When one comes to Ireland, never does one expect to be spending the day with brilliant sunshine and blue skies for a full day, much less than two days in a row! It's a surprise to everyone. But the shock to the system is a high temperature near 90 degrees, which apparently hasn't been seen here in well over a hundred years.
I'll admit that temperature is relatively average for our home at this time of year. But we didn't bring the appropriate clothing, so when I say I was sweating, you can well believe that hiking in blue jeans in 90 degrees with no shade isn't all that comfortable. Fortunately, the nights cool off beautifully here, and an open window at night offers comfy relief to recoup.
We are staying in Slane, as I had mentioned previously, so we decided to hike up to the Hill of Slane since the skies were clear. We set out on foot right after breakfast because we knew it would begin to heat up in short time.
Our B&B hostess had told us that the hill was rather steep. Let me assure you that her idea of steep pales in comparison to many of the hills we've hiked in the past.
That sign is just a wee bit of an exaggeration.
We finally made it to the top, where you can see the old ruins of a church at the top of the crest.
One enters through a gate, and you make the trek to the top, through the field, which is conveniently mowed to make it quite a bit easier.
There is a statue of St. Patrick, the national patron saint of Ireland, erected just at the gate entrance into the church and cemetery grounds. Legend has it that in the year 433, St. Patrick disobeyed King Laoghaire and lit the Easter Fire on this Hill of Slane. Each year, the tradition is continued here.
A monastery was erected here sometime afterwards, and those are the ruins that one can see at the top.
But it is the views from that hill, on such a clear day, that take your breath away. One can see for 360 degrees in the distance.
We were leaving just as a tour bus was dropping off a large group. Another lucky escape for us!
We walked back down the hill, and were already quite wet from the heat, but grabbed a quick glass of water and headed out to visit Trim.
It took us quite awhile to get there since the main road was closed, but we eventually found the town which would be quite difficult to miss with such a huge castle standing right in the middle of it!
This is a preserved Anglo Norman castle that is considered to be the largest of its kind in Ireland. In the process of its preservation, walkways were constructed inside allowing the visitor to walk through the keep from atop, and there are 83 curved steps in the turret stairwells leading to the top.
The views were magnificent. And the breeze at the top acted very much like a cooling fan.
A quick walk around town offered some charming views.
And a tea room that was, believe it or not, air conditioned, offered us our afternoon refreshment.
The tea room is attached to Trim Castle Hotel, which seems to cater primarily to Americans, which explains the presence of the Air conditioning. We were happy to have stumbled upon it!
From here, we headed on the road to Nevan, but we decided to make a little detour to Bective Abbey, as it showed up on the scenic driving route that we had been given. We turned at the sign, and our GPA directed us to turn between two stone pillars, and drive down a long drive, with fencing on either side holding back cows that were munching in the fields. We got down to the end of the drive, to be facing a security gate with a key code box. Obviously, not our destination. So, Marty turned the car around, and as we drove back out to the wee road, there on the left was the giant structure that we were seeking, plain as day! We laughed at ourselves for once again being misdirected, but when we got back onto the road, I have to admit, that the sight was hidden behind tall shrubs, so it's not like as though it was standing right in front of us. At least that's my excuse for this mishap.
There was a large car park and path leading to a gate that one opens to get into the protected grounds.
It didn't seem quite as hot here, with cloud cover appearing, and the large tree to offer shade.
This is a Cistercian abbey that was founded in 1147. A large protective tower was added on in the 15th century.
Eventually, the cloister would be dissolved under order from King Henry VIII, and the complex was converted to a great mansion where they inserted large windows and fireplaces on various floors.
The ruins are very well preserved and we were able to walk through them at our leisure.
Upon leaving, the view seemed quite different.
Sometime upon our walking about, the cows must have decided to move on!
Along the scenic route as well was listed the viewpoint of the Hill of Tara, so we decided to venture upon that since we were only a few miles away, and, again, the clear skies made viewing for miles a rarity.
Upon entering the grounds, there is a statue of St. Patrick standing outside a churchyard.
The church itself is now a visitor center for the Hill of Tara, but it was closed, so headed through the field to the monuments themselves. As you can see, there is a path, that travels up and down, over these mounds.
No drones are permitted up here, probably because that really is the only way to view these ancient burial mounds. It's difficult to visualize what one is viewing when walking up and down the paths of these hills. But the view from the top was truly amazing.
Walking back, we veered away from the main path as it was just too much up and down walking in the heat for me to endure. On our new path, I spotted this, and then it all made sense.
These "mounds" that we were walking on are actually burial sites that stem from 400 BC. This area was considered to be the seat of the high kings of Ireland, and is recognizes as an important site since the last Stone Age. St. Patrick himself is said to have visited here, which might explain why there is a statue of him at the beginning of the path.
You can well believe that we were steaming by now, standing, in the sun, on the top of a very high hill, with the temperature near the 90's. So, we headed back down to the car, driving with all of the windows open (no AC in the cars here), and headed to Nevan for dinner in a highly recommended pub.
When we arrived, I noticed a man hopping out of a taxi wearing a pair of knit shorts and no shirt. I didn't think too much of it, as it was pretty hot outside, but I will admit that all of the other men who were outside under the tent were fully clothed. And they all seemed to know this fella, as quite a laugh went out when he popped out of the taxi.
We chose to eat inside, so the waitress sat us in a cozy corner, in front of a draped window that was popped open so that we could get some air without the sun beating down on us. We ordered some drinks, and sat back to relax for the evening. There was suddenly a bit of a commotion, and we heard some shouting from the door. All of the waitresses went running to different parts of the building and we heard doors being slammed. It was apparent that they were trying to keep someone from entering the building.
About 5 minutes later, the shirtless man forced himself through the front door into the bar area, and at that point, there was even more shouting and we saw every man at the bar get up, run to this guy, and work as a team to force him outside the front door while he was hooting and hollering at them.
When we asked the waitress what the commotion had been, she informed us that this fella is banned from all pubs in the county due to his past behavior. I have no clue what he would have done to warrant such a condition, but it sure was quite the excitement for an otherwise uneventful evening. Who knew that Ireland had Beer Bandits?
After dinner, we headed back to Slane, to our B&B, and stopped at the side of the road, to get a photo of the castle. Apparently Bruce Springsteen had hosted a huge concert here several years ago, somewhere out on the lawn. It made big news here in the area.
It had been originally been our plan to tour the castle along with the attached distillery that makes its own "Slane Whiskey", but the place is only open Thursday through Sunday, so those plans were foiled upon arrival.
But we certainly had more than our share of fun and excitement despite the change in plans.
Onto Swords tomorrow. It will be our last day in Ireland, and it looks like we'll be treated to another day of sunshine to enjoy!
