September 3, 1998

September 3, 1998

After a few days in Dublin we rent a car to explore the rest of the country. We start going northwest. Traffic is lousy with drivers passing at high speed in both directions on this two-lane road. Ireland apparently needs more highways to keep up with its rapid economic growth. An hour later in county Meath we reach the small town of Trim. In the center are the ruins of a Norman castle. This fortress with a huge central keep has a long Irish history but I am more interested to learn it starred as the walled city of York, England in one of my favorite movies “Braveheart”.

From Trim we follow the Boyne River downstream to Brú na Bóinne, Gaelic for Palace on the Boyne. This World Heritage site contains Neolithic passage tombs from the time of the Egyptian pyramids. The most famous are Newgrange and Knowth. Both can only be visited by guided tour. We opt for Knowth. From the Visitor Center we are shuttled to the site to begin our tour. The centerpiece is a huge earthen mound (220ft in diameter) more than 4000 years old encircled with stones carved with strange symbols. A passage runs under the center of the mound. It is oriented so the sun illuminates it only on the Equinox. Seventeen smaller tomb mounds encircle this largest one. The richness of ancient Irish history continues to astonish me.

I want to slowly make our way across the north of Ireland visiting more sights. Aimee on the other hand is anxious to see her relatives, so we drive straight across to County Mayo in the far northwest corner of Ireland. We spend the night with her aunt in the town of Crossmolina. The next morning I notice some stone ruins in the backyard. Could this have once been a castle? Hmmm, maybe Aimee comes from Irish royalty!