My Trip To Ireland, part I

**funlvnman** · 13th April 09, 08:31 PM

I took this pic because of the roots of the tree, but the birds of prey are cool tool. This is in Athenry near the B&B we stayed at.

My wife and daughter auditioning for the Wheel Of Fortune

The B&B

The view out the bedroom window at the B&B, Just a tad different than Tucson

Some sort of needle in Dublin. It was HUGE.

**Woodsman** · 13th April 09, 09:22 PM

Beautiful pictures. Reminds me of my trip there on my honeymoon some 20 odd years ago. Now I have to ask and I hope you don't mind. But did you wear your kilt in Ireland?

**funlvnman** · 13th April 09, 09:29 PM

Originally Posted by Woodsman

Beautiful pictures. Reminds me of my trip there on my honeymoon some 20 odd years ago. Now I have to ask and I hope you don't mind. But did you wear your kilt in Ireland?

I don't mind but unfortunately my trip to Ireland was a PK trip( PreKilt). I did not have much interest in kilts until I went to Ireland. When I returned I discovered XMarks and the idea of wearing kilts. While I was in Ireland I met/saw lots of kilted men and couldn't help but admire them.

**beloitpiper** · 13th April 09, 09:48 PM

Originally Posted by funlvnman

Hieroglyphics in the Burren area. The guide told us they were Viking glyphs but I think some creative tourism was going on. Beloitpiper is the resident expert on such matters. Perhaps he'll chime in with some accurate historical info!

As some of you guys know, I studied archaeology at NUI Galway. The tomb is just that -- a tomb. It is a portal tomb, due it's one large opening, or portal. Under the capstone are number, disarticulated burials. In Neolithic Ireland, families would leave the deceased outside, then bury the bones in the tomb. Later, some of the older bones would be removed to make space for newer burials. This practiced continued until the Celts arrived in the Bronze Age.

The heiroglyphs that Funlvnman photographed I have never seen before. I'm fairly certain that they're not Viking for a few reasons. 1) the Vikings only raided the east coast of Ireland, and even then only founded a few settlements including Dublin, Wexford, and Waterford. 2) the city of Galway, which would have been the Vikings main target, was founded in the 12th century, long after the Viking raids had ended. Also, the west coast of Ireland did not have any monastic sites (which Vikings were primarily attracted to) in the 9th century, the height of Viking raids in Ireland.

So I'm not sure exactly what they are. I've never seen or even heard of them before, and they don't look like anything else in the area. Perhaps Funlvnman is right, they are made just for the tourists!

Keep the pictures coming! Do you have any more from the city of Galway?

**Derek** · 14th April 09, 12:33 AM

Originally Posted by funlvnman

I don't mind but unfortunately my trip to Ireland was a PK trip( PreKilt). I did not have much interest in kilts until I went to Ireland. When I returned I discovered XMarks and the idea of wearing kilts. While I was in Ireland I met/saw lots of kilted men and couldn't help but admire them.

Fabulous pics. Thanks. Brought back a lot of memories from when we used to tour with our folk rock band in Ireland. We used to spend about 3/4weeks at a time over there.
In all the times we have spent and travelled around Ireland, I have never seen anyone in a Kilt. Not even the buskers in Dublin had them. Where did you spot these fellow Kilt wearers.
Iechyd Da
Derek

**McClef** · 14th April 09, 02:09 AM

Rain is, alas, an occupational hazard for much of the British Isles!

The "needle" you refer to is the Dublin Spike or officially the Monument of Light. It goes under several Dublin rhyming expressions some of which cannot be repeated here...

**thanmuwa** · 14th April 09, 02:50 AM

Originally Posted by beloitpiper

The heiroglyphs that Funlvnman photographed I have never seen before. I'm fairly certain that they're not Viking for a few reasons. 1) the Vikings only raided the east coast of Ireland, and even then only founded a few settlements including Dublin, Wexford, and Waterford.

I agree that those markings are practically guaranteed to be a tourist myth. However, the Vikings spread further afield than just the East coast.
I am sure that Clonmacnoise was raided on multiple occasions by the Vikings, and to get to Clonmacnoise, you have to sail to Limerick (very definitely on the west coast) and then all that way up the Shannon!

Originally Posted by McClef

The "needle" you refer to is the Dublin Spike or officially the Monument of Light. It goes under several Dublin rhyming expressions some of which cannot be repeated here...

Dubs definitely come up with some great nicknames for landmarks

.
Trivia: The Millennium Spike is also on the former site of Nelson's Pillar, which was blown up in 1966. Amazingly, although it happened in Dublin City centre, there were absolutely no witnesses to this act of commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Easter rising

.

**McClef** · 14th April 09, 08:50 AM

Originally Posted by thanmuwa

Trivia: The Millennium Spike is also on the former site of Nelson's Pillar, which was blown up in 1966. Amazingly, although it happened in Dublin City centre, there were absolutely no witnesses to this act of commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Easter rising

.

More trivia: The pillar was replaced by the statue of Anna Livia (a Joyce character known to Dubs as "The floozie in the jaccuzi") which was moved so the Spike could be erected.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floozie_in_the_Jacuzzi

**beloitpiper** · 14th April 09, 09:27 AM

Originally Posted by thanmuwa

I agree that those markings are practically guaranteed to be a tourist myth. However, the Vikings spread further afield than just the East coast.
I am sure that Clonmacnoise was raided on multiple occasions by the Vikings, and to get to Clonmacnoise, you have to sail to Limerick (very definitely on the west coast) and then all that way up the Shannon!

Clonmacnoise is smack dab in the middle of Ireland. Plus, the Vikings probably came down the river from Co. Cavan/Fermanagh.

**thanmuwa** · 14th April 09, 12:20 PM

Originally Posted by beloitpiper

Clonmacnoise is smack dab in the middle of Ireland.

Yes, Clonmacnoise is in the (western part of the) Midlands. Definitely not on the east coast. That was exactly my point.

Originally Posted by beloitpiper

Plus, the Vikings probably came down the river from Co. Cavan/Fermanagh.

I hadn't realised that there was evidence for the Vikings coming downstream... They must have known the Midlands of Ireland pretty well, because (obviously) the Shannon-Erne waterway didn't exist back then, and that would have been 40 miles of wild and unfriendly country to carry a boat across in those days! They must have known about the Shannon and where it was. I suppose it would have been quicker than sailing around the coast though

. I am no expert on Vikings (the reason I know about Clonmacnoise is because I am from Athlone), were there Viking settlements in Cavan/Fermanagh then?