September 2013 Week in Ireland It all started with the notion of going to hear Leonard Cohen in concert in Dublin...
Slideshows (mp4 videos)
Dublin (Sept. 10, 11, 16) A few days of exploring this warm and vibrant city, enjoying the Leonard Cohen concert, and visiting the Neolithic sites of Tara and Newgrange. Music: Phil Cunningham - "Frank MacConnell's Three Step"
Dublin
Tara - the Mound of the Hostages** (Sept. 11) About 5,000 years old, Tara was the seat of the High Kings of Ireland. It was customary for the High Kings to hold important members of subject kingdoms hostage, to ensure submission - thus the name of the ritual and burial ground, "Mound of the Hostages." Music: Alasdair Fraser - "Christina"
Hill of Tara
Newgrange (Sept. 11) Older than the pyramids or Stonehenge, Newgrange is a stone-age burial site and astronomical observatory - walls of granite and white quartz, topped by a grassy dome. It is estimated that it took 30 years to build. Music: Jerry Douglas - "Sir Aly B"
Newgrange
The Burren and Doolin (Sept. 12) We drove to the West coast of Ireland to have a rainy afternoon tour of The Burren, an area with unique flora, fauna, and terrain. Then on to Doolin - from our B&B, we walked across a bridge to stop in at several pubs, for dinner, "a pint", and great music. Music: Russ Barenberg - "The Drummers of England"
Burren-Doolin
The Cliffs of Moher and Dingle (Sept.13) We saw the Cliffs of Moher in the morning, then drove South to catch a ferry over the Shannon Estuary and drive on to Dingle. Music: Bruce Molsky - "Shove the Pig's Foot a little further into the fire"
Doolin-Dingle
Dingle (Sept.13-15) Charm, simplicity, the sea, lots of music! Music: Russ Barenberg - "The Pleasant Beggar"
Dingle
Note: All but the Alasdair Fraser tune came from the "Transatlantic Sessions" recordings.
**As a sidenote, family members might recall how interested Mom was in the family tree. She had occasionally mentioned an ancestor who was an Irish King, but I thought that might be an exaggeration. It was in the back of my mind when we visited Tara.
When I returned home, I saw that Mom had penciled in "Niall of the Nine Hostages - King of Tara and High King of all Ireland 375-405 A.D." on the top of the family genealogical chart. Research on Niall showed that some recent geneticists at Trinity College viewed Niall as "the most fecund male in Irish history." They estimated that about 2-3 million males living today are "descended in the male line from Niall." I guess we have a lot of cousins.
