Capricorn and Sagittarius explore the tomb of the warrior queen

Monday, 07.09.2020

It's the weekend and the weather is great, so what better thing to do than go on a little adventure? Exactly, that was a rhetorical question. There's nothing better. So Marco and I packed our backpacks and went to Strandhill. The last few days we talked about possible travel destinations and even planned a first weekend trip to Galway. However, this Sunday we stayed close and decided to go on the Queen Maeve Trail, which leads to the mountain Knocknarea.

You can take the bus to Strandhill in about 10 minutes and it costs 2.40 euros. From the Dorris Strand bus stop, it's only a few minutes walk to the start of the Queen Maeve Trail.

At the top of Knocknarea there is a tomb that was built in 3000 BC. It is a large, round pile of stones, under which a queen is buried. According to Irish legend, the warrior queen Maeve of Connaught is buried there in her full battle gear. Her sword is apparently still raised and she looks towards her enemies in Ulster, a traditional province in Northern Ireland. So even in our neighborhood there are legends and myths, and yesterday we set out to explore them and get closer to Irish culture.

After just a few steps (after which I was already quite out of breath. Two weeks of restricted movement in quarantine are not good for you) you have a perfect view of the beach and the Atlantic Ocean. The breathtaking view was definitely worth my racing heart and fast breath. Once again, the Irish nature amazed me and my camera's memory had to suffer. On this day, I took about 550 photos, and the climb takes just over an hour.

After the countless steps (I didn't count them), and the first glimpse of the beach, you walk through a forest. The steps look like a domino staircase, and it's quite impressive to walk along all the trees and keep going higher. If I hadn't had my camera and phone with me, I could have easily passed as one of Queen Maeve's followers. I can't imagine how people carried her corpse and all those stones up the mountain in armor and without stairs (and I was already overwhelmed by the weight of my backpack).

After a little over an hour, we finally reached the top and found the tomb. It is a really large pile of stones, I must say. But at the top, we didn't just see the tomb, but also the first offenders who didn't follow the law. Marco and I played our roles as Germans quite well and disapprovingly watched as a family climbed onto the tomb, which is actually forbidden. In the top photo, I captured the act of breaking the law, just in case we had encountered a police patrol (just kidding, haha).

As you can see, the view is incredible. You can see the other mountains around Sligo, the Atlantic stretches under your feet, and the wind carries the salty sea air upwards. Marco and I had to be careful not to be blown away, but we survived. We took countless photos, observed the offending family, and enjoyed the view as the clock hands moved forward.

I don't know how long we spent at the top of the mountain: twenty minutes, an hour, or even two. Time didn't seem to matter up there, just for a moment to stand still.

But at some point it was time to descend. We didn't choose the same route back, and instead went down the other side of the mountain. Fortunately, there were no more steps, but rather terrain that required climbing, which was not a problem for me as a Capricorn. Marco, the Sagittarius, had a bit more struggle (just kidding), but in the end we both made it in one piece, although my left big toe hurt afterwards (wrong footwear?).

At the foot of the mountain, however, we realized that we were on the completely other side and the way back would take longer than expected. However, we didn't feel like climbing the mountain again and taking the same path back through the forest, so we picked up the pace and started walking. Google Maps helped us, and the slowly emerging foot pain was immediately forgotten with the view.

On the way back, we unpacked the provisions, and with a sandwich in hand, the steps became easier. Since the roads here are quite narrow, we had to stop for every car so that we wouldn't hitch a ride on the windshield, which probably would have been faster, if you ask me.

After leaving the cows behind, we got a little lost. Google Maps took us past a regular road. In Ireland, there are no sidewalks or sections for cyclists, which is why we turned off to the beach at the first opportunity, which turned out to be not the best idea in hindsight.