There is still snow on the ground in Dublin. According to Brian, our bus driver, they haven’t had this much snow in twenty years. They’ll usually get a dusting of snow a few times each winter, but it melts by noon. This snow, however, isn’t going anywhere. Of course, it’s nothing like the snow at home. If you tried to scrape a snow ball together here, you wouldn’t be able to without it having bits of grass and mud in it. I would say Ireland looks pretty with a soft coat of snow, but I am so sick of the cold that snow looks absolutely appalling.



Today was our first day of site visits. We loaded onto our bus around 10 this morning and drove north of Dublin to Monasterboice. It was founded by St. Buite who died in A.D. 512. The oldest monuments on the site are the three high crosses and the round tower, which all date from the 10th century. The round tower was built by the Irish in response to the Norse raids on monasteries during the 10th and 11th centuries. It served as a watchtower, belfry, repositories for church valuables, and as refuge for the community. The two churches on the site were probably built at the end of the 14th century. The high crosses may have been used to tell the stories of the Bible to the congregation. Muiredach’s Cross is one of the most perfect in Ireland. Below is an illustration of the stories depicted on the cross.



The next stop was Mellifont Abbey. It was the first Cistercian abbey to be founded in Ireland in 1142 on the banks of the River Mattock. The abbey was closed in 1539 when it was turned into a fortified house. William of Orange used Mellifont as his headquarters during the Battle of the Boyne in the late 17th century.

The third and final stop was at Newgrange in Brú na Bóinne (Boyne River Valley). Newgrange is the best known Irish passage tomb. It was built around 3200 B.C. It was excavated between 1962 and 1975 by Professor M. J. O’Kelly and has since been restored. At the winter solstice (21 December), the rising sun illuminates the inside of the burial chamber as shown below.


We made it back to Greystones in time for dinner. Around half eight, we went to a theatre in Greystones for a concert. One of the members of the band The Raglans works at the house on the kitchen staff. The Raglans are off to London at the end of next week for a record deal. If you’d like to check them out, their website is: http://www.theraglans.com/.