Queens University, Belfast
Since the boys go to St. Patrick’s School in Carlisle, they were interested in seeing his tombstone. I was surprised it was in Northern Ireland, but here it is. I also didn’t know he was born in England. We also made a quick stop to the County DownMuseum—another stop that the tour buses miss.
St Patrick's Cathedral, County Down, Northern Ireland
Tombstone of St Patrick
Former WWII Barracks site at the County Down museum
Next was a return to the Republic of Ireland—with an equally nondescript border crossing, for which I blame the Shengen Agreement—and a visit to the megalithic tombs, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are three of them really, Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth, but we went to see Knowth. The tour guide here was really great. She really knew her Neolithic history and she was good at keeping everybody’s kids interested. Kyle got up front and asked her questions and answered some of the questions she asked. We were talking with her at the end of the tour and she said that Kyle was a “lovely boy.” I said, “Well, I’m his dad and this is his grandfather. She said, “I can see his grandfather in him, but not so much you.” D’oh—that was a good one!
Neolithic carvings, Knowth
Neolithic carvings, Knowth
Smaller (reconstructed) mounds, Knowth
Reconstructed "woodhenge" seen from top of main mound
Just one hiccup: for some reason our last B&B never got the reservation e-mail when it was set up, so he didn’t have any rooms when we got there. He set us up at another B&B down the road (they’re all over the place here), and everything worked out fine.
Present location: 39.881816, -75.240211 (I'm cheating and posting from PHL)
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