Inland Ireland

We left the coast behind us to head inland and explored some more places in Irish history.

Fore Abbey is the ruin of a Benedictine Abbey, situated to the north of Lough Lene in County Westmeath. The abbey was founded by Saint Feichin in 630 CE and functioned for over 900 years. By 665 CE (the time of the yellow plague), the abbey is believed to have housed up to 300 Benedictine monks from Normandy and 2000 students. Architectural additions and damage by fire have altered the site's appearance and layout over the centuries.

Fore is the anglicised version of the Irish "Fobhar", meaning "water-springs". The name is derived from St. Feichin’s spring or well which is next to the old church, a short distance from the ruined monastery.

The Abbey is also noted for what local populations call its seven wonders:

 1. The monastery built upon the bog.

 2. The mill without a race (St. Fechin reportedly induced water to flow from the ground and operate a mill that had no visible water supply - in reality water from Lough Lene flows through the ground).

 3. The water that flows uphill. (St. Fechin reportedly used his staff to make the water flow uphill).

 4. The tree that has three branches/the tree that won’t burn. Pilgrims place coins in it, giving it the name "the copper tree."

 5. The water that doesn’t boil in St Fechin's holy well.

 6. The anchorite in a cell.

 7. The lintel-stone raised by St. Fechin’s prayers.

We found this place by accident, it was just on the road we were travelling on but was well worth the visit.

The Spire of Lloyd in Kells, Ireland is an 18th-century folly in the form of a Doric column, surmounted by a glazed lantern. Sometimes described as "Ireland's only inland lighthouse", it was designed by architect Henry Aaron Baker. It was reputedly commissioned by Thomas Taylour, 1st Earl of Bective as a memorial to his father.

The tower is located on the Hill of Lloyd, making this 40 kilometres from the coast and is around 30m (100 ft) high. From the top there are views of the surrounding countryside as far as the Mourne Mountains in County Down, Northern Ireland on a clear day. The tower was used to view horse racing and the hunt in the nineteenth century.

The area around the tower has been developed as a community park, and includes a paupers' grave, where Mass is still celebrated annually in memory of the Great Famine.

The very old Headfort bridge in Kells, Co Meath run's over the Blackwater river which is the largest tributary of the River Boyne.

Slane village stands on a steep hillside on the left bank of the River Boyne. The village and surrounding area contains many historic sites dating back over 5,000 years. The village centre, as it is laid-out today, dates mainly from the 18th century.

At Slane Castle there is an ancient well in the grounds of the castle near the river. In Irish mythology the well was blessed by Dian Cecht so that the Tuatha Dé Danann could bathe in it and be healed, allegedly, healing all wounds but decapitation. However upon the arrival of Christianity in Ireland the well is now known as Our lady's well. The castle grounds have been the site of large rock concerts since 1981.

Newgrange is a prehistoric monument in County Meath in Ireland, located on a rise overlooking the River Boyne. It is an exceptionally grand passage tomb built during the Neolithic Period, around 3200 BC, making it older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids.

There is no agreement about its purpose, but it is believed it had religious significance. It is aligned so that the rising sun on the winter solstice shines through a 'roofbox' above the entrance and floods the inner chamber.

As the passage is small only a few people can fit inside to see the solstice sunshine through for the few days around the 21st December. Nowadays up to 30,000 people apply to go inside at this time and 60 are choose. Frank experienced it in the 80s before it was so popular and feels honoured that he is one of such a small amount of people ever to experience the phenomenon.

Newgrange is the main monument in the Brú na Bóinne complex, a World Heritage Site that also includes the passage tombs of Knowth and Dowth, as well as other henges, burial mounds and standing stones.

Burnt and unburnt human bones, and possible grave goods or votive offerings, were found in the chamber. Many of the larger stones of Newgrange are covered in megalithic art. The mound is also ringed by a stone circle. Some of the material that makes up the monument came from as far as the Mournes and Wicklow Mountains.

Newgrange shares similarities with some other Neolithic monuments in Western Europe; especially Gavrinis in Brittany, which has a similar preserved facing and large carved stones, Maeshowe in Orkney, with its large corbelled chamber, and Bryn Celli Ddu in Wales.

Mellifont Abbey (Irish: An Mhainistir Mhór, literally 'the Big Monastery'), was a Cistercian abbey located close to Drogheda. It was the first abbey of the order to be built in Ireland. In 1152, it hosted the Synod of Kells-Mellifont. After its dissolution in 1539 the abbey became a private manor house. This saw the signing of the Treaty of Mellifont in 1603 and served as William of Orange's headquarters in 1690 during the Battle of the Boyne.

Today, the ruined abbey is a National monument of Ireland and accessible to the public. The English language name for the monastery, 'Mellifont', comes from the Latin phrase Melli-fons, meaning 'Font of Honey'.

The Hill of Tara is a hill and ancient ceremonial and burial site near Skryne in County Meath. Tradition identifies the hill as the inauguration place and seat of the High Kings of Ireland. Tara consists of numerous monuments and earthworks, dating from the Neolithic to the Iron Age, including a passage tomb (the "Mound of the Hostages"), burial mounds, round enclosures, a standing stone (believed to be the Lia Fáil or "Stone of Destiny"), and a ceremonial avenue.

There is also a church and graveyard on the hill. Tara forms part of a larger ancient landscape and Tara itself is a protected national monument under the care of the Office of Public Works, an agency of the Irish Government.

The oldest visible monument is Dumha na nGiall (the 'Mound of the Hostages'), a Neolithic passage tomb built around 3,200 BC. It holds the remains of hundreds of people, most of which are cremated bones. In the Neolithic, it was the communal tomb of a single community for about a century, during which there were almost 300 burials. Almost a millennium later, in the Bronze Age, there were a further 33 burials, first in the passage and then in the mound around it.

During the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age, a huge double timber circle or "wood henge" was built on the hilltop. It was 250m in diameter and surrounded the Mound of the Hostages. At least six smaller burial mounds were built in an arc around this timber circle, including those known as Dall, Dorcha, Dumha na mBan-Amhus ('Mound of the Mercenary Women') and Dumha na mBó ('Mound of the Cow'). The timber circle was eventually either removed or decayed, and the burial mounds are barely visible today.

The passage of the Mound of the Hostages is aligned with the sunrise around the times of Samhain (the Gaelic festival marking the start of winter) and Imbolc (the festival marking the start of spring).

Trim Castle is a castle on the south bank of the River Boyne in Trim, County Meath, with an area of 30,000 m². Over a period of 30 years, it was built by Hugh de Lacy and his son Walter as the caput of the Lordship of Meath. The Irish Government currently own and are in charge of the care of the castle, through the state agency The Office of Public Works.

The land area of Meath was owned by the church but was granted to Hugh de Lacy in 1172 by Henry II of England as one of the new administrative areas. De Lacy built a huge ringwork castle defended by a stout double palisade and external ditch on top of the hill. There may also have been further defences around the cliffs fringing the high ground. Part of a stone footed timber gatehouse lies beneath the present stone gate at the west side of the castle.

The castle is noted for the part it played in the filming of Mel Gibson's film Braveheart. The castle was presented as the walled city of York; scenes that took place in London were also filmed here.

Thanks for looking :) xxx