Trips from Dundalk

Monasterboice by Rocío, Antonio and Ana

The monastery was an important centre of spirituality and learning for many centuries until the Cistercians arrived at nearby Mellinfont in 1142.

The two churches wich stand on the site today were probably built no earlier than the en of the 14th century. The round tower seems to have been the treasury as well as the belfry since the annals record that it was burned in 1097 along with the books and treasures of the monastery.

Monasterboice’s great monuments are its high crosses which may have been used to tell the stories from the Bible to a congregation. Mulredach’s Cross, one of the most perfect in Ireland, is named after an abbot, probably Muiredach mac Domhnaill who died in 923, It is 5.5m high and is decorated with figure sculpture 

         Brú Na Boinne Visitor Centre by Rocío, Antonio and Ana

Brú na Boinne, the Palace of the Boyne, is Ireland’s richest archeological landscape and is situated within a bend in the River Boyne in County Meath. In 1993, in recognition of its international importance, UNESCO inscribed Brú na Bóine- Archaeological Ensemble of the Bend of the Boyne on the World Heritage List.  

Today,  Brú na Bóine Visitor Centre is the starting point for all access to Newgrange and Knowth. Admission is managed through timed tickets and is only by guided tour. There is no direct access; visitors are brought via shuttle bus to these monuments from the Visitor Centre.

Over 150 monuments have been identified in Brù na Bóinne.These are dominated by the spectacular prehistoric passage tombs of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. The monuments also contain the largest collection of megalithic art in Western Europe. 

Knowth is one of the great glories of the ancient world. Its scale alone is enough to evoke awe. From its origins in the Stone Age as a centre of ritual and art to a medieval hub of industry, habitation and wealth, every culture that used Knowth left its own distinctive mark 

These funerary and ceremonial structures were built during the Neolithic period around 3200 BC. The people who built the monuments belonged to a thriving farming community who had within their society expertise in architectures, engineering, geology, art and astronomy. 

Newgrange contains one of the best-preserved chambers of any Neolithic structure. A narrow  passageway channels you inside. The original waterproof-corbelled roof gives a cathedral- like feeling to the space. 

Our guide turns off the lights to simulate the winter solstice illumination,it was spectacular!!

Evidence exists for many other ceremonial structures within the Brú na Boinne landscape, some of which were built several hundred years after de Great Mounds of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. 

         Carlingford Greenway by Fran y Juan Francisco