice. I find it amazing that Neolithic architects in 3200 B.C. were able to perfectly line up the opening to the suns December rays!

The tours of the tomb are by guide only so we joined our small group (again the benefit of traveling off season!) and entered the extremely narrow passage into the tomb. If you are at all claustrophobic, this tour is not for you. Jim remained outside while I squeezed inside with others who couldn’t wait to see what was inside. Even I felt a little thrill of fright during this experience, but once you are standing inside the round tomb all is ok again.

The center chamber has a high corbeled (stones stacked and fitted together into a vaulted ceiling) roof and has three small attached chambers that surround the larger space. Each of the smaller chambers has a large flat "basin stone", which was where the bones of the dead were possibly originally deposited, although whether it was actually a burial site remains unclear. No Photos of the interior.... Sorry they are not allowed inside the tomb.

As we all huddled together in the room, we were told to prepare for the light to go out, so that they could perform a simulation of the solstice rays entering the tomb. Let me tell you it was pitch black for a minute, but the rays suddenly projecting through the opening to where we stood in the center of the tomb was incredible and really made you aware that you were feeling a similar awe as that of the ancient priests in stone-age times.

It is an experience you shouldn’t miss, but if you can’t make yourself go deep inside the tomb, there is a replica in the museum that is on the site. It is an exact replica of the main part of the tomb and is fun to really take a good look at it in good lighting!

The standing stones around the site are from a later Bronze Age period, but the stones that line the exterior of the tomb were brought there during tomb construction. It is amazing to think that they were able to move those huge stones UPHILL most likely from the river terraces between Newgrange and the Boyne river area. Humans are capable of pretty incredible feats!

It is believed that the carvings on the stones display symbolic meanings, but nobody really knows what they may have meant. There are many circles, spirals, chevrons, dots and other beautiful forms.

A visit to Newgrange will give you a wonderful glimpse into the Neolithic age and as you walk all the way around the tomb and gaze out at the rolling farmland dotted by other ancient mounds, you can actually begin to sense the sacredness of this grand tomb.

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Touring the Boyne Valley in Ireland: The Hill of Slane

9/9/2013

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The Hill of Slane was the second stop on our tour of the Boyne Valley with Tour Dublin. The hill rises 518 ft. (158 m) above the surrounding green fields which we could see were dotted with black and white cows. In fact, as we got closer, we could see those cows had made themselves at home right up to the ruins of the Abbey. From the ruins, we could see the Megalithic sacred site of Bru Na Boinne (New Grange) and the Hill of Tara in the distance, reinforcing the fact that the area was considered special since ancient times.

The Hill of Slane has been an important location as far back as the mythical times of Ireland. In the verse of the bards called the Fir Bolg, it is said that High King Slaine mac Dela had been buried there and some believe that a second small mound on the hill is actually his burial mound.

Since the hill already held pagan importance, it naturally became the site of later Christian shrines. In fact, it is written that St. Patrick lit the first Paschal fire on the Hill of Slane in direct defiance of the High King Laoire (Loegaire). The king, who resided at Tara, 9.9 miles (16 k) away, forbid any other fires being lit within view of Tara during the Beltaine Festival (Spring Equinox).

Tradition says that Loegaire was so impressed by Patrick’s devotion that, despite his defiance (or perhaps because of it), he let him continue his missionary work in Ireland and appointed him Bishop of Slane.

The Hill of Slane remained a center of religion and learning for centuries after the days of St. Patrick, and there are several interesting and picturesque ruins to explore on the Hill of Slane. The earliest are the ruins of a friary church and college at the top of the hill. The friary was restored in 1512, so what you see now may be from that period. The friary was completely abandoned in 1723.

On the west side of the hill there are the remains of a twelfth-century Norman Castle with motte ( raised earthwork) and bailey (enclosed courtyard), built by Richard Fleming in the 1170s.

This was the seat of the Flemings of Slane, who were barons of Slane and they lived on the hill until around the 15th or 16th century when they moved to a new castle near the Boyne River.

The Flemings were lords of Slane until the 17th century, when, Protestant lords were given Irish lands through what is now called the Williamite confiscations. The Conyngham’s who were a noble Scottish family, took over (some say purchased?) the Slane Castle and lands.

Wandering through the grey ruins, I could only think of the many monks who would have been busily attending to the Abbey and the family that had shared the mound with them back during the colorful historical times of the Hill of Slane.

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Touring the Boyne Valley in Ireland: Monasterboice

9/7/2013

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There are a variety of great companies that host day tours from Dublin, of the rolling green hills and fields of the Boyne Valley in Ireland. We chose to hire a private driver/guide for the day from Tour Dublin, and our guide Kieran, whisked us off to explore some of the amazing history of Ireland. Our tour of the valley would include, Monasterboice, Hill of Slane, Newgrange, and Trim Castle.

Our first stop was Monasterboice which can be found in County Louth, north of Drogheda. This site which looks somewhat like a small graveyard at first glance, was one of the early important monastic communities of religion and learning in Ireland. It was founded in the 5th century by a follower of St. Patrick; the hermit St. Buithe. The word Monasterboice is an Anglicization of Mainistir Bhuithe, meaning "monastery of Buithe”

When we drove up to the site, we saw that there was only one other car in the parking lot and that we would have this wonderful place almost to ourselves. Traveling off season really allows you to appreciate the history and beauty of Ireland without dodging the crowds of summer.

The small monastery suffered a Viking invasion in 968, but the marauders were driven out by the High King of Ireland at that time, Donal. Shortly after that, the round tower which is 110 feet high (33 m) was built. Its windows are slits and originally, the door would have been 15 – 20 feet above ground. After centuries of burials, the ground is higher, so the door is currently only 6 feet (2 m) off the ground. It tapers as it rises to what would have been a conical top, but the top part is no longer there.

Most historians believe that the monks would have taken refuge in these towers which were divided by wooden floors, during assaults upon their communities, drawing the ladders up after them and defending the tower through the slit windows.

In 1097 the monastery and its tower was burned and shortly after that it began to decline as nearby, the newly built Mellifont Abbey began to grow and thrive.

The ruins of two churches from the 14th century are on the site and ancient gravestones from the monastic times surround the tower, but what catches the eye are the huge Celtic High Crosses from the 10th century.

Best preserved and certainly the most beautiful, is the 18 foot (5.5 m) tall Cross of Murdock which is named after the Abbot Muiredach mac Domhnaill from 923 A.D. It features biblical carving from the Old and New testaments of the Bible.

As you face the cross, the center panel shows the Last Judgment. Those going to heaven are on the right and those going to hell are on the left. Working down the center pillar of the cross, you will see the scenes from the Old Testament, the Magi, Moses striking the rock, the life of David and Adam and Eve.

We wandered for quite some time thinking about those ancient days of High Kings and Monks in Ireland and soaking up the beauty of the carved stones. In our minds, we could hear the echoes of the monks chants.

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Find Yourself in Killarney Ireland? Take a Carriage Ride Along Muckross Lake!

9/5/2013

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If you happen to find yourself in Kilarney you must take a carriage or Jaunting Cart along Muckross Lake in Killarney National Park. For us, it was a last minute, spur-of-the-moment decision as we wandered in Killarney Town and found ourselves in front of one of the last lingering carriage drivers looking for one last patron. Fortunately he called to us and we hopped in. As we all know, the best experiences are those that are completely unplanned!

It was sunset and the lake and woods were magical, alternately glowing and then shadowed depending upon where we were in the park. As we trotted by, herds of native Red Deer peeked out at us from the tall grass. These majestic deer who have been in Ireland since the Ice Age, survive now only in the sanctuary created for them in Killarney National Park.

As the gold of the sun flashed its last rays to glint across the lake, we explored the ruin of Ross Castle which was built in the 15th century and watched the water birds float quietly on the lake as it darkened from blue to black. Everything else can be said in photos......