This was our last major drive day for David, with roughly 350km covered today (Friday). We took our time getting out of our timeshare cottage in the morning. Once the beds were stripped and kitchen cleaned, we were on the road by about 10:30am. The skies were still cloudy after an early morning rain, but they appeared to be clearing. For the most part, we had a very nice day for the drive east to Dublin.
The one "for sure" stop enroute would be Clonmacnoise Cathedral, roughly two hours from our cottage. After a short detour (thanks to Toots and programmer error), we found our way to the historic 6th century ruin site that contains some of the best kept high crosses in all of Ireland.
It has been nice that throughout our trip there have been few other people, and this site is one where it was especially nice since it is very popular with visitors as the exhibit area (inside) is rather small. It is there that they have brought in the two remaining high crosses to save them from deterioration from weather.
The Cross of the Scriptures is believed to have been carved into sandstone around 900 AD. They have had a replica made which sits outside in front of the church in the same spot as where the original cross was. (I am standing next to it in the photo above.) On the south end, there is another replica cross in the place of one that also resides in the indoor exhibit area. This South Cross as it is known is thought to have been the inspiration for the Cross of the Scriptures as it contains a depiction of the Crucifixion of Christ on one side.
This site contains several buildings and ruins spanning for more than 600 years, from the mid 6th century. Clonmacnoise was frequently attacked (more than 40 times) between the 8th and 12th centuries, most often by the Irish themselves. Other attackers included the Vikings and Anglo-Normans.
After walking around the various buildings at Clonmacnoise, we headed on for Dublin and our next accommodations - Pebble Mill B&B in the waterfront village of Malahide. Our hosts Pat & Monica were very welcoming; our room just right for our final two nights in Ireland.
We headed out for an early supper around 5:00pm at James Gibney & Sons Pub in Malahide (about 10 minutes from our B&B).
*******************************
NOTE: For detailed reviews on all of our accommodations, tours and restaurants/pubs look for an update with links to my journals at IgoUgo.com. I anticipate it may take a couple of weeks to get them all written and posted, so please be patient.
No comments:
Post a Comment