Sunny apart from heavy showers, hail and strong winds

The Boyne river from Knowth

Today's title comes as a direct quote from the radio weather report in Ireland we heard yesterday. Had it all covered!!
Well the weather cleared and we had a day in Santiago before we flew out to Ireland. We explored the old city of Santiago and then had time in the Santiago cathedral museum. It was just amazing all the different areas and parts that are in a cathedral. You just think of it as a big building for church but there are so many different ‘hidden’ areas and corridors that it is no wonder Dan Brown is able to come up with conspiracy theories galore of secret passages. Unfortunately the time for the English tour of the Cathedral roof did not fit in with our flight schedule and so we missed out on it.

The passage tomb at Knowth

After re-organising our luggage to cope with the 20kg bag limit on Aer Lingus we made our way to the airport to journey across the sea to Dublin. We made sure we had an extra coat or two available for when we landed in Ireland and the weather did not disappoint us. With a minimum of fuss (thanks to Mike’s great directions) we made our way to Drogheda to a gorgeous little lock keepers cottage for our first accommodation in Ireland. Fortunately Mike had also made a reservation at a local restaurant and we enjoyed a lovely meal. Just as well Mike gave great directions because we have found already that no-one in Ireland (well where we are staying) has an address with a street and street number. Makes it fun for the GPS as they all have an address like ‘Arnstown County Wexford’ – I think it is a ploy to make you speak to people. You get close then you find someone to speak to and ask do you know so-and-so who has a B&B – oh yes they are down this lane and take the next left etc etc.

Lighthouse at Howth looking across
Dublin Bay

We then started our Ireland adventure the following day finding out about some Irish history separated by a few thousand years with the Battle of the Boyne and also the Neolithic tombs of Knowth and Newgrange. The Battle of the Boyne was the largest battle fought on the Irish mainland with 60 000 men involved in a one day battle over who was to be the king of England. It was a little convoluted (as is all conflict) as Louis XIV (who we found out a little bit about while in France) was using the Battle in Ireland to distract William (King of England) from the war in Europe where just about everyone had teamed up against him because they were concerned about his ambitions to take over Europe. Amazing how convenient it was for these rulers to use people’s lives for their own ambitions.

Knowth and Newgrange were amazing examples of the Neolithic passage tombs from around the time of 3000BC. The engineering, commitment and artistry involved took your breath away. They were astonishing and it was an amazing afternoon despite the Irish weather being exactly as we thought it would be – cold and wet. As with the other pre-history experience in France it raised more questions than answered because any explanation of exactly why they were build, how they were used, what was the significance of the passage tombs and what do all the etchings mean are all theories and conjecture. Makes for some interesting theories!

Rosslare beach and the Irish Sea

The following day we travelled down the east coast to some amazingly spectacular spots and even put our hands in the Irish Sea. That was the only part of the body that was going to be exposed to the bracing waters of the Irish Sea at Rosslare despite the presence of a Lifeguard tower (surprisingly not manned at this time of year although to be honest I really can’t imagine it being warm enough to be required at any time of the year). This may have had something to do with the howling wind that buffeted us every time we exited the car – there was a yellow alert for strong winds for the whole country. Again with the size of Ireland if one part has strong winds it affects the whole country.

We think our time in Europe and on the Camino may have prepared us for Ireland as our eyes are not being hurt by the intense green of the countryside – we have been eased into it by some of our previous time. If we were landing straight from the brown expanses of Australia I don’t know if our senses could cope.

We made our way to New Ross in county Wexford and today will explore the Hook peninsula and Waterford before heading to County Cork and our accommodation near Kinsale.

Love to all

S&E