Drogheda: Droichead Átha

          Drogheda is a large town built along the banks of the River Boyne, an hour north of Dublin and is the location of many cultural and historic sites. It is famous for the massacre committed there by Oliver Cromwell in September 1659, when his Parliamentary forces besieged the stronghold of the Royalists within the walls. Once his artillery had secured a breach in one of the gates, his troops poured in and slaughtered the surrendering garrison. The greatest atrocity, however, occurred under direct order from Oliver Cromwell, who had the priests and civilians of the town locked in St Peter's Cathedral and burned the church while the victims suffocated inside.
         The cathedral was rebuilt and was later the constituency of Oliver Plunkett, who, later the 17th Century, was martyred for preaching Catholicism. His head was brought back and lies within the church sanctuary to this day in a gold case. The church also "supposedly" houses one of the original pieces of the Cross, which is displayed along the far wall of the sanctuary.

St Peter's Cathedral of Drogheda

Saint Peter

Within this silver inset is supposedly a splinter from the original cross of Jesus

Even though the picture is unclear, this is Oliver Plunkett's old dry head

Oliver Plunkett in a more edifying light

Chapel Gate

St Mary Magdalene Friary

The Boyne

Remnants of the walls on which the Battle of Drogheda was fought

Hill Fort and Martello Tower

       

A Hectic Couple of Weeks!

Sorry for the lack of posts for the last two weeks; it has been very busy, as all my last papers for classes and final exams were going on. I am now officially done with classes in Ireland, and as of Monday, I begin my Independent Study Period of the semester, where I will travel around on my own, researching some aspect of Irish History or Culture, to be presented and written up at the end of the month. I will be doing my project on: The Lasting Legacy of the Williamite Wars on Irish Culture and History: How different groups use and interpret history for their own agenda in the context of Northern Ireland. This should be interesting, in that it will allow me to travel around quite a bit in both the Republic and Northern Ireland while I do my research. At the end of the Independent Study Period, I will be writing up a 30-40 page paper and presenting it to a panel of my professors at Trinity and UCD, so it should be an exciting month.

Though I've been busy these past couple weeks, I still have found plenty of time to have fun and continue experiencing Irish culture. Some highlights of the last couple weeks were

• Morganne Fair, from Ohio, coming to visit and me being able to show her around my adopted city of Dublin for a few days.

Malahide Castle

Morganne and I visited Malahide Castle, built in 1185 and lived in by Sir Talbot and his descendants until the 20th Century. Located just north of Dublin City.

Wilma, Morganne, Myself and Sameen at the Queen's

• Going to a traditional Irish Wake with Bill down at Fitzy's Pub. The publican, Fitzgerald, is a good friend of Bill's and this past week, his mother-in-law died, so he held the traditional wake down at the pub on Wednesday night. It was quite an experience! Instead of mourning the death, they drink and sing and dance and celebrate her well-lived life. Its quite a different concept from America, but I really liked it and it seems a lot better way to send someone off, especially if they've lived a long and happy life. Fitzgerald and others got up and gave speeches and toasts to the woman, remembering all the good things about her life. It was very refreshing, but out of respect for it all, I took no pictures of it. 
• More mackerel fishing in the Irish Sea. I also caught a Ray, which we kept and ate. It had a very strange texture but tasted good!

Atlantic Ray off the rocks of Dun Laoghaire

More Mackerel to Clean with Bill

Ray Wings with Chips- Yes Please!

• Eating wild pigeon that Bill went hunting for last week. It is also delicious and I really liked it. 

Pigeon Breasts

• Continuing swimming in the Irish Sea, even though the temperature is dropping. Its now mid to low forties in the water most days, and sometimes colder than that, but Bill, Ruiri and I go down to the Forty Foot swimming point every morning first thing before my classes and take a quick dip- It gets the blood flowing!!!

Seapoint- One of our swimming areas

The Forty Foot Swim Point at Sunset, with Dun Laoghaire in the background.

Weekend Back in Dublin!

         This past weekend was a lot of fun, I made it back from Northern Ireland late on Friday, and on Saturday, I traveled with my host dad, Bill O'Dea, down to where Carlow, Wicklow, and Wexford Counties meet for a rural mushroom hunt in the Irish Countryside. Bill guides mushroom hunts during the Fall, where he leads hikes through the woods, helps people identify edible mushrooms, and then cooks up a feast of mushrooms for the guests. I went down as his assistant, and had a great time, learned something, and enjoyed some delicious mushrooms.
     On Sunday, it was a very nice day, so I convinced a few of the other girls in my group to go with me up to Howth, a quaint fishing village north of Dublin. We hiked along the cliffs of Howth Head, saw the Eye of Ireland, walked the piers, and stopped in at a harbor-side pub where I ordered a bucket of fresh steamed mussels, caught that day off Howth, with boiled potatoes and a pint of Smithwicks. It was one of the best, cheapest, and most authentic meals I've eaten along the Irish coast!

Forests of County Carlow

Laying out the Mushrooms in the Farmhouse

Bill and his assistant

Big Bill Identifying Mushrooms

Yellow Boletes- Edible

Beef-Steak Tree Fungus- Also Edible

Bluets- Edible

Young Ceps, very good eating

The Eye of Ireland

Howth Head and Dublin Bay

Howth Harbor

Steamed Mussels

A very satisfying meal: 60 mussels for only 7 Euro

Murals of Belfast

During the Troubles in the North, one medium of propaganda that both sides used was mural art. Murals continue to be a part of the sectarian violence as well as a way that the different groups promote their message, honor their history, and share their side of the story. Here are a few examples: