I Saw a Sign...

Day 7

Day 7--Still in County Meath

We got up and had our hearty traditional Irish breakfast, said good-bye to our lovely host Anne, and headed out to pack our car.  When we went outside we saw this cute little lamb in the yard--it was dark when we arrived so we didn't notice it.  How cute it is!

First stop of the day is to Newgrange--a 5000 year old tomb built to track the seasons.  On the Winter Solstice, the sun's light shines into the tomb and lights it up.

Here we are on the bus to Newgrange.  It's the only way in to preserve the sight from people just randomly walking all over it.  

These are the megalithic mounds of Newgrange. 

Here we are waiting to go inside...only 24 people can fit inside at a time. 

The mounds have been partially reconstructed ....when found they were falling down, due to gravity and being abandoned. 

We never made it to The Hill of Tara today.  Our famous "Forever Lost" GPS of course go us lost.  We decided to give up for the  day and have something to eat in the town of Navan.  Here we are at O'Brien's restaurant.  The food was absolutely delicious!!

We finally arrived....

And here it is....Ross Castle.  The castle we are staying in tonight.  Supposedly haunted by the young girl, Sabina, who fell in love with her family's rival family's son.  Does that make sense?  A sort of Romeo and Juliet story.  Her father locked up the young man, Orwin,  to keep him away from Sabina in a tower on an island nearby in the lough (lake).  Sabina would sneak in food to him to help keep him alive, but she fell to a sickness and could not get out of bed.  

Whilst she was sick,  Orwin died.  Sabina, heartbroken, died of her broken heart.  

They say she still wanders the castle....

(link to the full story. http://www.ross-castle.com/en/history/ghosts)

This is the Lower Tower room....Jess and Sam are staying in here.  It is 40 steps up...

And this is the Upper Tower room...60 steps up....where Cindy and I are sleeping.

Here we are relaxing an enjoying a glass of wine.  This is the main sitting room.

This is the view of the dining table. 

The hearth in the main sitting room. 

This is the sitting room for the two tower rooms.

Sam in the reception room...look at that old phone on the table.  And there were several "stuffed" animals around the Castle Keep. 

Jess trying to use the WiFi....this was in the reception room and had the strongest signal...lol

This is Jess sticking her head out of the top tower window...

This is Jess and Sam's bathroom in the Lower Tower room. 

We went down for a walk to see Lough Sheelin. (lake)

This is the lake view--Lough Sheelin

Another long day..... Time to relax!