Greetings from Ireland ... it feels almost like a regular trip, arriving at first light
on the boat at Dublin Docks.
This weekend's been a little different; rather that head all the way back from Liverpool to home late into Friday evening, just to set off again during Sunday (and perhaps via Liverpool!) for Dublin, I've followed on one course from the other. Lisa flew over on the Ryanair flight from Bristol on Saturday morning, and left again this morning - I dropped her off at the airport soon after 5; quiet roads yet a jam at departures as all of the weekly commuters from Dublin leave to work elsewhere in Europe.
Saturday, we toured a little, and Sunday was given over mainly to a series of work meetings; I won't bore with the latter, but I will show you a couple of pictures of the former.
Mellifont Abbey was an early Cistercian monastery in Ireland, founded in the 11th Century and dissolved by King Henry VIII. In those days, the monasteries had become very much one of the major powers of the land like, perhaps, we're seeing in other parts of the word today. Looking at maps showing such establishments in the British Isles, I was struck by the far greater concentration of them in Ireland that in the other parts of the islands, and indeed it does feel that there's an ancient ruin at every turn at times.
Trim Castle, overlooking the river Boyne. Yet another ancient ruin, and I fear that (after the others I have not pictured) its spectacular setting was rather lost on us in the grey day and the weather which is described here as a "soft" day. I understand that means that it's not really raining, more a mist, but you still get drenched and freezing. As Lisa commented, it was very different and a long way from the sunny morning she had left at Bristol. And she declined an invite for me to drive her on to Tipperary, citing that it would be a long way.
(written 2006-06-26, updated 2006-06-30)
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
Z200 - Places [66] A Taste of Ireland - (2004-09-28)
[70] Red Luas - early life and times - (2004-10-02)
[92] Hard work, Hard sell - (2004-10-18)
[186] Lull - (2005-01-22)
[218] Golden Nugget - (2005-02-17)
[403] Full circle - made it back to an old haunt - (2005-08-05)
[670] Architectural Heritage - Devizes - (2006-04-04)
[685] A couple of days away - (2006-04-15)
[713] Pictures from my travels - (2006-05-07)
[727] A journey, an arrival, a people - (2006-05-21)
[730] Reading the newspaper and working with other restrictions - (2006-05-23)
[740] Finishing up in Dhahran - (2006-06-01)
[886] Signs of Leek - (2006-10-04)
[1147] A picture (mostly in words) of Helsinki - (2007-04-14)
[1204] Spot the difference - (2007-05-25)
[1229] Where am I? - (2007-06-11)
[1244] FolksFest Bristol - German beer, Bratwurst and music - (2007-06-24)
[1298] From Leeds - (2007-08-10)
[1307] Troy, up state New York - (2007-08-17)
[1425] Melksham v Ely - (2007-11-09)
[1456] Right up to the top of the City - (2007-12-03)
[1457] A day in Ljubljana - (2007-12-04)
[1460] Christmas fare in Ljubljana - (2007-12-05)
[1524] Nottingham - just text! - (2008-01-30)
[1536] A Weekend in Liverpool - (2008-02-10)
[1537] To Wales - where theres still a toll on the bridge - (2008-02-11)
[1590] All Change, Portsmouth Harbour - (2008-03-23)
[1617] Steam Engines at Bressingham - (2008-04-20)
[1624] From Freddie the fallow - (2008-04-27)
[1638] Pictures far apart - (2008-05-10)
[1639] Minehead Marauder - (2008-05-11)
[1652] Old Sarum airfield brings back fond memories - (2008-05-24)
[1714] Hillier Gardens, Hampshire - (2008-07-20)
[1715] Pictures from South Hampshire - (2008-07-21)
[1730] Punting on the Cam - (2008-07-31)
[1755] Istanbul - (2008-08-15)
[1804] Colvin and Carlisle - (2008-09-20)
[1807] A sad town in the sunlight - (2008-09-22)
[1837] Alfred the Great - (2008-10-13)
[2205] An evening walk in Carrickfergus - (2009-05-29)
[2207] North Antrim Coast - a jewel thats well worth a visit - (2009-05-29)
[2316] Guadalajara - a special tour of a lovely city - (2009-08-01)
[2387] to Clifton Down and Avonmouth - (2009-08-30)
[2392] Lymington, New Forest - some pictures - (2009-09-03)
[2411] Further North - long summer days and lovely countryside - (2009-09-19)
[2624] Skyline and looking up in London - (2010-02-04)
[2733] Travel Troubles and Jesus again - (2010-04-21)
[2754] At Arlington and the Pentagon - (2010-05-07)
[2799] Nuremberg - some pictures - (2010-06-08)
[2802] After the Perl course in Nurnberg - (2010-06-11)
[2808] From home to Nurnberg - journey pictures - (2010-06-13)
[2809] Frankfurt in 90 minutes - (2010-06-13)
[2897] The Land of the Black Labrador - (2010-08-01)
[2907] Dartmouth, Kingswear and Torbay - (2010-08-07)
[2985] Right place, right season - (2010-10-04)
[3064] On the way to the course this week - (2010-11-22)
[3070] Belfast, on a cold November evening - (2010-11-25)
[3175] The Rhine in winter - (2011-02-19)
[3185] Day Trip to Hereford, in pictures - (2011-02-26)
[3204] Two views of a war memorial - (2011-03-17)
[3297] A long day, a long journey, and families and similarities the world over - (2011-05-22)
[3330] A lot of exercise this week - (2011-06-21)
[3353] Off the beaten track - non-quite-so-tourist spots - (2011-07-10)
[3393] Rodwell Trail, Weymouth - (2011-08-15)
[3529] Sharpness, Gloucestershire - a place in transport history - (2011-11-25)
[3595] Looking up - (2012-01-27)
[3603] Another cold night - (2012-02-03)
[3631] Getting around Dublin by public transport - some observations - (2012-03-01)
[3654] On a sunny afternoon in London - (2012-03-15)
[3667] A modern area of Cambridge - some thoughts provoked? - (2012-03-22)
[3803] A Walk on the South Bank - (2012-07-13)
[3854] Busmans Holiday - I like being a busman - (2012-09-02)
[4011] From Salford - (2013-02-19)
[4052] The PHP course this week is in... Salford - (2013-03-26)
[4125] The first Luas of the morning - (2013-06-29)
[4182] Welcome to Salford and Oldham - (2013-09-30)
[4184] A fond memory - (2013-10-02)
[4203] A weekend away - Four in a Bed returns to Happy Donkey Hill - (2013-11-09)
[4214] A busy week, and a long flight - (2013-11-24)
[4220] Thun, Switzerland - (2013-12-14)
[4331] Musings on a Welsh town - (2014-11-28)
[4348] Taking my life in my hands in Swansea - (2014-12-11)
[4411] Location, location location. And a chance of a giggle! - (2015-02-01)
[4477] Yesterday - off on leg one of our holiday - (2015-04-29)
[4479] Pictures from around Rekjavik - (2015-04-29)
[4480] Crossing between continents - (2015-04-30)
[4486] Newark to New York - the PATH suburban railway - (2015-05-05)
[4488] Election day, 2015 - (2015-05-07)
[4490] What and where are the Azores? - (2015-05-09)
[4497] Around the world from Melksham - (2015-05-25)
[4643] From last July (2015) - (2016-02-08)
[4671] Ruby training, half a world away - (2016-05-14)
[4683] Saudi Arabia or Weymouth? - (2016-05-22)
[4729] The oldest part of Los Angeles - (2016-11-23)
[4730] San Juan Capistrano - (2016-11-23)
Some other Articles
Converting between Hex and Decimal in TclTcl - lappend v concatSeparation and IntegrationThe fragility of pancakes - and better structuresWeekend in IrelandOn Crosby sandsNaming RoomsDo not duplicate your codeBed and Breakfast, or Hotel?Breaking bread