WAC-6 3rd Day

Since I was talking of ancient musical instruments yesterday, I thought I post a photo of a spring in Dublin featuring a modern vision of trumpa players:

Today was the mid-conference excursion into the Boyne valley. Our first stop was the Neolithic Passage Tomb cemetery of Knowth:

These are two of the beautifully decorated kerb stones of the main tomb:

Next stop was the monastery Monasterboice, an early Christian centre of great importance in the area. Founded by St. Buite in AD 521 it is most famous for it's 10th century high crosses. This is the Muirdach high Cross from 923 with scenes from the Old and New Testament:

But there were also comical scenes, like the two men pulling at each other's beard:

This is the tallest high cross from all of Ireland. It is 7 m tall but unfortunatley much more weathered than the Muiredach cross. In the background you can see the 35 m tall round tower, which served as bell tower, a storage room, or a refuge:

After lunch we visited the valley where the battle of the Boyne took place. The Battle of the Boyne between King William III and his father-in-law, King James II, was fought on 1 July 1690. It is the best known battle in English and Irish history or so I was informed. Well, at least I learned the differnce between a matchlock and a flintlock gun.

Next was the famous passage tomb of Newgrange where we could go through the very narrow passage into the small main chamber. Most of the decoration in this tomb is on the inside and not so much on the outside as at Knowth. However, the entrance block is a wonderful piece of art.