PORTUMNA PRIORY

Aerial view showing close proximity

of Castle and Priory.

Within the demesne of Portumna Castle exist, the ruins of Portumna Priory built around 1254. 

It was originally a Cistercian chapel, a sister house of the monastery at Dunbrody, Co Wexford. 

In 1426 the priory was taken over by the Dominicans when a papal indulgence was granted for its completion.

The Priory came under the patronage of the Earl of Clanricarde, de Burgo, in 1577 and contains the tomb of the Earl and his wife, although the location is unknown. 

During the Reformation the Priory was suppressed and then revived again in 1640.  

Eventually it was abandoned by the Friars when their numbers reduced to three in 1712 .  

After lying unused for fifty years Portumna Priory was taken over by the Anglican Church of Ireland until 1832 when they built their own church.

The Cloisters

 were partially restored in 1954 by the Office of Public Works.

The long shadows where monks once strolled

They stand as sentinels of a bygone age.

Under the splendid arches to the chancery window.

I felt nothing but a contemplative peacefulness as I strolled

around.

As with Portumna Castle, the ruins of the Priory are now a national monument. 

Where a Viking Sleeps.

On a recent day out we visited St James Church, Castledermot, Co. Kildare.

The original foundation and dedication of this Christian Church was as the hermitage of St. Diarmada [Dermot] in 812. In later years it became a monastery and was twice raided by the Vikings and was burned down in 1106.

In the present church, now dedicated to St James, there is a list of The Church of Ireland incumbents dating from 1605 to the present day.

In the foreground is a reconstructed Hibernian-Romanesque arch detailing the original entrance to the old church.

An artists impression of what the original hermitage may have looked like.

The only Scandinavian hog back grave marker slab in Ireland - beneath which is possibly 

a sleeping Viking.

One of two existing 9th century High Crosses, 

there were once three.

Opposite the entrance to the church is a well kept and attractive tree lined walkway 

connecting to a main thoroughfare.

The Pledging Stone.

Similar stones were used by lovers who would place their hands into the hole 

and make their pledge to each other. 

From this practice came about the phrase ‘being set in stone’.

The round tower dates to the 10th century and was the monastery bell tower. 

The tower has some unusual features to other similar constructions. Here the entrance is only slightly above ground level and it is situated to the north of the church, normally towers were built to the west with access 15 feet or more above the ground. 

There are two arched vaults inside the tower, one over the second storey and the other at the top, with the tower itself constructed mainly of granite blocks with small pieces of limestone used as fillers. 

At sometime during it’s history the original stone capping was removed from the top and replaced with a castellated top which looks very odd - I have heard it likened to that of an electric torch stood on it’s end!

For further information :-

http://www.megalithicireland.com/High%20cross%20castledermot.htm

http://roundtowers.org/castledermot/index.htm

DELIGHTFULLY DISSOLUTE !

On my full spoon sits a portion of delicious Rocky Road sundae, while in the foreground

looking delicious and untouched is Mrs H's Salted Caramel sundae !

So here we are again enjoying ourselves by massaging our taste buds with an orgasmic mix of chocolate and ice cream at The Chocolate Garden, Rathwood, Co. Wicklow.

I know of at least one other person who will be tormented by reading this and I am not at all ashamed :-)

We needed after having quietly consumed and sated ourselves. A leisurely modicum of gentle exercise and so in warm sunshine we drove a couple of miles to the East and a walk

around Rath Gael. Actually walking was the last thing my body was calling for it said

"Sleep, sleep you would enjoy some pagan dreams amid these old stones" I denied my eyes and merely sat listening to the grass growing.

RATH GAEL

HERD of a DIFFERENT COLOUR

Yarn Bombers have been busy in the small Co. Laois town of Mountmellick,

it is also rumoured that the men of the town will be suffering 

from cold feet this winter.
Well done to the Women of Mountmellick!

East of Griffiths Bridge

This time we view the activities at the eastern side of the bridge

which are very different, from my first visit of twenty-five years ago

and am pleased to see the new berths with the modern services.

The sturdy road bridge at Shannon Harbour called Griffith’s Bridge was named after Richard Griffiths one of the directors of the Canal company who built the

Grand Canal.

This beautiful steam launch named Maggie caught my eye and I would very much liked to have removed the cover and viewed her details, which I imagine are excellent.

Nice touch to see a bucket of flowers at the end of the pontoon!

 Look at this beauty with her almost vertical stem and bulwarks along with a pulpit rail.

Once again my admiration goes to her owner for having such a ship-shape craft.

Having mentioned the pulpit guard rail there is an error in believing that a stern guard rail is a pushpit rail, this completely wrong for both are pulpit rails and pulpit means a place where a person may lean on a speak from - ok lecture over.

Further upstream all manner are craft are moored along the bank.

Those tall buildings (ruin) are all that remains of the Grand Hotel that was built to accommodate travellers and patrons of the Grand Canal in late 19th century.

More moored boats !

I have not yet finished with Shannon Harbour as you will

see in my next blog post.

ROADSIDE ODDITIES

A quare blog post to make you smile!

THE BOG MAN of PULLAGH, Co. OFFALY  carved out of Bog Oak.

Looking at the map and also at the road signs it would be easy to believe that there are two places with similar names next to each other, for just over Plunkett Bridge which strides the Grand Canal is POLLAGH and the reasoning for this is something for which I know absolutely nothing about. Last night I read a survey compiled by Offaly County Council hoping to find an answer - unfortunately they described it all as being PULLAGH !

The carpark at Ballinahown, Co. Westmeath.

with a Bog Oak structure which was once a fountain.

The reflection looks better with a root stock emerging from

a stony pond and somehow more meaningful ?

These miniature iconic models or perhaps garden decorations

caught my eye.

I think that this fellow is supposed to be a

Unicorn!

BEAUTIFUL BLOOMS

The title says it all, for the Slieve Blooms are beautiful, especially when the heather is out. This year it carpets the land with a purple blanket that burns the eyes. We are very fortunate to be living where we do close to Sliabh Bladhma [Irish name]. 

This photo was taken from The Ridge of Capard looking towards the east and on the skyline several ancient sites sit in equal splendour. Different to us in that they are on the tourist route; I am never quite sure whether it would be good to have the same number of visitors as they do or not, it would bring about changes and they are not always beneficial.

The quiet and almost secret mountains.

Part of the Ridge of Capard is an area of scientific interest, to allow access board walks have been laid to prevent damage.

Here I captured two female photographers unaware of my actions.

A proud Grandpa with his Grandson.

A significant full moon marked the end of our family

holiday together and the eve of my daughters' birthday.

We celebrated with Prosecco, gifts and talk that went on past midnight.