Showing posts with label Ireland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ireland. Show all posts
Saturday, July 4, 2015
Dublin Harbour, Ireland
Staying at the Maldron Airport Hotel, we were able to drop off our car the night before our plane left in the morning for Canada. To end off a beautiful day and use up some of the expensive gas I’d put in our Citroen I made a last trip into Dublin to see the harbour. As a sailor I dream of sailing my offshore SV GIRI, a 40 floor cutter rigged sloop to these Islands. I never would have believed I’d have sailed solo to Hawaii at Christmas one year so if that was possible it just may be that I will one day sail into this magnificent harbour. After our drive about Dublin for the last time we left the car with Hertz and returned to the hotel. There we had superb Irish steak, a last night of fine dining. Laura and I agreed that this trip had surpassed our every expectation. We loved Ireland and look forward to returning.
Cross of Muiredach, Monasterboice, County Louth, Ireland
In Galway, at the Clannagh Jewellers I bought the splendidly detailed and carved Ogham designs gold cross of Muiredeach. I’d already bought a Gold Mura Cross from Faller’s Jewellers in Londonderry. These were to replace the gold Celtic Cross which had great sentimental value and some hundreds of dollars gold value when it was stolen from me by Moslem muggers calling me infidel in the streets of Athens. Now here I was able to not only get a new gold cross better crafted with greater detail actually made in Ireland but one that was also a true replica of a real Celtic high cross pf Muiredach. Of course, after Laura and my adventure finding the Mura Cross itself in Fahan village, we planned another adventure.
Monasterboice where the cross was said to reside was north of Dublin near Drogheda. After going to mass at St. Peter's in Drogheda and visiting the Battle of Boyne site we drove on to Monasterboice. Thankfully there were easy to follow signs. We didn't have the quite adventure though we had finding St. Mura's grave. Monasterboice would be our last spiritual pilgrimage in Ireland. It was a beautiful and sacred place where Laura and I felt close to each other and close to our God.
One of the main permanent Viking centres was made eight miles from Monasterboice at Annagassan on the Louth Coast in AD 840. It was from here that the Vikings plundered Clonmacnoise in 841. Yet they never plundered Monasterboice. The Muiredach Cross actually has a couple of Viking like characters suggesting that some Vikings may have become Christians and monks explaining why the Monastery was not plundered.
Monasterboice was founded in the late 5th century by Saint Buithe. At the site there are two churches from the 14th century and an earlier 35 meter tall round tower. The Cross of Muiredeach is named after the abbott who reigned from 887 -924 and is featured in the carvings.
Irish High Crosses by Peter Harbison is an excellent resource to all the high crosses. The East Face of the Muiredach's Cross shows the last judgement at the cross, and the Crucifixion and Ressurection on the West Face, Each plate has a story from the bible and these are laid out easy to follow in Peter Harbison’s excellent book. It was fun to read this guide looking at the actual cross and seeing what each plate represented. I can actually see these plates in detail with a magnifying glass on my little gold cross. It’s humbling to consider the artistry of the original and that of today.
Beside the Muiredach Cross there was another old high cross which was just like the silver cross I’d bought Laura at Faller’s Jewelry in Londonderry. Laura thought this so special. There was a further Tall or West Cross near the Round Tower. At over 7 meters or 21 feet high it’s the tallest high cross in the country.
Magi
Last Judgement
Crucifixion
Viking Mustaches
Monasterboice where the cross was said to reside was north of Dublin near Drogheda. After going to mass at St. Peter's in Drogheda and visiting the Battle of Boyne site we drove on to Monasterboice. Thankfully there were easy to follow signs. We didn't have the quite adventure though we had finding St. Mura's grave. Monasterboice would be our last spiritual pilgrimage in Ireland. It was a beautiful and sacred place where Laura and I felt close to each other and close to our God.
One of the main permanent Viking centres was made eight miles from Monasterboice at Annagassan on the Louth Coast in AD 840. It was from here that the Vikings plundered Clonmacnoise in 841. Yet they never plundered Monasterboice. The Muiredach Cross actually has a couple of Viking like characters suggesting that some Vikings may have become Christians and monks explaining why the Monastery was not plundered.
Monasterboice was founded in the late 5th century by Saint Buithe. At the site there are two churches from the 14th century and an earlier 35 meter tall round tower. The Cross of Muiredeach is named after the abbott who reigned from 887 -924 and is featured in the carvings.
Irish High Crosses by Peter Harbison is an excellent resource to all the high crosses. The East Face of the Muiredach's Cross shows the last judgement at the cross, and the Crucifixion and Ressurection on the West Face, Each plate has a story from the bible and these are laid out easy to follow in Peter Harbison’s excellent book. It was fun to read this guide looking at the actual cross and seeing what each plate represented. I can actually see these plates in detail with a magnifying glass on my little gold cross. It’s humbling to consider the artistry of the original and that of today.
Beside the Muiredach Cross there was another old high cross which was just like the silver cross I’d bought Laura at Faller’s Jewelry in Londonderry. Laura thought this so special. There was a further Tall or West Cross near the Round Tower. At over 7 meters or 21 feet high it’s the tallest high cross in the country.
MagiLast JudgementCrucifixionViking Mustaches
Drogheda, Ireland
Laura and I drove into Dublin taking a room at the Maldron Airport Hotel. On the Sunday we drove to Drogheda. I’d planned to go to a Church of Ireland or Presbyterian Church this last Sunday. God had other plans.
As we drove into the town of Drogheda we heard the bells ringing and saw people going into the cathedral. I was just able to park and we walked in as the service was beginning. It turned out we were in St. Peter’s Roman Catholic’s Church. Laura said how much she felt as she had as a child when she went every Sunday to mass with her mother
Everything about this service was right. The priest was moving in his timely sermon commenting on the recent Tunisia terrorist attack but bringing his message home to the individual soul and our relationship with God. The music was inspiring. The interior of the church was simply beautiful.
Outside we found the statue of Saint Oliver Plunkett. Born in Loughcrew, County Meath, 1629, after study and service in Rome, he was appointed the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland. He was known even by his enemies as a man of peace. He was falsely charged with treason in a time of religious persecution. He was taken to London and executed in what could best be described as a rigged monkey court, the last victim of the Popish Plot. He prayed for forgiveness of those responsible for his death, 1681. He was beatified in 1920 and canonized in 1975. He was the first new Irish saint for almost 700 years. The severed head of Plunkett rests in St. Peters.
After our time of prayer and communion we went for coffee and breakfast sandwiches across the street at a sweet little cafe. We then drove around this really quaint little town stopping to take pictures of the many sites, like the St. Lawrence Gate and the Magdalene Tower. The earliest monument is the motte-and-bailey castle, now know as the Millmount Fort. Richard the Lionheart gave the town it's charter.
The River Boyne runs through the town. The famous Protestant/Catholic Battle of the Boyne was our next stop. We also would go on to see the Cross of Muiredeach, at nearby Monasterboice.
I liked Laura’s picture of me under a hunting store sign. Apparently rabbit hunting is a popular hunting past time.
As we drove into the town of Drogheda we heard the bells ringing and saw people going into the cathedral. I was just able to park and we walked in as the service was beginning. It turned out we were in St. Peter’s Roman Catholic’s Church. Laura said how much she felt as she had as a child when she went every Sunday to mass with her mother
Everything about this service was right. The priest was moving in his timely sermon commenting on the recent Tunisia terrorist attack but bringing his message home to the individual soul and our relationship with God. The music was inspiring. The interior of the church was simply beautiful.
Outside we found the statue of Saint Oliver Plunkett. Born in Loughcrew, County Meath, 1629, after study and service in Rome, he was appointed the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland. He was known even by his enemies as a man of peace. He was falsely charged with treason in a time of religious persecution. He was taken to London and executed in what could best be described as a rigged monkey court, the last victim of the Popish Plot. He prayed for forgiveness of those responsible for his death, 1681. He was beatified in 1920 and canonized in 1975. He was the first new Irish saint for almost 700 years. The severed head of Plunkett rests in St. Peters.
After our time of prayer and communion we went for coffee and breakfast sandwiches across the street at a sweet little cafe. We then drove around this really quaint little town stopping to take pictures of the many sites, like the St. Lawrence Gate and the Magdalene Tower. The earliest monument is the motte-and-bailey castle, now know as the Millmount Fort. Richard the Lionheart gave the town it's charter.
The River Boyne runs through the town. The famous Protestant/Catholic Battle of the Boyne was our next stop. We also would go on to see the Cross of Muiredeach, at nearby Monasterboice.
I liked Laura’s picture of me under a hunting store sign. Apparently rabbit hunting is a popular hunting past time.
Shannonsbridge, Ireland
We stopped at Shannonsbridge on the way to Clanmacnoise. It was a picturesque spot. It had been heavily fortified by the British in the Napoleonic era fearing French attack. The fort now houses a restaurant. Laura liked it especially because she named her daughter, Shannon, after Shannon, Ireland.
Galway Spanish Arch and Long Walk, Galway, Ireland
The Spanish Arch was thought to be an extension of the Galways’s medieval wall. It’s near the Galway Museum. We began the “Long Walk” from the nearby Wolfetone Bridge to Salmon Weir Bridge and the Galway Cathedral along the River Corrib. It really wasn’t a long walk at all. What it was though was very very pretty and picturesque. The Mute Swans were lovely. We saw people fishing along the river too.
Galway Museum, Galway, Ireland
Galway museum was just a little museum. Laura and I liked it. Some archeology and some oceanography, some bits about W.B. Yeats and Maud Gonne and the Golden Dawn Society, some stories about the soldiers who fought in the war. I liked the chamberpots. I doubt anyone using them thought they’d one day be on display in a museum. Too bad there’s no record of who used them. Walking about a town or city I get the big picture but so often it’s only in the museum we find the details.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
