Newgrange, Carlingford
Saturday, 4/24
by Johnny Carey
On Saturday, we left Dublin again for a trip north. Our first stop of the day was at the Newgrange Visitors’ centre where we saw a short video on the passage graves in the area and their alignment with different solar events, like the winter solstice. A bus then took us to Knowth. There we learned about ancient burial grounds and the mysterious people built them. It was interesting to hear how about how these ancient people’s society changed over time.
From there, we visited Newgrange, which was also built by ancient settlers about 5,000 years ago. We got to enter the long-standing mound that has made Newgrange famous and experience light entering the cave as it does on the shortest day every year.
After Newgrange, we stopped briefly at the site of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 It was here that the forces of King William overcame those of James II, setting in motion events that were to dramatically shape the rest of Irish history. We were to see murals of King "Billy" throughout the Belfast area the next day.
We then drove to our destination for the night, Carlingford. We then went to the Carlingford Adventure Center, where we did some archery and completed a maze in the pitch dark.
While the maze was difficult, the adventure center as a whole was a great time. We styed overnight at the adventure center, and looked forward to our Sunday trip to Belfast.
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