Then we spent one night in Athlone ("the very center of Ireland") where we visited Sean's Bar which, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is the oldest pub in the world, in operation since 900 AD (and they apparently have the property records to prove it).
On the road to Kilkenny, we stopped at the Meehambee Dolmen (3500 BC tomb). Unlike the others we've seen, it's in a forest instead of an open field, covered with moss and plants. Really nice short hike in the forest to reach it - it may well have been in an open field when built, I guess plants and trees grow over the course of more than 5,000 years.
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| Off the main and even rural roads to reach the Meehambee Dolmen |
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| Then, about a one kilometer walk |
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| St. Canice's Cathedral and round tower |
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| Kilkenny Castle in the background |
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| Tomb of Piers Butler, Earl of Ossory, and wife Margaret Fitzgerald (1540) |
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| Tomb of Richard Butler 1st Viscount of Mountgarret (1546) - died of poisoning in London. Zoom in on the carvings! Yes, the Butlers were big in Kilkenny for generations. |
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| The holes in the bottom are for draining fluids from the decomposing corpse - I just thought you should know! |
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| Zoom in to see the detail on this tomb - not sure, but maybe more of the 'vocational' grave markings? |
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| There were sad stories gleaned from analysis of the bones (infant bones not on display) - evidence of injuries, malnutrition, infection. These were not people of means, they were peasants buried in nothing but shrouds, none of the fancy carved tombs of the elite |
And then was The King's Harper: The Irish Harp at 17th Century English Court, part of the Kilkenny Festival of Early Irish Harp. Taking place in the Parade Tower of Kilkenny Castle, the instrumentation (lute, treble viol, 2 bass viols, early Irish harp) was very likely quite similar to that which was used in that same location 1,000 years ago. The music, all late 1500s/early 1600s, was sublime.
We enjoyed a final morning in Kilkenny before leaving for Dublin to complete our (approximate) circumnavigation of Ireland. First it was back at the Chester Beatty museum to pick up Eileen’s daypack/bag which she had left accidentally when we were there about six weeks ago! We called after losing it, but at that time they did not seem to have it. A few weeks later, we contacted them again and, faith and begorrah, they had it and agreed to hang on to it for a few more weeks until we would return. A nice reunion! After that we visited the small art glass museum on site that was closed when we visited before, and it was fantastic.
Thursday morning I dropped Eileen off at the airport, as she flies to Minnesota today for a McKenna family gathering. Our rental car - and my world! - feels out of balance without her sitting there in the passenger seat… we will meet back at home in 13 days, after my visit to Wales, Cornwall, Liverpool, and London.
My flight out is not until this evening so I head back into Dublin to kill a few hours at the National Gallery of Ireland. This is really a very good, large-ish museum with a wonderful selection of mostly paintings, ranging from the 1300s to mid-20th century.
Although I gravitate toward the modern stuff, I loved the special exhibit of the works of Lavinia Fontana, a groundbreaking Italian female painter of the late 16th century who is “widely considered to be the first woman artist to achieve professional success beyond the confines of a court or convent…the first woman to manage her own workshop, and the first woman to paint public alterpieces and female nudes.” They don’t allow photos of that exhibit so I added a couple from online.
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| Maine Jellet, 1941 |
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| Colin Middleton, 1948 |
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| This is the greatest crucifixion of Jesus painting I’ve ever seen! Albert Gleizes, 1935 |
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| Jack B. Yeats (yes, the brother of W.B.), 1949 |
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| The above two are by Fontana, late 1500s |
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| Ugolino di Nerio, 1320 - the oldest painting I came across at this museum - over 700 years old! |
Long drive from Cardiff (BTW, it's back to MPH now...) to Padstow, which is on the north coast of Cornwall. On the way I stopped at a Roman amphitheater, then Tintagel Castle. Remember I wrote that we could not use the rope bridge in Ireland due to wind? Same thing here, even though the bridge is much sturdier than rope. Took a nice long and strenuous hike along the bluffs anyway. Three nights here, for my exploration of more megalithic sites, ruins, and hopefully some locations where the tv show Poldark was filmed.
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| This is the island (see the bridge to the left?) where the castle was; you can see various areas of rubble here and there (see close-up below) |
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