And I'm back!

Hunting Club Forest & A Church with a pyramid

I was only driving along an unnamed road when i found this church and the forest. Pictures say all

The Cathedral and Augustinian Priory, Trim, Co.Meath

The Cathedral and Augustinian Priory of SS Peter and Paul . Built by Simon de Rochfort in about 1202. It was at that time one of the largest cathedrals in Ireland. It was closed in about late 1530s. What remains is only a portion of the former exterior east wall, you can also see the remains of a small medieval parish church. It containes the late sixteenth-century tomb of Sir Lucas Dillon and his wife Jane.

Priory of St. John The Baptist, Trim, Co. Meath

These are the ruins of the Priory and Hospital of St John the Baptist. The priory was founded for the ‘Crutched Friars’(named after the wooden staffs they carried which were topped by a cross) by Simon de Rochfort c 1202, about the same time as he founded the Cathedral and medieval parish church. The Friars were Augustinians who ran hospitals and guest houses.Their hospitals were built similar to all Augustinian monasteries, but with special facilities for caring for the sick. Among the remains is a church with a nave and chancel and a large three-light window in the east wall, see above. Part of a long two story building remains as well as remnants of a 15-16th century enclosing wall with one small corner turret still standing. The most prominent building is a 15th century three-storey residential tower which is vaulted above ground floor and forms part of the defensive wall. The priory was dissolved in 1540 and the buildings were re-used as a private residence.

Bective Abbey, Co. Meath

This Cistercian abbey was founded in 1147 as a ''daughter house'' of Mellifont Abbey.
The community here was Anglo-Norman. In 1386 men of Irish birth were effectively barred from entering the monastery. The cloister (a covered walkaway for contemplation and prayer) and the domestic buildings where the monks lived and worked, were rebuilt on a smaller scale in the 15th century. Two sections of this cloister walkaway survive; there is a carving of an unidentified ecclesiastic at one corner.
A large defensive tower was built above the south range of the abbey in the 15th century, a reflection of troubled times in the English Pale.
After Bective was ''dissolved'' in 1536, as part of  the campaign of Henry VIII to control the wealth and power of the church, the complex was converted into a great mansion with the insertion of new fireplaces, chimneys and large stone windows.

Trim Castle 09/10/2012

Dublin Port Open Day

    I've been today to Dublin Port Open Day. Nice weather: cloudy and showers, and cold!! Good organization, they had some hampers for kids and for adult, with a snack and some souvenirs, face painting, balloons, bus tour and boat tour around the harbor. I took only the bus tour because of the rain. Maybe next  time :)
    Some interesting fact about Dublin Port, which Gary, our guide, told us:

   Ireland is an island, and will be an island forever :) So, the only way of trading is through seaports and airports. In this case, Irish seaport handle 99.5% of Irish foreign volume. Dublin Port is the second biggest industrial estate in Ireland with over 4.000 people employed in the Port area. 78% of all imports and exports through Dublin Port are transported in containers, that's why Dublin Port, being 300 years old, had to adapt over the years. All the shares are held by the Government, and the Ministers, so all the tax payers have a little part of the Port. The largest cruise liner to dock in Dublin Port was the Grand Princess which first visited the port in August 2004. This liner is 290 meters in length, has a gross tonnage of 108,000 tones and carried 4,000 visitors. Six ferry companies operate up to 17 sailings daily to the UK from Dublin Port. Bull Island, with its 5.63km of beach, two golf courses and world famous bird sanctuary was created by the building of the Port's two walls - the Great South Wall and the North Bull Wall. Carlisle Bridge was built in 1794 and it was a narrow hump backed bridge leading on the wide Sackville Street. The bridge was rebuilt in 1880 to the design of the Port engineer Bindon Blood Stoney. When completed it was renamed O'Connell Bridge after the liberator Daniel O'Connell. This bridge is quite unusual in that its width is almost the same size as its length.

    I think that's all for now. I dunno when this opportunity will be again, but you should go.