Thanks to the ineptitude of RyanAir, Luke and Shyla didn't get into Maynooth until past 2am, so we changed our travel plans a little and I spent the morning showing them what could possibly be my future hometown before catching the train back to Dublin to pick up our hire car.

Luke drove us from Dublin to Slane, unphased by his first time driving on the left-hand side of the road. Slane is a tiny village north of Dublin, of only around 1000 people. It has Slane Castle (unfortunately closed on Fridays), the Four Sisters (four large stone houses at the intersection of the two highways, by legend built facing inwards so that the four nosey sisters could spy on each other) and a number of rather crummy places to eat.

We were in Slane to visit Brú na Bóinne, one of the three World Heritage sites on the island of Ireland. It is one of the largest prehistoric megalithic sites in Europe, in fact of the 900 or so megalithic carvings in Europe, around 600 are in Brú na Bóinne. The area has multiple ancient complexes (older than Stonehenge or the Pyramids), including chamber tombs, standing stones and henges, dating back as old as 3500 BCE. Remains found at Brú na Bóinne have been used to reconstruct the life history of the ancient peoples, showing that on average men lived to be 29 and were 5'8", while women lived to be 26 and were 5'6" (but a small number of people lived out into their 50s).

We went to the burial mound of Newgrange. The mound at Newgrange is 76m across and 12m tall, built in a circle on the hill-top to house the narrow 18m long passage into the small central chamber (with a 6m high roof). The hill had been covered for thousands of years by landslides from the mound, but when it was discovered in the 17th century the tunnel and chamber were still intact (due to the incorporation of gutters and waterproofing with burned clay and sea-sand putty). The archaeologist who restored the site assumed that the large amount of quartz stones found in the landslip were part of a retaining wall facing the sunrise (but others have claimed it was actually a paved landing out the front). All up, the makers had to haul in 1/4 million tonnes of stone to build the monument, and even more impressively they had a stunning understanding of astronomy as it was designed such that at sunrise on winter solstice (21st December) a beam of light will enter the roofbox above the passage way and illuminate the central chamber for 17 minutes. Actually this doesn't occur until four minutes after sunrise, but this is due to the slight changes in the earth's rotation that have occurred over the past five thousand years.

It was very interesting to see, and even more to be inside, this ancient monument. Mind-boggelling to think that genetically we are identical to these ancient peoples, and any child of theirs raised today would be indistinguishable from us, and conversely the break in the transmission of modern science for a single generation would make our children indistinguishable from them.

From Brú na Bóinne, I traveled 15 minutes west into Slane to find the castle where U2 had recorded their amazing album, The Unforgettable Fire and shot the corresponding documentary video.  From front to back, I followed the curve around N51 looking for an entrance to Slane Castle.  At the main, if unassuming gate, I spoke with some construction workers who informed me that the castle was shut to prepare for an upcoming Stereophonics concert.

Dismayed, I drove back to the northeast side of the wall for a peak through the gate I had stopped at earlier.  At the tall wall of wood, I met a German cyclist who also wanted to sneak a glimpse.  He spoke no English, but gestured an invitation to use his bike as a stepstool to gain a boost, so we both jumped over for a better look.  Close to the fence, a good 200 meters from the gray, stone façade, I handed my camera to the German in spandex and stood for picture before vacating the property.

On top of the Hill of Slane are the ruins of a Franciscan Monastery built in 1512 and Saint Patrick's Church. The ruins include a 19 metre high early gothic tower. The friary was abandoned in 1723. It is said that in the 5th century Saint Patrick came here to the Hill of Slane in his attempt to convert pagan Ireland to the light of christianity. As the Druids celebrated their feast day on the Hill of Tara, St. Patrick prepared the Easter feast - lit a bonfire - on the Hill of Slane. Until today they still have bonfires for Easter on this hill. Even I am afraid of heights I had to climb the close, narrow spiral stone staircase to the peak of the tower and had a long look at the landscapes. It took me a while to get down again - I was kind of crawling down the stairs.... :-) Fantastic and very peaceful place! Well worth a visit! No Fees!!