2008 Ireland Trip - 10 Sep 08 - Part II

After visiting Clonmacnoise, Michael and I went to Athlone to do some more sightseeing. The specific goal was to see Athlone Castle. We parked in a car park a couple of blocks away and got lucky to have a free spot for the afternoon.









Walking back to the castle, this building caught my eye. The only K. Wallace I know is Kevin Wallace, the curator and author of books about woodturning. I'll have to send him a copy of this picture.














The castle is pretty intimidating from the outside.











This sign tells a bit about it. Click on the image to increase the print size.









The castle is on the river Shannon.











A windo that isn't a window?












This is the entrance side of the castle.











It's across from a large church.

















Arrow slots above the entry way.










The inner keep. Those stairs look like they belong on a Hollywood set.










Fake cannons pointing to the river.











The view from the ramparts.










Looking the other way from the previous image. You can see how thick the outer wall is in this picture.









The wall thickness on the building inside the keep is apparent in this image.

















Another view from the side nearest the church.












This is what you see when you look down one of those arrow slots.













We didn't pay to go inside to do that tour, so we walked around Athlone for a bit and got a meal at a place down the street. Not here, though - we had a pint at the end of the day in Sean's Bar, which is the oldest pub in Ireland. This was established in the 900's - that just seems so bizarre to this American. The history in the states is so short compared to other countries.














I liked the name of this pub!










Walking around the streets can give one an insight as to popular opinion. There were quite a few protest fliers posted around the town.

















Here's another one.















Final stop of the day - Sean's Bar, where we enjoyed a pint of Guinness in the oldest pub in Ireland. We sat next to a peat fire and there was sawdust on the floor. Some of the memorabilia was interesting and some seemed out of place, such as the license plates from the USA. Weird!

2008 Ireland Trip - 10 Sep 08 - Part I

After our time in Doolin and such a busy visit to the Burren, we headed east toward Dublin again. We spent the night in a small village outside Athlone and then visited another monastery ruins. This one was called Clonmacnoise and I had wanted to visit it because of a picture Craig Caldwell (from my Irish band - Aisling) had taken from there. More on that later in this post.

This is a statue of "The Pilgrim" - on the path to the entrance of Clonmacnoise.









The visitor center was open, but without electricity for the day. Thus, we received a big discount on the visit, which was nice since we were nearing the end of our visit to Ireland and the unfavorable exchange rate was really taking a toll on my pocketbook.






The rain let up just a bit as we started to tour the grounds, but that respite was fairly short-lived. The dramatic sky made an excellent backdrop for these interesting ruins.










The cemetery was picturesque with the high crosses and other grave markers.










I couldn't decide on a favorite few images, so I'll just post a bunch here.
















































This one needs a comment, though. This is taken from nearly the same spot as the one Craig Caldwell had taken, which we used as the cover for "The Pilgrim's Road" CD that Aisling recorded in 2007. The cover image is in the sidebar - check it out. BTW - The Pilgrim's Road would make a nice stocking stuffer for this Christmas (hint, hint). Clonmacnoise is undergoing restoration now, though, so the two images are slightly different.




There are a lot of buildings around the site, which you can learn more about from the Wikipedia entry on Clonmacnoise.











I had posted pictures of a monastery tower from Glendalough - here's another good example.

















I think that chapel is still in current use.










Clonmacnoise is on the River Shannon.










This courtyard wasn't accessible to visitors, but I was able to get a picture through the gate.











I'm not sure what chapel this was.










There were so many interesting nooks and crannies to explore. It would have been nice if the visitor center were fully open so we could have done the orientation there.
















Graves within one of the chapels.












The high crosses out on the grounds were replicas. The originals were inside the visitor center.
















This must have been quite an amazing village during the medieval period.









The stonework that remains is beautiful and must have been absolutely stunning in its day.











These gems of viewpoints were all over the place. I wish the weather had been a bit nicer.
















The high crosses were elaborately carved with Celtic symbols and bible story panels.















The original of this cross was in the visitor center and it's interesting to note that the staining is replicated here.


















A detail of the motif.










The original cross - note the staining on the left arm. This part of the visitor center was closed, but one of the staff members was kind enough to guide us down to the exhibit space so that I could take some photos.













I don't have any info to share, though, since we didn't get to see the exhibit properly.





















































These are the ruins of Castle Clonmacnoise. The place was sacked in the 1500's.









It's hard to imagine what transpired here to bring down a castle with the walls as thick as these were.










The remnant of the mote with the River Shannon in the background.









I don't think it was particularly comfortable to live in, but it must have been impressive.











A few hundred meters down a narrow lane from Clonmacnoise is what's left of the Nun's chapel. The stonework on this chapel was very detailed and beautiful.








What an interesting door arch!


















A detail of the stonework.
















It was so surreal - especially with the rain pouring down.










Detail of the other arch.


















Another angle.















It wasn't a very large chapel, but I can imagine a liturgy full of beautiful music and windows overlooking the pastoral scene of the surrounding area.








I'm glad we took the time to visit the Nun's Chapel.