Kells to Newgrange to Dublin

Sadly it was time to leave the cottage and Kells.  Staying at the Mill Cottage was the quintessential Irish experience for us.  We said our good-byes to Jadzia and Dave and collected a transmitter to deliver to Jadzia's daughter, Liadain, that lives in Dublin.  Liadian (a tradition Irish name) is in a play in Dublin and we're going to see it on Wednesday night...should be loads of fun.

 

One of the items on our list of things to do while in Dublin was to visit Newgrange (about an hour outside of Dublin).  Since we were driving in to town, we thought we'd swing out to Brú na Bóinne (Palace of the Boyne River) and avoid having to take a bus from Dublin.  Once again, Penny managed to find the smallest possible roads to get us there once we got off the motorway.  The advantage to Penny's little excursions is we have been able to see parts of Ireland most tourists don't get to see.

 

Newgrange is one of three passage tombs in Brú na Bóinne and dates back to 3000 BC. There is still a lot of mystery around Newgrange and the other passage tombs of the valley so the guides offer interpretations and provoke thought for visitors.  To enter the tomb, you walk through a narrow passageway to the center of the ritual chamber.  Here you can see carvings in the stone and this is where on the 21st of December each year, a ray of sun makes its way up over the river, through the roof box to the center of the chamber where is lasts for 17 minutes.  It is thought that it was on this day that those buried here would move on to the next world via the ray of light.

 



Knowth passage tomb

We managed to get a few pics of the local sheep through the ramble...my favorite is the last picture of the fella looking directly at me.

 

After spending a few hours at Brú na Bóinne, we made our way to the Conrad in Dublin.  Once we gave our luggage to the bellman, we headed over to Hertz to return the car and breathe a sigh of relief as we drove close to 1,500 miles in 10 days and managed to not cause any damage to the car or any human!

 

A short walk over through Grafton Street and we were at O'Neil's pub for dinner and drinks.