Knowth County Meath

Greetings folks,

I'm excited to report a brief summary of my weekend excursions which took me to Newgrange, Drogheda, Slane, Trim, and Knowth (all north of Dublin). An Aussie friend and fellow international student did some research about the tombs that are located in Newgrange and Knowth, so on Saturday morning we (two Aussies and one …

... our tour to start. While we waited I took some video of the countryside all around Newgrange. You could see most of County Meath from the hilltop. It was really pretty. There were other smaller unexplored portal tombs around Newgrange as well. While we ...

... tons, and the rocks that were used to create it came from at least 20 kilometers away.  At that time, Ireland would have been heavily forested, so it would have been impossible for the early Irish to drag these stones through the trees; ...

... 're packing as much in as possible.  We've decided to add Trim Castle to the list. It's the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland, and is reputed as the king of Irish castles. It was "the" castle in the film Braveheart. The castle is huge, but ...

... ;at 9:30 and walk down the path to the visitors center, well before the buses and crowds are due.  We purchase our Heritage Ireland card (to be used at many OPW sites during our trip) and get scheduled for the 9:45 Knowth and 11:15 Newgrange tours. ...

... dull but this is the kind of thing I spent hours and hours studying for, testing on, and writing about in college. I'm kind of obsessed and to actually see a site like this in person is a dream come true! This was certainly my favorite day in ...

... minor hicups in the airport (did a lap) we finally found our way out of there.  Our first stop was Newgrange and Knowth.  These are ancient tombs and places of worship according to the tour guides.  To describe them would be massive, man ...

We went to Bru Na Boinne today, one of the most famous bits of Ireland.  The funny part is when we tried to talk to the locals this past week: "Oh, so where'll yous be going after dis?" "Well, we're planning on going to Bru Na Boyne and I'm not sure ...

... at Tara mid-morning and had a very much desired toileting break before having a look at the ancient, buried ruins of Ireland's Celtic heritage. Even though there's nothing much left of the Pagan era except grassy mounds, the fact that we were standing ...

later ...

Today we left Trim as early as we could and drove North to the Bru na Boyne valley to see the passage tombs at Newgrange and Knowth. There is a third at Dowth but we didn't see that one. It is estimated that these tombs were built over 5,000 years ago. ...