Day 6: Athenry Castle and Clonmacnoise Abbey
Me sitting in a medieval window
Day 6 was filled with all things medieval. Our first stop was Athenry Castle, a Norman structure which stood empty for centuries after Athenry was attacked by Hugh O'Donnell during the Elizabethan period, and was only recently restored. The stone structure was left intact, but all the wood inside had to be replaced by modern craftsmen.
Dr. K and Shannon outside the castle
This castle isn't filled with period pieces, as many are, but has been left bare. The castle was primarily a military structure, though civilians did live there. The weather was nice and warm and we spent quite a bit of time taking pictures on the grounds of the castle.
Day 7 was somewhat shorter for me, as my food poisoning from Galway reared its ugly head again. I was nauseous in the morning, but decided that, perhaps as it had happened on Inishmore, the fresh air would do me good. So I got on the bus with everyone else and headed to Carrowmore, one of the four major passage tombs in Ireland. The dolmen pictured above is the focal point of the site; our guide said that every year at Samhain (Halloween) at sunrise, a shaft of light comes through the two mountains that sit opposite the tomb and lights up the whole inside, making anthropologists think that the site is in some way connected with a cult of the dead.
The dolmen that Juli is standing next to in this picture is outside the main site, but is also connected to the Carrowmore complex. It's hard to see in this picture, but the dolmen is surrounded by a stone ring, which isn't uncommon.
The Shannon river
En route to Clonmacnoise, we stopped at a town called Shannonbridge and had lunch on the banks of the river. Shannonbridge is a small town and its current claim to fame is that it is one of the small towns that President Obama stopped in on his recent trip to Ireland. Drew and Gretchen tried to lure some ducks in to us with bread, but the ducks would have none of it.
One of the original high crosses, brought indoors for preservation
Our next stop was Clonmacnoise Abbey, a 6th century abbey built by St. Ciaran. Clonmacnoise sits at the crossroads of early Ireland along a trade road that goes east-west and the Shannon River going north-south. The abbey was also famed as a center for learning and production of manuscripts, but it went into decline in the 12th century.
Telling secrets?
Here, Drew and Juli are trying out the Whispering Arch, one of the features of the Cathedral. Our guide said that this arch was originally used for hearing confessions; a monk would stand on one end and the person confessing would stand on the other and whisper his or her sins to the monk. Charles and I were the first two to volunteer to demonstrate for our tour group and it really worked--we could talk without anyone else hearing, which was very cool.
Dervorgilla's Nuns' Church at Clonmacnoise
After the official guided tour was over, we walked down the road to Dervorgilla's Nuns' Church. Dervorgilla was married to Tiernan O'Rourke and was either abducted by or ran away with Dermot Mac Murrough in 1152. She eventually came back to the O'Rourke, but Mac Murrough enlisted the help of the English to get his sweetheart back, which led to Strongbow's invasion of Ireland in 1169/70. According to the stories, Dervorgilla, filled with sorrow for her part in the whole affair, retired to Clonmacnoise and built this church in reparation. We had read Yeats and Lady Gregory's play Dervorgilla, so we all wanted to see her church. After leaving Clonmacnoise, we headed on to Sligo, two hours from Clonmacnoise and I met my friend Shane, who was also in Ireland, for dinner. After dinner, I came back to the hotel (the Glasshouse in Sligo, a very strange, modern hotel--we were on the orange floor) and we all hung out in the hotel bar together.
Day 7: Carrowmore and Knocknarea
Day 7 was somewhat shorter for me, as my food poisoning from Galway reared its ugly head again. I was nauseous in the morning, but decided that, perhaps as it had happened on Inishmore, the fresh air would do me good. So I got on the bus with everyone else and headed to Carrowmore, one of the four major passage tombs in Ireland. The dolmen pictured above is the focal point of the site; our guide said that every year at Samhain (Halloween) at sunrise, a shaft of light comes through the two mountains that sit opposite the tomb and lights up the whole inside, making anthropologists think that the site is in some way connected with a cult of the dead.
The dolmen that Juli is standing next to in this picture is outside the main site, but is also connected to the Carrowmore complex. It's hard to see in this picture, but the dolmen is surrounded by a stone ring, which isn't uncommon. I don't have any pictures of Knocknarea because I ended up getting sick halfway through the climb and went back to the bus to sleep while everyone else had adventures; I was quite disappointed, but I figure that that just means I need to go back so I can check climbing Knocknarea off my list.
This final picture was taken from my hotel room's balcony; we were literally right over the River Corrib. When we got back to the hotel I went to the chemist's for some medicine that made me better much quickly and after a 3 hour nap, Shannon and I went out to dinner. It was funny, because we were just looking for some place small and kind of cheap and ended up in a "date restaurant"--all the tables were set for two and had lit candles. We just laughed about being there in our jeans, but being out of place was worth it, because we had the best pasta I think I've ever had, making the end of the day much better than I had thought.
This final picture was taken from my hotel room's balcony; we were literally right over the River Corrib. When we got back to the hotel I went to the chemist's for some medicine that made me better much quickly and after a 3 hour nap, Shannon and I went out to dinner. It was funny, because we were just looking for some place small and kind of cheap and ended up in a "date restaurant"--all the tables were set for two and had lit candles. We just laughed about being there in our jeans, but being out of place was worth it, because we had the best pasta I think I've ever had, making the end of the day much better than I had thought. 
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