The picture isn’t too hot from my mobile phone, but over lunch today, the Archaeology department shared a rare recent find. It was a glass Viking necklace, probably 1000 years old, that was discovered in the back of a cave in the Burren. The original glass would have been a pale, transparent blue, though it [...]

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After two birthday cakes and pumpkin pie, we took a trip today to Carrowmore, as well as walking to the summit of Knocknarea. Carrowmore is the largest cemetary of megalithic stones in Ireland. It was interesting to see the current worn paths of visitors connecting the sites together across the fields. The dolmen in one [...]

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I first visited Ireland in 1993 and one of the most moving experiences was visiting the Boyne Valley, and in particular, Newgrange. This morning on the Solstice, a shaft of light would have crawled it’s way up the main passage to illuminate a burial chamber at the back of the mound. This will continue to [...]

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This past Sunday we drove up to a famine grave behind Ballyfarnon at Stanton’s Brae. The grave was set back in the Greaghnagergh Wood. The wood was beside the old Arigna mines and the entrance was marked by a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes. Survivors too weak to bury all the dead separately, created [...]

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We visited the megalithic site of Carrowkeel today, a mere fifteen minutes from the house. As usual, there are no signs once you have reached the pedestrian entrance and the clearest path took us down into a pasture. We met a lot of sheep. Once we realized we weren’t in the right place we scaled [...]

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