The Coombe

Today was our last road trip as we made our way to Dublin, our last destination of our three-month European road trip.

One of the sites we were interested in visiting was Newgrange, a 5500 year old Neolithic burial mound. It's older than Stonehenge or the Pyramids of Giza. We learned that the entrance into the mound books way in advance so we were unable to get tickets. Jim C suggested that we instead go to Dowth a lesser known Neolithic passage tomb located in the Boyne Valley, County Meath, Ireland. In my research, I learned that Dowth is one of the three principal tombs of the Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site – a landscape of prehistoric monuments in the area.

Unlike Newgrange, Dowth has no visitor center. It's announced by a simple gate, in a mostly unkempt cow pasture. When we arrived, there was only one other visitor. The structure is cratered in the center. I assumed that the structure just collapsed, but learned that it was subject to an "unprofessional excavation" in the mid 1800's. More specifically, the Royal Irish Academy used dynamite as their excavation tool.

We saw some closed passages to the chambers as we dodged cowpies to go up the ridge. When we made our way to the top, we could see Newgrange in the distance. Dowth Hall, a stately manor with a adjacent cemetery, could also be viewed on the property. On one of the kerbstones, we could see carvings representing the sun. This is fitting as the entry points of the cave are perfectly aligned with Winter Solstice sunset light. In reflection, we think of ancient peoples as primitive. Perhaps, we're the primitive ones as we too often fail to celebrate the simple gifts available to us with no cost.

We left Dowth and headed to Drogheda, an industrial port town north of Dublin. I had a bit of macabre interest in viewing two sites there: St. Peter's Church of Ireland and St. Peter's Catholic Church.

The first site has a cemetery with an unusual memorial to its departed: two cadaver stones. These stones are seven-foot veiled skeletons carvings. We talked to a man who was enjoying his lunch in the cemetery, and he told us that he sang in the church choir when he was a boy. He mourned the deterioration of his town which he attributed to growing drug addiction and the availability of heroin. He remarked that he hardly knew anyone in town anymore, and that he was surprised to talk to out-of-toen strangers who spoke English. We thanked him for the conversation, and we made our way to the Catholic Church a few blocks away.

I have been using the website Ireland Before You Die (IBUD). St. Peter's Catholic Church houses the relics of Saint Oliver Plunkett. More graphically, the church houses some of his bones and his mummified head in full view inside ornate cases. While the gruesome display draws curious visitors like myself, this is also a place where Catholics visit to honor the most recent canonized Irish Saint in the last 700 years. Saint Oscar was known for promoting Catholicism in Ireland. He was the last victim murdered as a result of a Protestant conspiracy campaign known as the Popish Plot where he was accused of conspiring with the French to kill the Protestant King. This church also purports to house a piece of wood from the cross used to crucify Jesus. The church is quite beautiful, and I'm glad that we were able to visit.

We left Drogheda and made our way to Dublin. The last two miles were a bit slow due to traffic, but we made it to the flat we're sharing with Peter & Jarek. They are a lovely, engaging couple. We joined them for a pasta dinner prepared by Jarek, and we enjoyed our conversations.

We watched the news about the upcoming celebration of July 12th by Unionists in Belfast. One of the traditions is to burn massive bonfires reminiscent of football homecoming celebrations. I couldn't help noticing that at the top of the pyre in one piece of footage was Ireland's tri-color flag, a reminder that the internal strife remains. I'm grateful to miss the disdain "festivities".Read more