Irish Reflections Four.... The Place

After spending (a lot of) time on things to please the palate in Ireland, it’s time to turn the (figurative) pen to things that please the eye and mind. While I always pay attention to the food (hey, it’s my job), the beautiful Irish countryside and what we saw far outstripped a rasher of bacon or a pint of Guinness (well…). As most readers know I come from an engineering, scientific, by the numbers background, and while I did have some history classes along the way, probably my mind was more affixed on that differential equation assignment than on things like the Norman invasion. There were several others on the trip who had more historical knowledge in their little pinky than I had in my head, and probably some of them are reading this, so forgive the engineer discovering what they have understood for years..

I guess what struck me the most from our travels around Ireland was its sense of history. Driving around the country as we did on some backish roads, you see evidence of their history all around. A ruin here, a tower there, some marked, some not.





These structures are a constant reminder of their past, and it seemed (to me) that there is more of a general awareness of their heritage than is evident in America. Most of the people we met had a good sense of Ireland’s history, and there are still strong feelings and opinions expressed on such people as Oliver Cromwell and William of Orange.

We saw things that have survived for centuries. From early monastic villages dating from the 6th century, such as Clonmacnoise:



with ORIGINAL celtic crosses (also called high crosses) which were put inside to prevent any further decay



Or another at Glendalough founded by St. Kevin, also in the 6th Century (St. Kevin was supposed to have lived in a tree for a while – stern folks these monks)



We also saw the so-called “tower houses”,






Many Castles from around the 11th and 12th century





And more "modern" ones that were/are manorial homes





And while the 6th and 10th century seems old, in County Langford we saw a restored portion of a road called the Corlea Trackway, built in the bogs that dates from 148BC,. The wood was perfectly preserved by being overcome by the bog, so after careful restoration (a la the Viking ships, etc,) these are the actual logs



Nobody has much idea why the road was built, probably NOT to get across the bog, maybe just into it for sacrificial purposes. Who knows..they figure it was only useful for 6 years before it succumbed again to the treacherous bog..

There were rigid requirements while viewing the exhibit




And to put our little busy lives in perspective, see this?



A pile of rocks? Nope,it’s a dolman burial site that’s oh, only 4500 years old.

Engineer meets history part:

To me (and my uneducated brain), it seemed that the history of Ireland was mostly embroiled in constant conflict. There were battles between Celtic war lords, disagreements with the Normans, and more recently (17th century) continual struggles between the Catholics and the Protestants/Anglicans (Cromwell that guy William of Orange again). And these battles weren’t easy either. There were slaughters of defenseless people, thousands of them died, just because they didn’t have the same beliefs as the invaders. (okay, that may be a bit oversimplified, but....)

All those tower houses and castles didn’t look that way because they were attractive, they were designed purely for defense. The tower houses had the “first floor” usually 20 feet or so above the ground so the ladder could be pulled in to prevent access for those outside (although eventually somebody figured out that a tower house has a lot in common with a chimney, so with a little fire... you get the idea). Those turrets in the castles weren’t for prettiness, they provided a means of shooting arrows in almost any direction. In short, most of their lives seemed to revolve around just staying alive. Death was such a part of everyday life, no wonder religious beliefs were important to them.. one can see why Christianity and "ever lasting life" had its attractions...

a wonderful country...

and i don't even have to say

DFD