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E-mailTaking a stroll down the Boyne Valley
If he could talk, my dog Jack could boast that he has something in common with, among others, St. Patrick, Kings Billy and James, Oliver Cromwell and Mel Gibson.
They have all had adventures of one kind or other in the valley of the River Boyne.
Thankfully Jack hasn’t yet developed the power of speech but I swear he understands much more than he lets on. He often has a knowing expression on his face when I talk to him. Or it might be pity.
What started out five years ago as a Sunday afternoon stroll with Jack has turned into a journey through time as I rediscover and photograph this very special place.
So what’s so special about it?
Well, there’s the Hill of Tara, the mythical capital of Ireland where the High Kings of Ireland held court thousands of years ago. There was a battle here during the United Irishmen’s rebellion of 1798 and in 1843 ‘The Liberator’ Daniel O’Connell spoke to a gathering said to be a million strong.
The High Kings of post Celtic Tiger Ireland, despite huge public outcry and worldwide criticism, are pushing a motorway through the valley. Nobody seems to know why but, weirdly, this is one election promise they seem intent on honoring.
At the Hill of Slane, in 433 AD, St. Patrick lit the Pascal fire as a beacon to Christianity. The light of that fire guided thousands of Irish men and women to some of the remotest regions of the world. That light has been dimmed by scandals in the Catholic Church but is not out yet.
Bru na Boinne is a UNESCO world Heritage site featuring the archaeological remains of a sophisticated society that inhabited a large site on a bend in the river about five thousand years ago.
This is one of Ireland's major archaeological landscapes and it pre-dates the pyramids by hundreds of years. The most dramatic and famous are the burial chambers of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth but there are a total 93 sites and monuments recorded to date and who knows how many more secrets are yet to be revealed?
Jack cocked his leg against the famous carved entrance stone. He’s got no respect that dog.
A lot of people, me included, find Bru na Boinne to be a little bit busy and commercial but just an hour or so away by car is the real thing. The Loughcrew passage graves and cairns are spread over several hilltops just outside Oldcastle in Co. Meath.
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