9/22: Boyne Valley Sights of Monasterboice, Mellifont Abbey, Knowth, Newgrange & Hill of Tara

For those of you who have been following my recent posts about our trip to Antarctica, Patagonia and then Paraguay, I will finally be posting blogs from our trip that ended a month earlier to Ireland, followed by a few days each in northern Wales and England, a week in Scotland and a final few days exploring London. These posts will be interspersed with those from our current trip to Asia and the Middle East. 

Thank you in advance for your patience as I go back and forth between trips - I hope I don't confuse you too much, nor myself, but I am bound and determined to finish these posts once and for all!

Since arriving in Dublin in the middle of August of 2019, Steven and I had made a circular tour for the last month mostly along the coast of the Republic of Ireland starting in Dublin on the country's east coast. After spending several days in Northern Ireland which was part of the United Kingdom, we headed back toward Dublin. Thirty miles north of the city was the peaceful Boyne Valley or Bru na Boinne in Gaelic with its concentration of historical and spiritual sights. It was amazing to think its burial mounds were older than the pyramids in Egypt!

We drove first to the ruined monastery at Monasterboice to see its round tower and ornately carved high crosses as they were considered to be the best in Ireland. In the Dark Ages, the crosses, carved top to bottom with illustrations of Bible stories, gave monks a teaching tool as they preached to the illiterate masses, according to travel writer Rick Steves.  

To access the sights, we had to climb up the steps and down the other side - thank goodness, neither of us had mobility issues that day as the rain was enough of an inconvenience!

Monasterboice's great monuments were its high crosses. The 18-foot tall Cross of Murdoch, dating to about 923, was named after an abbot. The characteristic circle, common to Irish high crosses, may have represented the perfection of God, or it may have symbolized the sun which was worshipped in pre-Christian Celtic society to help pagans make their way to Christianity. Regardless of its symbolic purpose, the circle in practice supported the weight of the crossbeam.

As we faced the cross with the round tower in the background, we looked at the east face of the carved sandstone. Thanks to Steves, we knew the center panel showed the Last Judgement with Christ under a dove, symbolizing the Holy Spirit. On Christ’s right were those going to heaven whereas the damned were ushered away by the devil wielding a pitchfork! 

Moses striking the rock to bring forth water:

Further down the cross was Michael the Archangel weighing souls.

Scenes from the life of David:

The adoration of the three or four Magi:

The west face had equally compelling stories to tell from the Bible. 

Imagine how even more remarkable the crosses would have looked when they were brightly painted before centuries of rain and wind weathered the paint away!

Mission to the Apostles:

The Crucifixion:

There was even a taller cross nearer the round tower but its top section had been broken off and buried for some time. That protected it from the erosive effects of the Irish weather. Round towers were the Irish reactions to Norse raids on monasteries in the 10th and 11th centuries. These 100-ft. high tapering towers served as watchtowers, belfries, repositories for church valuables as well as refuges for the church community.

The door to the round tower was originally 15-20 feet above the ground so it was only accessible by a ladder. After centuries of burials, the ground level had risen however. 

The rain stopped when we arrived at Old Mellifont Abbey, the first Cistercian abbey in Ireland, that was established by French monks who came to Ireland in 1142 so they could bring the Irish monks more in line with Rome. The Cistercian Order was founded in 1098 by the Abbot of Molesme in Burgundy, France, because he was unable to accept the influence of the abbey's wealthy lay patrons. He brought 21 of his followers to a location south of Dijon called Cistercium.

The abbey was consecrated in a great ceremony in 1157. Its architecture was unusual because it had a formal European-style monastic layout. The Cistercians lived isolated rural lives, with lay monks toiling in the fields and more educated monks devoting their energy to prayer. 

When the church was rebuilt in the 13th century, it accommodated nine chapels. One door in the north transept allowed access to prominent visitors to a gallery over the chapels. In a departure from early Cistercian rule, a tower was built.

Once Henry VIII dissolved the abbey in 1539, locals used it as a convenient quarry for centuries. As a result, little has survived beyond the octagonal Lavabo where monks ceremonially washed their hands before entering the rectory to eat. The lavabo was a place of purification where the body and spirit were cleansed before receiving meals in the refectory hall.

In the last years of the 18th century, a large mill was constructed using stones from the ruins of the abbey. The five-story corn mill also had a wheel house and a miller's house. In the middle of the 19th century, the mill was used to process flax, and, from 1876 until it closed in 1900, it was a saw mill.

We drove next to Knowth where a guide told us it was the largest megalith in Europe but no one knew who built the mounds. The pre-Celts in the Neolithic Age from 3,000 to 2,000 BC were likely simple farmers and hunters who lived in huts and only had stone, wood or bone tools. But, since the tombs were aligned with the heavens, one had to think these first humans gathered in the sacred places to ponder the universe.

There were four sections, with the earliest settlement at 9000 BC in the middle Stone Age. One wooden pit that dated to the Neolithic Stone Age. The guide mentioned that Ireland in that era would have been covered in forests and the only materials the inhabitants had were stone and wood. Today, only six percent of Ireland is covered by forests, the lowest amount of any country in Europe. 

Stone structures were reserved for the VIPs, according to the guide. 

Park officials placed concrete on the structures’ lower level to prevent the soft sedimentary rock from further decay. Though the tombs have only been exposed for the last 30-40 years, so much damage has already been done.

The eastern entrance to the chamber where we saw white quartz and green egg stones that had been left where they were found by the archaeologist responsible for this structure. As the stones were not local, the people had to travel 70 kms to obtain the stones. 

The guide indicated the writing on the stones meant it was one of the oldest clocks in the world. I had to take her word for it because I didn't get it!

After walking around and around many of the earthen mounds, we were finally able to enter the eastern tomb with a small group and a guide. On the inside we were shown the 13 different types of stones found in the structure. We walked through the 12-meter-high passage tomb where we could make out some megalithic art that dated to 64,000 years ago based on pollen analysis and carbon dating. Over 60 percent of megalithic art in Europe was found in the Boyne Valley.

The bodies of two adults and two children were found side by side in the passage tomb from the Iron Age.

The guide said it took forty years to build the burial chambers at Knowth with its two chambers. 

Stones outside the tomb had Ogham writing, the oldest Irish script that was found from the 8th to the 12th centuries BC. The guide indicated the people were very advanced and had to be engineers, astronomers, architects as well as artists. 

Art was representational for ritual purposes and not for art’s sake, according to the guide. As fascinating as the tomb's interior had been, the ancient writing was what 'got' me. 

The eastern tomb was 140 feet from the top of the tomb to the bottom, the highest point in the Boyne Valley.

In the background were the Wicklow Mountains that we had driven through the first day after leaving Dublin.

The guide stated the concrete markers had been placed by the architect where he had found the sandstone and slate stones.

Burial pits:

Then we waited a bit for a shuttle bus to deliver us a few miles to Newgrange which was radio carbon dated to 3,500 BC and therefore made it 500 years older than the Giza pyramids and Stonehenge! That just blew my mind as I’d thought they were the oldest civilizations. Access once again to the historic site was only by guided tour. The grassy mound atop a hill was approximately 250 feet across and 40 feet high. The mound was ringed by scads of about nine-foot long curbstones, each weighing five tons. 

As human remains were found in little chambers at the end of the passageway, they were called passage tombs. The same type of tombs was found all over Western Europe on islands and along the coasts so it was evident that the culture was spread far and wide. People traveled by water as they had no wheels. They were also the earliest farmers and tended animals for one thousand years before building any monuments. 

There were three major passage tombs in the Boyne Valley: Douth, Knowth and Newgrange and 37 minor ones. They were always built on top of the hill for defensive purposes. They also acted as beacons at the top of the hill and pointed towards sunrise or sunset at the specific time of the year.

In front of the doorway at Newgrange was the most famous curbstone, the entrance stone, with its left half carved with three mysterious spirals. Most of Newgrange’s curbstones had designs carved into them done with flint tools as the Neolithic or New Stone Age people had not yet mastered metal. 

Entering the tomb, we walked down a narrow 60-foot long passage that was lined with large rocks. It opened to a central cross-shaped room with three alcoves that was topped by a 20-foot high stone dome. Bones and ashes had been placed here in a ceremonial stone container, under what was estimated to be 200,000 tons of dirt and stone! 

Though nothing is known of Newgrange’s builders, this was certainly a sacred spot for a cult of the sun or the dead because the tomb was aligned precisely east-west. When the sun rises around the shortest day of the year on the winter solstice - usually on December 21st - and for two days before and after, a ray of light enters through the roof box and then slowly down the passageway. 

For 17 minutes, we were told, the center of the secret chamber is lit. It is theorized that at the moment of life-giving and life-taking light, the souls of the dead were transported to the afterlife. After the light passes on, the tomb is again in darkness for the nest 361 days. Even though I'm no huge fan of astronomy, I could certainly appreciate how reservations to visit Newgrange during that four-day period are highly sought after!

The current round stone in the roof was supported by little stones and then sealed with a capstone at the top. It showed the people’s incredible engineering skills. The different alcoves were each decorated in diverse ways. Some included human remains of five adults. No weapons were present to indicate who they were. The interior was so fragile that even the keys have been taken away from the architect to preserve the tombs. I felt privileged to have been able to enter such a sacred place.

The exterior stones depicted common Neolithic themes in geometric shapes but no animals or humans. 

Newgrange took 100 years to build but people only lived to 35 years old. Those helping to build it knew they would never see it completed so the guide stressed how it would have been a huge act of faith to keep constructing it through three generations. 

The stone circle was erected around the temple 800 years later as were smaller stone circles.

Later we drove to the Hill of Tara, the most important center of religious and political power in pre-Christian Ireland and the seat of the high kings of Celtic Ireland. At this ancient stockade, St. Patrick directly challenged the king’s authority. After Patrick explained the Holy Trinity to the king using a shamrock with its three petals and a stem, he won the right to preach Christianity throughout the land.

The now desolate hill was also the scene of great events. I loved reading the story of how young, passionate Irish rebels chose Tara in 1798 for its defensible location against the British but were thwarted by the cunning British commander who sent three cartloads of whiskey that he knew would be intercepted by the rebels. As a result, the sober British troops routed the intoxicated Irish rebels!

After winning the right for Catholics to sit in the British House of Commons in 1829, the famous Irish orator and champion of liberty, Daniel O’Connell, then dedicated himself to the repeal of the Act of Union and the re-establishment of an independent Parliament for Ireland. He and his followers set about organizing huge peaceful meetings throughout the country to demonstrate the support for their cause and force the British government to grant their demands. O'Connell spoke at 31 meetings and traveled over five thousand miles that year. 

In 1843, O’Connell gathered 500,000 Irish peasants on the Hill of Tara, the ancient seat of Ireland's high kings, for what was called a “monster meeting” to demand the Act of Union with Britain. 

The obelisk on the Hill of Tara was where Irish kings were crowned. 

A sign indicated this would have been Cormac’s House though the remains were just a depression in the ground. 

We wondered what the significance of the cross was all by itself in the field and why it was barricaded? Unfortunately, the Visitors’ Center was closed so there was info or guide available to answer any questions.

As we returned to the parking lot, we spotted a statue of St. Patrick.

I could imagine how impressive aerial views would be of the site as they would show mystifying circles and lines. Even with the visitors' enter closed, we still had a good sense of how the Hill of Tara – the meeting place of heroes - continued to hold a powerful place in the Irish psyche. 

Next post: Mel Gibson at Trim Castle, Battle of the Boyne and back to Dublin!

Posted about six months later on March 4th, 2020, from Colombo, Sri Lanka, where we're beginning this year's first trip!