Megalithical

Trip Start Aug 23, 1996
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353
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Trip End Ongoing


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Flag of Ireland  ,
Saturday, August 18, 2007

When going away for a weekend, there are certain items one must carry, and if going to Ireland, the the three most needed things are

1) A Passport
2) Clean Underwear
3) An Umbrella

We have tried a gortex jacket, but an umbrella wins hands down

A while ago, when we were at the Roman Villa in Bignor, we were discussing/boasting about Roman sites we had been to, when a lady piped up for us to stop being fuckwits and to get a life. Why see something that's 2000 years old when you can have stuff that's at least 3500 years old. With this statement, we did a little investigation, booked some tickets for a plane and a car, this one was a copy of the car they give to the stars on Top Gear to do a hot lap, and what shitter it is, and then we were off.

Carrowkeel Passage Tombs

After driving 200 K's in the rain, we turned up a little road. It felt like we were in Wales. Maybe it was the sheep. Don't really know, but it felt Welshy !!! We parked the car, and started the walk with our umbrellas the K to the site. Once there, dotted on the hillside were three stone cairns that were around 4000 to 5000 years old. We climbed in one and it was like being in a smaller version of West Kennet Longbarrow. It was nice to be out of the wind and rain !!! The next one we were unable to climb in, and the last looked just like a heap of stones. As we walked back, we passed numerous sheep that were giving us the evil eye. Maybe they sensed that I was a New South Welshman and were getting slightly horny, but I can't speak sheep so I was unable to explain the difference between a Welshman and a New South Welshman, so I ran as fast as I could back to the car.

Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery

We didn't have far to drive, and then we were there. We paid our entrance fee, and this gave us access to the second largest Megalithic site in Europe. There are dolmans everywhere and also a huge old burial cairn which has now lost its roof. It was kind of like a hollowed out Silbury hill, so it was good to see inside one, and they had re-built a dolmen. Don't know how correct it was, but it was a nice touch. We exited and walked around the 2.5 K area. All around were dolmens, big and small. There were also a couple of stone circles to run around in, so we did. After we finished, we asked a guy where the next site was, and his answer was, see that mountain.

Knocknarea Cairn

Once parked, we started the climb. It wasn't to far, but it did look like it was pretty steep up near the top, but who cares. We have climbed far worse over the years. Up at the top, there is meant to be a grave which houses an old mythical queen. She had to be mythical as I had never heard of her, but then again, I am not 4500 to 5000 years old. Once we had finished the climb, I didn't know what we were looking for, also the place was covered in a pea souper, so we couldn't see a thing. Then it cleared slightly, and on top of the mountain was a cairn, no it was a little mountain of stones. My jaw dropped at the size of the thing !!! Even though the signs state don't do this/that, up I went. Lucy joined me and then we had one of those Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but without the actors, aliens or army !!! I would have loved to have taken some good photos of the view, but there was to much fog, so we climbed down from the cairn and then down the mountain.

Deer Park Court Cairn

Finding the place was a mare. We drove past the entrance a few times. I think it's the fact that I can't read Gaelic !!! We walked through the forest, and we came to a clearing and there it was, a 3000 year old structure that had imploded in on itself. It was nice to walk around the stones, and it was pretty easy to imagine what it had looked like.

Overall, it had been a great day. I think the lady from Bignor was right. Fuck the Romans, the Megas are the way to go !!!

Post your own travel photos for friends and family Pictures

001 The Latest Shitter 001 The Latest Shitter 002 Horny Sheep 002 Horny Sheep 003 Carrowkeel Sign 003 Carrowkeel Sign 004 Carrowkeel Cairn 004 Carrowkeel Cairn
005 Carrowkeel Cairn in the Fog 005 Carrowkeel Cairn in the Fog 006 Carrowkeel Cairn Entrance 006 Carrowkeel Cairn Entrance 007 Lucy on top of a Carrowkeel Cairn 007 Lucy on top of a Carrowkeel Cairn 008 Carrowkeel Entrance 008 Carrowkeel Entrance
009 Fog 009 Fog 010 Inside the Cairn 010 Inside the Cairn 011 Inside the Cairn 011 Inside the Cairn 012 Carrowkeel Cairn 012 Carrowkeel Cairn
013 Lucy at Carrowkeel 013 Lucy at Carrowkeel 014 Carrowmore Giant Cairn 014 Carrowmore Giant Cairn 015 Carrowmore Dolmen 015 Carrowmore Dolmen 016 Carrowmore Graves 016 Carrowmore Graves
017 Carrowmore Dolmen 017 Carrowmore Dolmen 018 Carrowmore Giant Cairn 018 Carrowmore Giant Cairn 019 Carrowmore Grave 019 Carrowmore Grave 020 Carrowmore Dolmen 020 Carrowmore Dolmen
021 Carrowmore Giant Cairn 021 Carrowmore Giant Cairn 022 Carrowmore Giant Cairn 022 Carrowmore Giant Cairn 023 Carrowmore Dolmen Inside the Giant Cairn 023 Carrowmore Dolmen Inside the Giant Cairn 024 Carrowmore Dolmen 024 Carrowmore Dolmen
025 Lucy at the Carrowmore Dolmen 025 Lucy at the Carrowmore Dolmen 026 Carrowmore Circle 026 Carrowmore Circle 027 Carrowmore Circle 027 Carrowmore Circle 028 Carrowmore Circle 028 Carrowmore Circle
029 Carrowmore Grave 029 Carrowmore Grave 030 Carrowmore Dolmen 030 Carrowmore Dolmen 031 Carrowmore Dolmen 031 Carrowmore Dolmen 032 Carrowmore Domen & Circle 032 Carrowmore Domen & Circle
033 Carrowmore Dolmen 033 Carrowmore Dolmen 034 Carrowmore Dolmen 034 Carrowmore Dolmen 035 Carrowmore Dolmen 035 Carrowmore Dolmen 036 Carrowmore Dolmen 036 Carrowmore Dolmen
037 Carrowmore Dolmen & Flowers 037 Carrowmore Dolmen & Flowers 038 Carrowmore Yellow Flowers 038 Carrowmore Yellow Flowers 039 Carrowmore Circle 039 Carrowmore Circle 040 Carrowmore Circle 040 Carrowmore Circle
041 Lucy in a Carrowmore Dolmen 041 Lucy in a Carrowmore Dolmen 042 Knocknarea Sign 042 Knocknarea Sign 043 Knocknarea Story 043 Knocknarea Story 044 Lucy Walking up Knocknarea 044 Lucy Walking up Knocknarea
045 Knocknarea View 045 Knocknarea View 046 Lucy Walking Up Knocknarea 046 Lucy Walking Up Knocknarea 047 Top of Knocknarea 047 Top of Knocknarea 048 David Looking For the Cairn 048 David Looking For the Cairn
049 Knocknarea Cairn 049 Knocknarea Cairn 050 David at the Knocknarea Cairn 050 David at the Knocknarea Cairn 051 Knocknarea Cairn 051 Knocknarea Cairn 052 Lucy at Knocknarea Cairn 052 Lucy at Knocknarea Cairn
053 Knocknarea Cairn 053 Knocknarea Cairn 054 Knocknarea Cairn 054 Knocknarea Cairn 055 Line of Stones at Knocknarea 055 Line of Stones at Knocknarea 056 Knocknarea Cairn 056 Knocknarea Cairn
057 Knocknarea Cairn Stones 057 Knocknarea Cairn Stones 058 Looking Down at Lucy 058 Looking Down at Lucy 059 On Top of Knocknarea Cairn 059 On Top of Knocknarea Cairn 060 Lucy Climbing Up Knocknarea Cairn 060 Lucy Climbing Up Knocknarea Cairn
061 Lucy on Top of the Cairn 061 Lucy on Top of the Cairn 062 David on Top Of the Cairn 062 David on Top Of the Cairn 063 David on Top of the Cairn 063 David on Top of the Cairn 064 Knocknarea Cairn 064 Knocknarea Cairn
065 David in Front of the Cairn 065 David in Front of the Cairn 066 Lucy in Front of the Cairn 066 Lucy in Front of the Cairn 067 Knocknarea View 067 Knocknarea View 068 Knocknarea View 068 Knocknarea View
069 Knocknarea View 069 Knocknarea View 070 David Going Down 070 David Going Down 071 Lucy Going Down 071 Lucy Going Down 072 Knocknarea View 072 Knocknarea View
073 Lucy at the Bottom 073 Lucy at the Bottom 074 View of Knocknarea 074 View of Knocknarea 075 Forest at Deer Park 075 Forest at Deer Park 076 Deer Park 076 Deer Park
077 Deer Park 077 Deer Park 078 Deer Park 078 Deer Park 079 David at Deer Park 079 David at Deer Park 080 Deer Park 080 Deer Park
081 Deer Park 081 Deer Park 082 Deer Park 082 Deer Park 083 Deer Park 083 Deer Park 084 Two Stones at Deer Park 084 Two Stones at Deer Park
085 Deer Park 085 Deer Park 086 Lucy at Deer Park 086 Lucy at Deer Park 087 Lucy in the Deer Park Forest 087 Lucy in the Deer Park Forest 088 Building in Sligo 088 Building in Sligo
089 River in Sligo 089 River in Sligo 090 Water Wheel in Sligo 090 Water Wheel in Sligo 091 Bridge in Sligo 091 Bridge in Sligo 092 Guinness Sign in Sligo 092 Guinness Sign in Sligo
093 Pint of Guinness 093 Pint of Guinness
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Comments

wakingdream
wakingdream on Sep 4, 2007 at 07:57PM

Piccies
Beautiful photos as usual David. Nice one. :)

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tortoise
tortoise on Jan 12, 2008 at 06:19PM

Did you photo any Dolmen or fog?
I checked out the photo of 'David Going Down' but it was not what I expected.

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