Ramblings with Randy & Heather

We headed home (and arrived safely) on Monday. Unlike our flights to Ireland, our homeward leg went just fine. Plane left on time and actually arrived about 45 minutes early at O’Hare. Also, the US and Ireland have an agreement that US Customs and Immigration checks are done in Ireland, so no long lines at O'Hare. Get off the plane and into a taxi and get home.  We’re h oping everyone enjoyed following along on our trip. Heather is looking forward to putting together a photo album when life slows down. It was a fun packed, three weeks. Looking back we did the following (and we are sure some are missing): 11 Tours 12 Castles 14 Neolithic Sites 23 Monasteries/Ruins 7 Working Cathedrals/Churches 20 Museums and Memorials Lots of good food  Lots of good company Too many scenic views to count. For the curious, here was our last “Irish” meal. 😉 Mac and cheese Chicken and rice   We don’t have our next trip booked yet , but the plan in 2026 is to head to Peru and see Machu Picchu...

  Trim, like most Irish towns didn’t exist until the English showed up and built a castle there. Prior to the town, there was an abbey on the site, supposedly created by St. Patrick. The locals claim it was the first church created by St. Patrick. That conflicts with the folks who claim the Saul Church in Down was the first. We attended a service in Trim this morning and were informed St Patrick started a church here 22 years before the one in Down! Oh well. Who really knows.  Church of Ireland St. Patrick’s  The original abbey site eventually became St. Mary’s Abbey, an Augustinian abbey built in the 12th century. The abbey survived until the dissolution, when it was abandoned. The buildings were damaged significantly when Cromwell’s forces came through Trim  in 1649. What is left is the bell tower, one of the highest/tallest ruins in Ireland. The very tall abbey bell tower ruin Trim Castle stands in the center of town and was/is the largest Norman castle in Ireland...

Newgrange Our first stop was NOT an abbey. Instead it was Newgrange, a set of neolithic sites: Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth (Those last two rhyme with mouth). These are burial sites dating from over 5000 years ago. The people who created them came to Ireland from the area around present day Turkey. They were farmers and herders who built these sites.   Eventually they left Ireland, maybe due to climate change, and were later replaced by the descendants of the modern Irish. They didn’t have a written language (that we know of), but they did leave behind intricate carvings on many of the Newgrange stones. Makes one wonder if it was some sort of language, or just art. Tombs at Knowth  Entry way to a passage at Knowth Sample of a Kerb stone. These ring the large tomb at Knowth  Entry at Newgrange. We got to go inside this passage tomb.  No photos are allowed inside but these shots give you an idea of what it looks like. The roof of the main chamber is 5000 years old and ...