Day 8, A Travelogue of Christmas in Ireland, December 2005

Christmas in Ireland Tour, 2005

Day 8 - Back to the present.

Thursday, December 8, 2005

Itinerary: We left at 6:00 a.m for our drive to Dublin; along the way we stopped at the Newgrange Passage tomb, Monasterboice High crosses for gravestone rubbings, and Mellifont Abbey. We made it into Dublin in time for Late Night Shopping. Dinner on our own. Stayed at ALL HALLOWS COLLEGE, Drumcondra, Dublin. (08-11 Dec)

We packed the van the night before and left at 6:00 am so we could get to Dublin for weekly "late-night" shopping.

We stopped at Newgrange passage tomb, which is part of the Bru na Boinne complex overlooking the Boyne River in Co. Meath. Newgrange was 500 years old when construction on Egypt's pyramids was started. The tomb is a large dirt and rock mount that houses a small cruciform region built to shelter cremated remains. There are several amazing aspects about this particular tomb. Because of the corbelled architecture which creates the ceiling above the tombs and because of a series of rock drainage passageways within the mound, the interior chambers remain bone dry to this day. The inner chambers also hold a constant temperature of 61° Fahrenheit. The most remarkable feature of the tomb is that on the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, the interior of the tomb is fully illuminated for around nine minutes by sun shining directly down the entrance passageway. These are phenomenal engineering feats even by today's standards; but they are more remarkable because they were created by people nearly 4000 years ago.

We made two other stops in the Boyne Valley before heading southward to Dublin. We stopped at Monasterboice cemetery which once was central to abbeylands in the region. Monasterboice is noted for its High Crosses, which were used to teach Bible stories to illiterate local people. Here we made gravestone rubbings, using graphite pencils to copy ornate designs from the cemetery markers. A few kilometers away we visited the ruins of Old Mellifont Abbey. This complex, dating from the 12th century, was headquarters for the first Cistercian (Trappist) monastery complex in Ireland. These monks controlled large tracts of land in the area and became very wealthy. There is a smaller, modern abbey nearby run by the same order. The most impressive ruin is what remains of a lavabo, or ceremonial washing place, in the Romanesque style.

After our long and adventuresome day, we finally arrived in Dublin and checked into our rooms at All Hallows College. This former Vincentian seminary complex is located in the northern Dublin suburb of Drumcondra. Here our accommodations were not nearly as fancy as those in our farmhouse B&Bs. Each room was equipped with a single bed covered by a down comforter, an armoire closet, a desk, chair, sink and mirror. There were several shared bathrooms on each wing of Purcell House where we stayed. Since the seminary closed in the early 1990s, All Hallows hosts pilgrims, spiritual retreats, students, and other wayfarers. We learned that our simple rooms in Dublin cost more than our accommodations in the countryside.

Since central Dublin is a mediaeval city, driving in the city centre is difficult. As a result, we had the option to walk (a ten-minute walk to downtown) or to take public transportation. We were provided with three-day "Rambler" bus passes and Sam explained how in great detail how get off at the correct bus stop to get home. When we got downtown, Sam pointed out good places to shop. Carroll's was the place to buy reasonably priced Irish tourist gifts. After our evening of shopping in the city center, we learned of a planned labor protest march for the following day. In sympathy with the protestors, no bus service would be available from mid-morning until early afternoon. This provided a challenge to our touring plans, but we managed to make it to our tourist destinations both on foot and by bus.

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