Downey’s Cross Roads

Our first day on our tour has been unbelievably amazing! First of all, there are only eight of us on this tour and each place we visited was out of the way and pretty much without anyone except us. Our driver and guide, Hugh, is fantastic…we seem to be in for an unforgettable time on this southern loop of Ireland.

Highlights of today:

1. The Moone Cross, in County Kildare, which is thought to date from the 8th century and is one of the best preserved High Crosses in Ireland
2. St. James’ Church, Castledermot (Church of Ireland church) with its round tower, the Oath Stone and beautiful church door
3. The Abby in the town of Graiguenamanagh - The wooden ceiling was constructed without any nails 😮
4. Kilmogue Dolmen - Oh my goodness! It’s also called Leac an Scail - an exceptional example of a type of megalithic (large stone) tomb known as a Portal Tomb. Two portal stones the tallest stones in the tomb form the entrance to a stone-lined burial chamber, which is roofed by two massive stone slabs, thelarger of which lies at a steep angle. A cairn or low mound of stones would have covered most of the tomb, but the capstone probably
remained visible.
The likelihood is that it was built by Neolithic farmers about six thousand years ago for the burial of important members of their community and perhaps also to be a focal point for a group or tribe.

We are spending the night in Dungarvan. Along time ago the Vikings raided along the shores of Ireland and made their own settlements. Dungarvan, which means “Fort of Garvan” was one of them.

Lunch = The Waterside Guesthouse
Dinner = Indian Food at The Indian Ocean in Dungarven
Drinks = Mick Doyle’s in Graiguenamanagh and The Local in DungarvenRead more