The Aran Islands

This is our academic blog post on our day at the Aran Islands. This blog contains the adventures of Brad, Meghann, Elizabeth, and Eva.





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The Aran Islands are famous for many reasons, not least for the beautiful sweaters produced there which many of us came home with, but also for their beauty and the ruined fortress of Dun Aonghasa. Most of the group cycled around the largest of the Aran Islands, Inishmore, but Elizabeth and Lauren rode in a horse-drawn cart.
The day started out with the golden promise of bright sun rays, but it soon clouded and turned into a very wet day. Although we didn't know it for the first hour or so, we all would be drenched to the bone before the day's end.

It was sunny in the morning. Truly.

 We arrived at the Ferry, climbed out of the bus and promptly realized that with the sun steadily disappearing, the coastal wind (not a breeze. WIND) was freezing.

Our ferry.

 The land was getting farther away on the horizon.

 We finally did arrive at the Aran Islands and climbed into our horse drawn cart or bikes. We were already cold, and it hadn't even started raining.

The west of Ireland is mostly boggy or rocky terrain. Neither makes for good farm land, but since the Irish were forced to live there, they had to get all the rock out of the land they were trying to cultivate. This is mostly the reason for the thousands of stone walls throughout the west and on the Aran Islands. As they dragged the rocks out of the field so they could plant it, they built stone walls around the field.

We're not kidding. Stone walls are in abundance here.

 When we reached the other side of the island, we hiked up to an old bronze and iron age fort on the cliffs called Dun Aonghasa. Unfortunately, Lauren and Elizabeth started up the hill a few minutes before it started raining. As they climbed it started coming down in sheets of water and the wind gusts were so strong, they were nearly knocked off their feet. The rain stung their faces and ran down in rivers. Our jeans and coats were quickly soaked, but they decided to continue since it was pointless to turn back seeing how they were already soaked. When they got to the top, the rain was mostly stopped allowing them to briefly enjoy the area and get a view of the lovely cliffs which don't get the attention they deserve.

Since it was so miserable when they reached the top, they didn't look over the cliff edge, but when the rest of the group reached Dun Aonghasa, we crawled out on our stomachs and peeked over the edge to see the waves crashing below.

Dun Aonghasa

Dun Aonghasa was seen as a great and powerful fort because of its location. Since it is built on the top of a hill along the edge of a cliff, it has a great defensive and offensive advantage. It is high enough that it would be impossible to attack with a surprise raid. Since it is built on a cliff rather than near the shore, it cannot be attacked from the sea either. The fort Dun Aonghasa was very large and oppressive, enemies would be intimidated by its grandness. The strength and size of the fort would inspire the people and show them the strength of their leader. 

The bronze and jewelry excavated at Dun Aonghasa suggest that the residents were of high class. Among the dig, they discovered that the population living inside the fort itself was only a small percentage. The lands would have been covered with fields and livestock. Because of the harsh landscape, the livestock were small, and there would have been only a small number of pigs. The fort thrived and was economically separated, for the most part, from the mainland, giving the Islands a remote and independent political power role.

Soaked and longing for a warm fireplace, we hiked back down and did some shopping before climbing back into our cart and bikes. Elizabeth and Lauren's driver's name was Martin, and his horse was named Hopper.

Hopper has one blue eye and one brown one.

 Martian also directed Elizabeth and Lauren to an old church. It was neat getting to travel with him because he gave them a lot of interesting insights on the Aran Island and showed them old buildings like these which most people would pass by.

 Even the trip back for the girls started out pretty well, but the weather didn't hold long. The rain steadily drenched them for most of the ride back. Although Martin gave them blankets and raincoats to help, the rain was relentless and eventually poured over into every unprotected crack and down their necks and backs. There was no shelter, so their only choice was to push on.

Every landscape is improved when viewed between the ears of a horse.

 They finally arrived -- drenched and freezing, but quite happy.

They said goodbye to Hopper and Martian, got some hot chocolate and huddled up in a Pub until our ferry arrived. They never really got warm, just slightly less chilled.

As Elizabeth and Lauren were getting warmed up, the rest of the group was still trapped in the soaking rain. After visiting  Dun Aonghasa, they traveled down the island to the Worm Hole.
 Here is Eva's account of the Worm Hole:

The Worm Hole is a natural rectangular pool located on the lower cliff, east of Dun Aonghasa. To reach the Worm Hole, we biked through town and meandered through a beaten road between houses. After dropping our bikes off at a gate, we walked for a good twenty minutes or so. We jumped across large rocks and skipped over pointed edges. Following the red arrows across the rock field, we finally reached the edge of the cliff. From there we had to be careful as we walked across the slick rock for ten more minutes. Finally, we came around a corner and saw the Worm Hole. It was larger than I imagined and the scene of waves crashing against the cliff and spilling into the Worm Hole was incredible. The weather was rainy and cold, but I have heard stories of people jumping in for a quick dip. The group walked around for a bit, taking pictures and taking in the beauty of waves crashing. I have never experienced waves in such a majestic way. If you are on the cliff and walk inward, away from the water, there is a bit of an overhang from the cliff above. As the rain came down, we crawled back in that cove and looked out to the Worm Hole and then the ocean as well.  Although the Worm Hole was incredible to see, we needed to get back to catch our ferry. We traveled back through the cliffs and rock field, hopped on our bikes and headed to the harbor. I am sure glad I chose to see the Worm Hole. I think it is greater than the title makes it sound.

Of course, as we were leaving the Island the sun came out.

 After the hour long ferry ride, we got into our coach and had another hour long ride back to Galway city. We learned that we were late for our reservation at Roberta's a fancy Italian restaurant, and we would be going directly there.
By the time we arrived in Galway, we were just starting to get warmer, but then we stepped out into that coastal wind again and walked a block to arrive at the restaurant, shivering again. It was a humorous sight. We were sitting at candlelit tables, soaking wet and looking like bedraggled street rats. Diana ordered us all hot tea, and we soon got a hot meal, and once we got back to the hostel, we were able to dry off and get warmed up.

This is a video Brad made documenting our entire trip to Galway.

Clonmacnoise

  

 This is a post which Brad wrote for our academic blog about our trip to Clonmacnoise. This blog contains the adventures of Brad, Meghann, Elizabeth, and Eva.

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Clonmacnoise is one of the most famous monasteries in Ireland, and also one of the best-kept ruins. It was founded in the 6th century by a guy named Saint Ciaran. Clonmacnoise was one of the most important monasteries of its day, but as years went on, it became less and less relevant. One of the main reasons it was so important was because of its location. The monastery is situated right on the border of the ancient provinces of Meath and Connacht. It is because of this placement between these two kingdoms that it gained the support of the kings of both of them. 

Not only is the location good in this aspect, but it is also built right alongside the most popular highway of its day. This is not a highway that we think of today, but it is a river. Clonmacnoise is settled right on the banks of the River Shannon which was the most important north-south trade route of its day. On the other side of the monastery, perpendicular to the river, there is also a large esker that was formed after the last ice age. This was a large hill which provided safe ground amid the surrounding bogs. It acted as a highway from Dublin to Galway. Because Clonmacnoise was located at the intersection of these two main "highways," it was a particularly important monastery.

One odd thing about this monastery is the height of the round tower. Every monastery in Ireland has some kind of tall, round tower in the compound. The round tower at Clonmacnoise is one of the best-kept ruins of all the round towers in Ireland, except that it is missing the pointed cap. The thing about this round tower is that it is not very tall. For most monasteries, the more important it is, the taller the tower will be. All historians agree that Clonmacnoise was a very important monastery, but they do not know why their round tower is not nearly as tall as other monasteries (only about half the height of the tallest round tower in Ireland). One idea of why this one is so short is that in the past, the top half had been broken off in a storm and rebuilt as another small round tower separate from the original. This is only an idea, but would explain why the round tower is very small for how important this monastery was.

The round tower

Many people thought that round towers were used as lookout tower or a place of refuge during attacks, but is not the case. It originally had a bell in the cap point that they used as a bell tower for the community. One thing that is very noticeable on all round towers around Ireland is how the door always a couple of meters off the ground. This is because the round towers did not have a deep base structure underneath and the first couple meters above the ground are the structure that gives the tower strength. The door can not start until above the base or else that would take away from the strength it needed. 

The second, smaller round tower.

Another big part of the Clonmacnoise monastery are the high crosses. The entire grounds of the monastery is filled with stones crosses marking burial places, but three of these stone crosses are much bigger and noticeable than the rest. That is because these high crosses are not tombstones to represent where people are buried. In all of Ireland, there are 70 high crosses left in existence. Three of which are at Clonmacnoise. At one point in time, there was one more high cross at Clonmacnoise, but that one was not preserved. These four high crosses would have made a square around the main cathedral in the monastery and would be the border for the holiest part of the compound. 

The three high crosses that are still intact are now inside the exhibit building at Clonmacnoise the keep them safe from outdoor elements. There are three exact replicas of these high crosses in the place of the originals surrounding the cathedral. When they excavated the original high crosses to bring them indoors, they found deep holes filled with sand underneath the stone base. This lead historians to believe the stone crosses were replacements for wooden crosses that were originally placed in the four corners around that cathedral. Obviously, the wood has disintegrated over the years, but the deep holes give evidence for them. 

The most popular high cross is this pictorial one called the Cross of the Scriptures. It has scenes from the Bible carved into each face. This likely would have been used by the monks as a way to teach the scriptures.

The Cross of the Scriptures

 The South cross was carved with Celtic designs and symbols and is probably older than the Cross of the Scriptures.

The South Cross

 The oldest of them all is the North cross. This one only has the shaft of the cross left.

The North Cross

These stone crosses have no paint on them today, but it is believed that they were painted when they were originally built. There are other similar high crosses around Europe that still have residence of paint on them and historians believe that the high crosses at Clonmacnoise would be the same. The bright colors painted on the cross would make them a main point of the entire monastery. Not only were the painted, but they are also engraved with pictures. These engravings have been worn down a lot over the years, but you can still make out what they originally were. Some of the pictures are quite obvious about what they depict, such as the crucifixion scene, but others are left up to debate as they are not as obvious a scene from the Bible. 

One other cool thing at Clonmacnoise is the whispering arch that leads into the cathedral that one person can whisper into one side of the arch, and someone with their ear to the other side can hear them. Some believe that this is an old version of a confession box used by Catholics today, but this is only a far fetched theory. 

The whispering arch

The cathedral

There is also a cemetery on the outside of the Clonmacnoise monastery. Every plot in it has already been purchased. Many people believed that being burned in the monastery grounds was a free pass to heaven, and they would pay a lot of money to get in there. Once the monastery area was closed to burial, they started another cemetery right outside that people still pay to be buried there in hope to get a free pass into heaven. 

The cemetery on the Clonmacnoise grounds and the new one beyond.

Here is a video Brad made documenting our entire trip to Galway.

Newgrange

 
This is our academic blog post on Glendalough. This blog contains the adventures of Brad, Meghann, Elizabeth, and Eva.


 Note: We were unable to take pictures of the inside of the tomb so there is only footage of the outside.


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The Newgrange tomb may not seem like much from the outside, but the history that this passage holds is truly ancient. The tomb itself is over five thousand years old and is located in the Boyne Valley. It is much older than Stonehenge and the great pyramids of Giza. 

 

The Boyne river

The Boyne valley

At the top of the hill -- Newgrange.

We must remember that the only tools these farmers had at the time were made of stone, wood, or bone. Transporting stones would have been difficult and taken time to move. It often took four days for 80 men to bring a 4 ton stone from 3km away. About 2,000 of these stones were likely used to make the tomb. Most of these stones were greywacke, a grey-green sandstone. On the outside, the base of the tomb is lined with 97 large stones called the kerbstones. The entrance kerbstone is decorated with an ornate design. The decoration stops near the bottom of the stone in a horizontal line that represented the ground level at the time. This stone acts a physical and spiritual barrier. Before the stairs were built, you had to climb over the stones to enter the tomb. It also is thought to have acted as a barrier between the living and the dead.

This mound likely took around fifteen years to build depending on the number of people involved.

In order to build the tomb in the precise alignment with the sun that it is, measurements of the sun had to be taken for years before any stones were set in place. The passage was likely marked out with timber, then sockets for the stones were made in the ground. As the stones were set in place, artists decorated them. Smaller stones for decoration and rituals were brought from the Cooley peninsula and quartz was brought from the Wicklow mountains. 

Quartz on the walls.

 

Inside is a short passageway with a large room in the center. It is thought to have held the remains of the inhabitant’s ancestors or to held a burial ritual. The walls of the passageway and chamber are decorated with ancient carvings. Sadly, they are also covered in "graffiti" (names and dates chiseled into the stone some of which is dated from the 1800's.) The grounds are now protected and kept up. The grass is always cleanly cut, litter picked up, and the monument rebuilt to its original glory.

 

Beautiful Carvings

One of the many other, much smaller passage tombs in the area around Newgrange

Newgrange, although the biggest burial site in Ireland, has a simple structure that can be seen in the 27 other burial sites also located in the Boyne Valley. Looking at the huge mound, you would think the chamber inside is large, but it is very small. Only twenty people can fit inside. The cross shape inside is created by having one long pathway, and three sections pointing north, south, and west. Within the structure, it is easy to see how the burial mound was built. By layering large slates of stone closer and closer together, a cone shape is formed until the top stone was placed to seal off light. This is called Corbelling. 

One many think that the tunnel into the tomb would cut off any light to illuminate the inside. However, the neolithic builders were very smart. The window at the entrance of Newgrange is in exact level with the eastern horizon and the center of the tomb. This means that as you walk to the center of the mound, you are elevating yourself about 2 meters. The passage is facing toward where the sun rises during the winter solstice. During that time, the light shines through a window above the doorway called the roof box. It then travels down the passageway and lights up the chamber at the end. 

The effect is magical. It is recreated for tourists today with an artificial light, but thousands enter for the drawing to be one of the few people who get to be inside the chamber during the five days around the winter solstice to see the real thing. Real sunlight creates a completely different effect because it seems to have a pulsing energy of its own. Below we'll try to describe what it felt like, however, it  will not be as real as being there and we were only there for the artificial reenactment. 

The chamber is pitch black. So utterly dark it sticks to you like and inky coating, weighing down on you. You wave your hand in front of your face. You know you're doing it, but you cannot see it. It is so quiet you can hear your heartbeat. Goosebumps speckle your arms in anticipation, wondering if the Irish clouds will block out the sunlight. Nothing happens. Finally, a speck of golden light smacks the floor. It turns into a stripe, slicing down the center of the chamber. Suddenly you can see all around you and to the top of the chamber even with that little bit of light. The light seems to vibrate and move. It lasts for a few magical minutes before it shimmers and fades and you are left once again in the dark.

What just happened? Many have wondered what exactly the sun shining into the tomb for these few precious minutes meant to the people who took the time and effort to built this tomb. Some think it was to signify the triumph of light over darkness. Maybe the spirits of the ancestors were revived during these few moments or perhaps they traveled up the stream of light into the heavens beyond. No one knows what the significance of these moments were to those people, but it is fun to wonder and amazing to see the same thing happen thousands of years later.

The reasons for this are argued. The people who built the tomb might have worshiped the sun. It was also a useful way for farmers to know when winter was coming to an end so they could plant their crops.

The people who built these tombs were very intelligent, but they probably lived very simple lives. Farming was the main source of nutrition but food from the wild supplemented their diet. Therefore, knowing when to plant crops was vital. The passage tomb of Newgrange provided this "calendar." The Boyne river which wraps around Newgrange provided a wealth of salmon. Every part of the animal was used. They ate the meat and blood, skin and fur became clothes and shoes, and the bones could be used for any number of things, especially tools. The guts and sinew were used for sewing and binding. They ate many wild plants including “fat hen” which was like spinach or cabbage, but it provided a lot more iron, protein, and calcium. Berries and nuts were also a great source of food. Although mushrooms were gathered and eaten, they were also used for other things. The inner tissue of some mushrooms could be used to stop bleeding others were used as medicine.

They made longbows out of yew and arrows with flint points which were used for hunting and defense against bears. The arrowhead was likely bound to the shaft with sinew and cemented with resin. They made tools of wood and flint, stone, or bones.

It was awesome getting see this ancient tomb. It is a wonder it isn't listed among the wonders of the world. For the record, it is way cooler than Stonehedge. 

Here is Brad's video again with footage from our trip to Glendalough and Newgrange.

Glendalough

 This is our academic blog post on Glendalough. This blog contains the adventures of Brad, Meghann, Elizabeth, and Eva.





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 Glendalough means The valley of the two lakes and it is a very important monastic site. Glendalough is one of the most well-preserved historical sites in Ireland. The stone church looks to the valley where the sun sets and bathes the valley with its golden rays. Slightly up into the hills is the mining village and some spectacular waterfalls. After St Kevin started his Green martyrdom lifestyle in the mountains, followers soon came and built a monastery. The round tower located in the center of the village is still almost completely intact, one of few in Europe. It is believed that the tower was used as a bell tower, signaling the time of day or notifying the monks if it was time for their daily prayer. The doorway of round towers always faces the most important building -- usually the church. The church was built was a dontrey stone, which was very expensive and usually had to be transported from overseas. However, since there was a large quantity of stone up in the valley, the monks just transported it from there. Some of the monks built a village next to the stream and would haul large quantities of rock back down to the village to build the church, tower, St Mary’s church, and some of the homes as well.

It is said that the closer you are buried to a church, the closer you are to heaven, therefore, the church is now surrounded by a massive number of graves, some from only a few years ago. It is a wonderful site to see those who live around the Monastery are still connected to it to this day. Although the town of Glendalough does not follow the same lifestyle as the monks once did, they still show a great respect for their ancestors and the village they left behind. It is clear to see the grounds are well kept and the people are still very connected to the church that St Kevin built. 

The doorway to the round tower was 3 meters off the ground.

High crosses marked some of the graves.

Gateway to Glendalough

In 498, St. Kevin founded his monastery in Glendalough. In this valley, a whole village of monks lived together and this site has remained a huge part of Irish history. Although the cone roofing of the round tower was struck by lightning in the 1800s, the tower is in wonderful condition and is 110ft tall. This tower was built to, not only, keep the monks safe during an attack, but also to see far and wide when the Vikings were coming. The height of the tower helped to keep their treasures safe from attackers. Four windows face north, south, east, and west- another genius creation of the monks to keep time of day and location at the tip of their fingers. Another structure found in the valley at Glendalough is the Cathedral. This cathedral was not like you would imagine, you one you may have been in for a wedding. This cathedral was made of mica schist stones, which form most of the structure. Over the centuries different parts were added to the cathedral, but the earliest part is the nave which supports the wooden roof. Most of the churches at Glendalough do not have roofs because they were made of wood and usually rotted away as time passed. To be standing in the ruins of a monastery so old, it was hard to imagine what life was like back then.

The monks in Glendalough weren't the typical monk figures you think of. Nor was Glendalough the typical monastery. In the middle ages when Glendalough was built, Ireland didn't have any real towns so Glendalough became a “city” and a major stop on the trading route. Life at for the monks at this monastery was not quiet at all. They had the hustle and bustle of traders coming through, people wanting to learn from the monks and various other figures who stopped by. They also took in runaways. Just inside the gateway of the monastery, there is a cross engraved on the stone. When a fugitive came into the gateway they were offered protection from whoever was chasing them for ninety days. At this cross, they were said to “lay” their sins as they entered the holy monastery.

These medieval monks were not only scholars they also farmed, raised livestock, and were craftsmen. There were talented woodworkers and blacksmiths. The woodworkers fashioned plates, bowls, buckets, tool handles, and writing utensils along with various other things. The blacksmiths made knives, nails, and farming tools, some worked with bronze and precious metals to make chalices, brooches, or bells. There were leather workers who made shoes, belts, and harnesses. Animal skins were also used for bedding, bones were used to make combs, pins, and needles, and animal fat was used to make candles. The monks threaded their goods of leather, metal, and wood for wine, spices, fine textiles, and exotic dyes for their manuscripts.

The monks would have eaten bread, milk products, eggs, and meat. The forest, lakes, and rivers provided food and barley and oats were likely grown on near the monastery. Cows were the most valuable animal in Ireland and would have provided milk and meat for the monks. They also would have kept goats, sheep, pigs, cats, and dogs. Oxen were used to plough and small ponies were pack animals in the mountains. 

But the most important work that the Irish did at this monastery was learning and copying. They spent years studying not only the Bible but also the ancient texts of the Greeks and Romans which were left to them after the Romans fled from Europe. These monks copied these manuscripts and when they fled from Glendalough because of the Vikings, they took these works with them and founded monasteries all over Europe. They brought the teaching of the Greeks and Romans and played a huge role in bringing Europe out of the Dark Ages.

Brad made a video containing footage from our trips to Glendalough and Newgrange. More information on Newgrange will be given tomorrow.