Fournocks, Hill of Tara, Newgrange, Monasterboice, Mellifont Abbey

Today we set off on a tour that takes us in a big circle to significant Neolithic tombs and burial sites, to the largest high crosses in Ireland, and ruins of passage tombs and an abbey.

Breakfast in the incredibly noisy restaurant of our hotel (the acoustics are due to the floor tiles and a mother's meeting two tables away). What is also noticeable in this hotel is that it is full of prohibition and directional signs. That's really strange.

We set off in overcast weather and with the help of Google Maps, we reach Fournocks and climb over a stile to reach the path behind to the passage tomb.

Fournocks - a Neolithic passage tomb in the middle of a field

Fourknocks is a privately owned passage tomb that is about 5000 years old. You won't find it in any travel guide but rather by chance on Google Maps.

The tomb is not particularly large and today we don't have to collect the key from the farmer, as there are already other people there. The stones have inscribed geometric symbols whose meaning is not known.

It is also possible that the inscriptions were more about the art than the motif. Around 65 people were buried in the three burial chambers. Some cremated, others not. Offerings were mostly jewelry made of bones or stones, bowls, etc.

Hill of Tara

We continue to the Hill of Tara, where we are once again caught in drizzling rain.

A coronation place of the Irish high kings, who ruled over several subordinate kings, is at the Hill of Tara, where today you mostly see the ditches around individual symmetrically round mounds from a height. The entire complex is better visible from the air.

Also a Neolithic passage tomb, which is not accessible (Mount of the Hostages), can be found here and it certainly means that significant things have been happening here for thousands of years.

A phallus stone on the highest elevation marks the presumed coronation site. This place is also mentioned in Irish mythology, also in connection with the legendary Queen Maeve. However, it is difficult to determine whether the hills and ditches are prehistoric or rather date from the 7th or 8th century, and only the passage tomb is thousands of years old.

Although it is highly unlikely that we will still get tickets here, we continue on to Newgrange.

Newgrange - UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Stone Age

One of the world's most important collections of Neolithic passage tombs is Newgrange, along with the nearby burial mounds of Howth and Knowth. 

Tickets are unfortunately sold out for several days. Only 600 people can visit the interior of the largest megalithic tomb in Newgrange per day. The site is part of the UNESCO World Heritage.

At least we take an hour to visit the visitor center. Because here you can take a guided tour with a good audio guide with many explanations about the time and way of life of the Stone Age people 5000 years ago. You can also enter a scaled-down version of the tomb here. You also learn a lot about the intelligent construction of the passage tombs.

For example, the entrance to the large tomb of Newgrange is aligned in such a way that on the day of the winter solstice, always - and this has been the case for thousands of years - the interior is illuminated by the first rays of the sun from 8:45 a.m. for 17 minutes, before the sun is too high and the chamber is once again in darkness.

Presumably, a limited number of people could gather in the tombs for ritual meetings, which may have also occurred in the intoxication of hallucinogens. The tombs were used for at least hundreds, possibly thousands, of years. It is known that gemstones were also reworked and adorned multiple times and were used in various tombs. In Newgrange, the mortal remains of over 200 men, women, and children were found. Some cremated, others bone remains. The burial chambers in the passage tomb branch off from the main passage, with the chambers on the right becoming more decorated and larger. In front of each chamber, there was a threshold stone, and above it, a lintel stone. All the chambers have a corbelled vault.

We take a short walk behind the visitor center and take a look at the River Boyne before we make two more detours to visit other sights.

And we continue to an ancient cemetery with ruins of a monastery and a church - and gigantic high crosses from the time of the Celts.

Monasterboice - Celtic High Crosses

Over 1000 years ago, a round tower was built in Monasterboice as a watchtower. At the end of the 5th century, a monastery was founded here (hence the name of the place) and two churches were built, the ruins of which stand directly in front of the round tower. 

Around them are countless graves, some with very recent dates. But the highlight here are the huge high crosses from Celtic times (around the 10th century), which have dimensions of well over 5m. 

The tallest high cross in Ireland at 6.5m is the aptly named 'Tall Cross', which stands here next to the round tower and shows biblical scenes. 

With 5.5m, 'Murdoch Cross' whose rich decorations are a masterpiece of Celtic stonemasonry. An inscription on the base refers to the builder named Murdoch.

Mellifont Abbey

The wind picks up again and the clouds become very dark as we start our final stop on our little tour in Monasterboice. 

Mellifont Abbey was founded by a French monk, who was commissioned to build a monastery and a church. In the style of Northern French Gothic, both were created until the mid-12th century, and the monastery was inhabited by Irish and French monks until the 16th century.

It is the oldest Cistercian monastery in Ireland and was abandoned during the reign of Henry VIII, when he sought to take control of the church and its wealth. In the late 17th century, it served temporarily as the headquarters of the troops of William III, who defeated the Catholic James II, forced him to abdicate, and further strengthened England's influence in Ireland. Since 1938, Trappist monks have lived on the site in a modern building along with a visitor center.

Unfortunately, apart from the ruins of the striking round lavabo from the 13th century, only fragments of foundations remain. The ribbed vault of the chapter house which is still quite well preserved can be dated to the 14th century.

Ceramic tiles on the floor are a rarity for this time. 

We now leave the stones of the Middle Ages and earlier periods, drive to Laytown, a neighboring village of Bettystown, find a pizzeria, and look out over the flower boxes at the stormy Irish Sea and the rain.