NewGrange, Slane Castle and Mellifont Abbey, near Slane, Ireland

Today was our historical sites of Ireland adventure. We were very fortunate to have the opportunity to visit the NewGrange mount as bookings need to be made months ahead and visits are strictly controlled.The largest of 12 mounds in the area, and only discovered in 1969, until recently people could drive up to it at their leisure. As it’s significance and mystique grew, so did its visitors, so much so that 10 years ago a visitor center, 10 kms away was contstructed, and today visitors are bussed to the site. It was quite awe inspiring to stand inside the perfectly dry, igloo shaped 5000 year old space inside the mound and experience a reconstruction of the sun passing though a slit in the mound as it has always done in the winter solstace. Then it was on though the Battle of Boynes area to visit Slane Castle, built in 1701 and still in use today. Each year it plays host to concerts of up to 80,000 people performed by musicians such as Madonna, Queen and U2, who stayed there for six weeks. Very plain inside by most castle standards, and rebirbished after a fire in 1991, the castle could be best described as ‘shabby chic.’ Today one can hire the whole castle for weddings and stay in tastefully refurbished bedrooms originally occupied by various dukes, rock stars and servants. After invading a restaurant in a quaint village nearby we travelled to the pristine ruins of Mellifont Abbey. Founded in 1142 on the orders of St Malachy, this was the first catholic monastry in Ireland adapted from St Benedicts cisterism in Burgundy. Becuse the austere lifestyle became so popular, many similar abbeys were constructed arount Ireland. However they also became very wealthy, so much so that they were closed down in 1539 by Henry v1111. Today the Abbey is very much alive offering people who prefer the monastic way of life opportunities to work on its extensive land area, on the farm, garden centre, or in the printing press. This site was excavated in 1954 and today all the monasteries are protected.