Everyone was up early - by 6:30 - and we were on the road by 7:10 so we could get to Newgrange before they opened. They did not take reservations to tour this ancient site, so we wanted to be early to increase our chances of getting in. We were golden throughout the day - encountering very little traffic as we skirted Dublin on the M50 motorway and headed north. We got to Newgrange at 8:45, one of the first cars in the parking lot. There were only three people in front of us in line.
We had expected we might have to wait for hours to get a time slot, but got
in almost immediately just having time for a light breakfast.
This site was the best organized such place I've ever been to. Clean, efficient,
beautiful, restful, uncrowded - they strictly limit the number of visitors.
We first rode a bus to Knowth - the site that is still being excavated. Our
guide was Patrick, an amusing 20-something Irish lad.
He gave us a 20 minute tour and then we wandered around on our own for a bit. (Here's a good overview of Knowth.)
Then we hopped back on a bus for the 10 minute ride over to the Newgrange site. Here's the usual suspects loitering in front of the primary entrance to the tomb.
We listened to some outdoor lecturing and then went into the inner passage where the guide did a simulation of the solstice event. It was brief, powerful and moving to be standing inside this 5000 year old site in complete darkness experiencing something like what its builders must have seen.
Kate and I agreed that we liked the Knowth site better than Newgrange - a combination
of it being a bit raw (excavation is still proceeding) and having the white
rocks on the ground instead of on the walls.
We drove from Newgrange to the town of Navan for lunch. Since we'd misinterpreted directions, we had a bit of a walk around town to find our destination, the Round O pub.
It had a dark wood interior and the food was served cafeteria style - turkey or roast beef - 'first joints or second joints' with mashed 'taters, gravy, chips, cabbage, turnips. A huge meal. Here John and Sheila take a break from eating and consider their next options.
I don't know how this started, but seems this was the right time for Molly to demonstrate her amazing cloverleaf tongue trick.
Stuffed, we treked back to the cars, passing this amusing full-service pub along the way. No time to stop and inquire about all their services:
We drove on over to Tara Hill. A rather minimalist site at first glance. Not really much to see, although it has a commanding view of the entire area, but vast history going back 5000 years and up to modernity - the site of huge political rallies in the 19th century. This photo shows a small rally of Kanes heading for the Hostage Mound.
We had an easy trip back around Dublin again and were home to Dunlavin before 7pm. No one was very interested in supper since we'd had the huge lunch after 2pm so we walked out for Magnum bars followed by cheese and crackers at the small house. As the children played cards in front of the peat burning fireplace, Kate began working out the trip finances, and the rest reviewed information from the day's trip. John went out for food and Patrick visited his new friend Seamus at Grace's Pub next door.