Ireland Day Four: a day of beautiful views

We started off today in the distant past.

 We visited an archaeological site

 in County Meath near the river Boyne. 

The whole area is known as Brú na Bóinne,

 or the place where the Boyne river loops around.

It contains three different prehistoric passage tombs: 

Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth. 

Here is the river Boyne

where the Batlle of the Boyne took place.

In this battle the Protestant King of England

William of Orange defeated his

Catholic predecessor King James.

We crossed over the river to get to Newgrange. 

Here's the whole gang making silly faces

while we wait for the tour to start. 

At first glance I found Newgrange

 extremely put together. 

I was expecting a pile of ruins,

but in fact it is exceptionally 

well constructed. 

It is dated to about 3200 BC,

almost 5000 years ago,

and it has never leaked inside.

The outside pebble wall 

was reconstructed,

 but the main structure was not. 

But what I think is the most fascinating part of Newgrange

is how scientifically it was constructed.

There is a small opening above the entrance called the roof-box

which is angled perfectly so that on the shortest day

of the year, December 21st, the sun shines through

the roof-box and lights up the hallway and chamber. 

We actually got to go inside,

which I definitely was not expecting, 

and they reenacted the sunlight creeping through.

It was phenomenal and I can't even

begin to imagine what it's like on the real day;

our tour guide actually got shivers just talking about it. 

People can actually go inside on December 21st.

You can fill out this form to be entered into a drawing.

I think that would be such an amazing experience! 

I love the mystery behind it all. 

Why did they build it this way?

What significance did the winter solstice hold?

Another part of Newgrange 

that is also shrouded in mystery

are these triple spirals 

carved in many of the large rocks.

No one is sure of what the spirals mean

or how they carried such large rocks there 

in the first place. 

Since I'm really interested in Anthropology

and Archaeology

I found it inspiring to visit such an old
and mysterious site. 

After Newgrange we visited James Joyce's
Martello Tower in Sandycove, County Dublin.

James Joyce actually lived for awhile
in the tower, in the tiny 
little bedroom pictured above.
The tower is also the setting
for the first chapter of Joyce's Ulysses.

The surrounding area is absolutely gorgeous,

as well as the view from the tower.

I think it would be a wonderful place to write; 

very peaceful next to the ocean and the rocks. 

(photo by Erin)

*photo from Elena (on the left)

Some of us crazy souls
actually put our feet in the water.
It was freezing!!
But at least now I can say
I have been in the other side
of the Atlantic Ocean!

Later that night we saw a play
at the famous Abbey Theater
founded by Lady Gregory and
William Butler Yeats in 1899.
It has showed such plays as 
Cathleen Ní Houlihan by Yeats,
The Playboy of the Western World by Synge
and The Plough and the Stars by O'Casey.
The last two were rioted by some in the audience.
This relatively small theater is of crucial importance 
to Irish literary history
and to a large chunk 
of what I have read in class this year.
Needless to say, it was an impressive place
simply to sit in, let alone watch a play in. 
We saw Thomas Kilroy's Christ Deliver Us,
which is based off the German play Spring Awakening.



Christ Deliver Us! by Thomas Kilroy from Abbey Theatre on Vimeo.


Here is a video preview of the play 
from the Abbey Theatre website.
It was an excellent play, 
though extremely dark. 
The ending was a little to vague
and self interpretive for my taste,
but the actress who played
the main character Winnie 
was absolutely amazing.
I also really liked the set design,
especially the way they changed between sets.
They had the minor characters, still in costume,
come and take the props away, 
but when a character died they stayed dead
while the minor characters pretty much
dragged them off stage.
I think it effectively kept the audience
from becoming too detached between scenes. 
They also had giant light fixtures from
which it actually rained on stage
and towards the end of the 
play the lights fell to the ground. 
I think I actually jumped. 
Overall, it was a really well done 
play and it made me wish
Americans had more appreciation for plays. 


Highlight of Today:
Today was pretty jam packed full
of really spectacular sights.

However, I did get my first taste of Bulmers
which is an Irish cider.