Fiddly Dee

21 June 2007

I forgot to tell you when we were in Dublin on the last day we saw a guy singing in Grafton Street " I'm Irish.....fidldy dee, fiddly dum, I'm Irish......fiddly dee, fiddly dum" over and over in the hot sun - he was dancing with an old lady out of the crowd - then he said "Get your free CD, all proceeds go to charity" - we cracked up! Also Ric was tickled by an ad he saw on TV for ice-cream - "It takes a whole pint of milk to make one litre of ice-cream".

After a great night's sleep and some clothes washing at Tri's parents, Ginni pointed out all the 'must see' spots on the map. We hit the road not really sure where we would end up, but heading down towards the south west. First stop though was at Newgrange, not far from Balbriggan – another prehistoric site, but this time a building - they call it a passage tomb - but no one is buried here however, cremated remains were placed inside when it was built around 3200 BC (about 1000 years before the pyramids!!!) Theories abound as to what it is, how it was built and why but no one knows for sure.

The structure is a weird earth mound - huge in proportion flagged all round with massive stones (tonnes) on their sides (brought from many kilometres away) and is the whole thing is faced on the front with quartz - which was put back in more recent times. Inside there is a 19m long passage ending at a cruciform chamber - that fits in about 20 people at one time. The space in the middle is made by corbelling - an ancient building technique using overlapping flat stones and is completely waterproof - still to this day. Our guide tells us it is the oldest building in the world. Simple line drawings of swirls and circles were pecked into the hard rocks on the largest stones. The most intricate pattern is on the stone in front of the opening - it looks a bit like an ancient Aboriginal map. Amazingly the passage lines up with the sun on the winter solstice so that for 17 minutes in the depth of winter the sun shines through the light box constructed above the low entryway and penetrates right to the inner chamber (if it's not cloudy or rainy on that day of course)! Quite mind boggling. The visitor centre is outstanding with dioramas of what life would have been like around the day when the mound was constructed including mocked up clothing from animal furs, reconstructed huts and such. Around the time Newgrange was constructed most people on average only lived to 25 years of age with the oldest people only getting to 50 so this would have taken a few lifetimes to construct.

Everyone listened transfixed as our young Irish guide, Mary, told the story of the place. She was very quietly spoken but had us all in the palm of her hand with her descriptions and dramatic pauses. Her enthusiasm was obvious and she engendered respect for the place - at least I thought so. The group was too big to fit inside all at once so while the first half of the group went in the other of us half waited outside in the bright shining sun before we squeezed up the tiny passage to the surprisingly spacious chamber. A couple of young American guys waited with us. All of a sudden one clambered up onto the 2 metre high standing stone just adjacent to the mound and had to be asked to get down. Unbelievable! His comment as he jumped down was - "I'm not going to hurt it- it's only a rock."

Back on the road we make a bee line for Kilkenny - trying to enjoy the Irish countryside enroute. The confounded hedgerows get in the way and we don't enjoy too many vistas. All roads in Ireland are currently being upgraded as the place is in a boom period, so road works are a common feature. The roads are narrow - without verges and as in England, the Irish just stop their car in the middle of the road - never mind where and everyone just goes around. It's like putting the hazard lights on means road rules no longer apply - you have an amnesty for however long the lights flash. The new works are done so haphazardly - the whole road at once torn up and gravel made on site. Cathy & Ric