The East Coast & Midlands
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Inland and Coastal Waterways in the East Coast and Midlands
Endowed with a wealth of water, the East Coast and Midlands Region is a Mecca for boating enthusiasts of all kinds, for anglers, for swimmers and divers and for people who just like to sit and gaze at distant horizons while their children play in safety in the sand. The sea forms the eastern boundary of the region; the River Shannon with its lakes marks the western extent. And in between are sparkling hill streams, lazy meandering rivers, dark lakes in the mountains and bright lakes in the lowlands. And for good measure there is the famous Royal and Grand canals which span across the region from Dublin.
An exciting waterway to explore is uncovered in the mid-Shannon region whereby the river enters its most distinctive phase, becoming a wide stream moving silently under a vast sky. It is about 50 kilometres, of mostly imperceptible descent through the river meadows, the Callows, to Portumna at the head of Lough Derg.
Along much of it, the river regularly floods. This flooding of the Callows is a vital part of the ecosystem, enriching the water and sweetening the land. Farmers live with the moods of the river in tune with nature, and the distinctive call of the corncrake is heard in summertime.
The rising ground at Clonmacnoise 20 kilometers downstreram of Athlon had prominence along the river and throughout Ireland. It was a great monastery which became a greater University. Although it was raided by the Vikings, it endures as the greatest of monuments along the Shannon.
The welcome in Shannonbridge with its forts is descended from frontier hospitality. Immediately south of it, the River Suck arrives from Ballinasloe in County Galway. The Shannon trends southeast a this crossroads of the waterways to Shannon Harbour, where the Grand Canal has made its arrival across Ireland from Dublin Bay. And now we’re on the old waterbone trading route from the capital to Limerick and on to Banagher.
But before Lough Derg takes centre stage, there is Meelick, an ancient Shannon ford. If Clonmacnoise is public piety and learning, Meelick is one of Ireland’s privately sacred places.
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The Braveheart Drive
Renowned for its scenery, Co. Wicklow on the East coast is a beautiful mix of golden sandy beaches, rolling mountains, wooded glens, cascading waterfalls and lakes. Wicklow’s landscape provides a perfect backdrop for scenic drives. Over the last 85 years hundreds of films have been made in Co. Wicklow, the versatility of the scenery is one of the main reasons for this. One of the most popular drives to take is the “Braveheart” Drive which is centred on the West of the Wicklow Mountains and takes in various locations where the famous Hollywood film was shot. The route (N81 from Dublin) starts in a little village called Hollywood and sets off in the direction of the Wicklow Gap, (R756) which is a scenic drive in itself. After 5 miles the drive veers off to the left (R758) to Ballyknocken and Lacken. These towns border the beautiful Blessington Lakes.
Blessington is a small peaceful town and is the gateway to the Poulaphuca Lakes also known as the Blessington Lakes. In 1940 the Liffey Valley was flooded to create these lakes, which has since changed the landscape in the area. Today many different water sports are available on the Blessington Lakes. This town is also home to Russborough House which dates from 1741. The house is built from granite from a nearby quarry and is in the Palladian style, with a central block with colonnades and two wings. This house is the home of the Beit Collection of paintings. It is beautifully maintained with fine displays of silver, bronze and porcelain. From Blessington drive towards Manor Kilbride (R759). The drive brings you right through the west Wicklow Mountains past the peat bogs of the Sally Gap. The Sally Gap is another scenic drive through the Wicklow Mountains with breathtaking views from all sides.
At the end of the Sally Gap you will arrive in a little village called Laragh. Laragh has many tearooms where you can stop for refreshments or a bite to eat. Then drive (R756 from Laragh) to Glendalough where you will find the 6th century St. Kevin’s Monastic City, with one of the best-preserved and highest round towers in Europe. Glendalough means the valley of two lakes. It is steeped in spiritual and archaeological history. In recent times Glendalough is best known for the many various walks and treks around the lakes and mountains and attracts vast numbers of visitors each year. At Glendalough the drive reverts to the Wicklow Gap and returns to the village of Hollywood.
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Meaths Heritage Trail
Starting at Tara and finishing at the Battle of the Boyne Site, this trail has been devised to allow easy access to some of the best heritage sites in the county. The route allows visitors the option of completing the trail on one continuous journey or with planned over night stops to savour the delights of Meath in the towns on route.
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Tara - Meath's Royal Path and Medieval Monuments:
At the Hill of Tara, Irish myth, legend and history are one - this magical site has been home to gods and goddesses, to druids and warriors, and to Ireland’s High Kings. Tara is imbued with a magical, mythical atmosphere. It is the stuff of legends, the home of gods and heroes, not mere mortals.
The Hill of Tara has a strange effect on people. From up here on the heights one sees not only into the distance, but into Tara’s past. Tara has more than its share of heady stories to tell - tales of intoxicating drinks, chariot-driving High Kings and old hags who transformed themselves into beautiful women. The past is visibly engraved in the undulating landscape at Tara where the hillside is marked by ancient earthworks, mound formations and the ruins of royal enclosures.
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Bective - Beacons in the Dark
The medieval world of monks and abbeys brings to mind an ascetic life of isolation, prayer and scholarly study. This tells only part of the story. Irish monasteries were often thriving and highly sought out enclaves of cultural creativity, quite literally beacons in the dark, responsible for preserving and passing on precious texts and for the creation of some of the world’s most imaginative and fanciful Christian art. In Bective Abbey, the substantial remains of Ireland’s second Cistercian monastery founded in 1147 are found.
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Trim
This is the stuff movies are made of. It’s no wonder that the makers of the movie ‘Braveheart’ chose Trim in County Meath as the shooting location for their epic thriller. One look at Trim Castle’s stony outline against a dramatic Irish sky and storybook images of valiant warriors and timid monks spring to life.
In Medieval times, Trim Castle stood like an imposing stone sentinel and powerful symbol of norman strength at the edge of the Pale, the small area of Anglo-Norman influence on Ireland’s eastern coast. To go beyond the Pale was to enter the hostile world of the Gaelic Irish. Here at the edge, the two sides would have met - in conflict and in battle. Trim Castle was built by Hugh de Lacy in 1173, this is the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland.
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Athboy - The Medieval Town of Yellow Ford
Athboy (Town of the Yellow Ford) is a medieval town with some of its original wall still intact. The Church of Ireland boasts an interesting medieval table tomb. Two miles from Athboy is the Hill of Ward - an Iron Age Fort which was once seat of the High Kings and a meeting place for the Celtic Festival of ‘Samhain’ held on 1st November, heralding the start of Winter. The last recorded celebration was 1168.
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Kells - The Monastic World of Saints and Scholars.
Kells or Ceanannas Mór, meaning Great Fort, a designated Irish Heritage Town, is one of the finest examples of a monastic settlement. Retracing the footsteps of the monks, one is drawn into a story of survival, of pluck and wit pitted against brawn and belligerence. Medieval monks were certainly pious, some reclusive, but most led colourful and imaginative lives. It was a question of survival in troubled times, of escaping the raids of plundering Vikings and keeping the flame of knowledge and culture alive in an age of darkness.
Columcille’s name became associated with Kells after the brethren of the Iona monastery moved there to seek refuge from the hit-and-run attacks of the Vikings.
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Oldcastle - Life, Death, and the Hereafter.
Not all inhabitants of Loughcrew rest peacefully in the ancient soil of the area. St Oliver Plunkett, a heroic 17th century archbishop who was born in the area, was convicted of treason and hanged, drawn and quartered in the Tower of London after refusing to submit to the fiercely anti-Catholic laws of his time.
The passage tomb at Loughcrew: magnificent, mighty and virtually unknown. This massive prehistoric mound is nothing less than the Irish equivalent of Egypt’s pyramids; both witnessed the passage of the dead from this world to the next. As with the pyramids, Loughcrew continues to perplex and amaze; the burial complex in Meath possibly more so - it predates its desert cousins by 2000 years.
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Slane - The Pagan Versus Patrick.
St. Patrick has become synonymous with things Irish; from shamrocks to the shortage of snakes on this Isle, but there was a time when he was viewed as a foreign Christian missionary come to convert Ireland’s Celtic pagans. This he did with great symbolic flare. As the Druids celebrated their feast day on the Hill of Tara, Patrick prepared the Easter feast on the Hill of Slane. He lit his paschal fire at Slane, before the Druids could kindle their sacred fire at Tara. Seeing the flames at Slane, the Druids, warned Laegaire, the High King, that if Patrick’s fire was not put out immediately, it would burn forever in Ireland. The rest is history.
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Brú na Bóinne - Neolithic Vision.
The visual artistry of Ireland’s ancient civilisations remains to this day strikingly fresh and modern. Knowth’s two burial chambers boast the richest and largest collection of megalithic art in Europe. Whorls and diamonds, lines and dots are gathered together into compositions of startling sophistication. Looking at these images with modern eyes one is struck by their surprisingly abstract decorative beauty. And when seen with the eyes of the ancients in the world of the passage tomb? Are they maps of the heavens, tracking the soul’s lost loved ones? Quite possibly. Newgrange, Brú na Bóinne, is one of two of Ireland’s “World Heritage” designated sites.
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Battle of the Boyne - Emotional Memories.
Looking at the site one wouldn’t expect that the Battle of the Boyne, in 1690, could have such a lasting and central impact on people’s lives. 300 years after the battle, passions in Ireland still run high when the subject of James II’s defeat by William of Orange comes up. It’s not so much the battle as what it stands for - continuing differences between Catholics and Protestants - and the difficulty of overcoming memories of the past in search of a common future.
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