Mourne Coastal Route and Neolithic Monuments

We had chores to do this morning, as this is our last day in Co. Down.  Due to time constraints and the fact that there is so much to see in Co. Down and Armagh, we decided to ditch Belfast and explore south Co. Down.

We began by taking the Mourne Coastal Route south of Newcastle.  After failing to find the Kilteaghan Dolmen, which is somewhere in a farmer’s field, we drove onto Warrenpoint, which is situated at the head of Carlingford Lough.  This is supposed to be a beautiful area, but we could not see it as the mist was so heavy.  There are two castles on either side of Carlingford Lough, which they built at the same time to guard the Lough, one is in Northern Ireland and one is in the Republic of Ireland.  If we had more time, we would have loved to explore Carlingford, in the Republic of Ireland, as it is a medieval town.

We stopped in Warrenport for a cappuccino, and than wandered into the tourist information centre.  The attendant told us that the dolmen that we did not find, is actually quite difficult to locate, but we were on the correct road.  The roads are tiny and they cut right through farm yards and pass within feet of the walls of houses.  We were surprised by the density of houses and small farms in the countryside, which is not like the highlands of Scotland where houses are few and far between.

While we were in the tourist information centre a group of young kids came into the lobby, all dressed in school uniforms and they started to play their tin whistles.  Apparently, a large music competition was going on with students from all the local schools playing various instruments.  It was really cool and when they stopped playing, I clapped and told them they were wonderful. This caused their teacher to whip around in shock, she smiled and thanked me.  We were wondering if we should have just stayed and attended the music competition, rather than roam the countryside in search of Neolithic monuments.

The area is so rich in Neolithic monuments and old castles that we could have spent a lot more time here.  In order to get anywhere, you have to drive to Newry, all roads lead to Newry and none lead away, (this is John’s line, hahaha) making it a traffic nightmare. We got through Newry and headed to Slieve Gullion Forest Park in Co. Armagh, in search of a couple of burial cairns.  However, by the time we got to the top of the mountain we could not see a damn thing.  When a weather system comes in, fog and rain come with it, and visibility is terrible.  This weather is accompanied by strong winds that bring the rain sideways, so you get soaked no matter what you do, while putting your umbrella in peril.  It was about a half hour walk through the mist to somewhere up the mountain to the cairn, but we had to abandon ship and head down.

Then we drove through the countryside to a couple of Neolithic monuments, there is no signage directing you to the monument, so a GPS with the monument listed is necessary.  We took some very narrow donkey roads through grazing land.  To get to one of the monuments, we had to cut through a field that was cut to shreds by cattle hooves.

By the time we visited the last monument it was getting late, so we took off for Newry and headed back down the Mourne Coastal Route to Newcastle, it poured rain all afternoon and evening.  Just outside of Warrenpoint, we stopped to have a look at Narrow Water Castle.  Since we were on the wrong side of the highway, we had to run across to get to the castle, which sits right beside the Newry River.

Ballykeel Dolmen

This dolmen or portal tomb, is known locally as the ‘Hag’s Chair.’  There was a large stone cairn and a burial chamber or cist near the dolmen, which acted as the entrance to the burial cairn.

Ballymacdermot Cairn

This is a court tomb that dates from 3500 BC.  There are three burial chambers that would have been covered by a stone cairn.  This is the best preserved court tomb in Armagh.

Narrow Water Castle

Dating from the 1560s, this is a tower house, a type of fortified stronghold.  The tower house was built on the river to protect the crossing point in the river and to guard the seaward approach from Carlingford Lough to Newry.

Tomorrow we head north to drive the Antrim coast.  Hopefully, the rain that is still pelting down tonight, clears out by morning.  The forecast is favourable so far.

The History of Ireland - The English Invasion

There is so much history with regard to the long struggle with the English, I will try, but in all likelihood, I will fail to provide a short version, as there really isn’t one.  An Irish king, Murchada, was battling a couple of other Irish kings for control of Dublin and the southeast.  He went to Henry II, king of England to seek assistance.  Henry allowed him to recruit mercenaries from Wales.  In Wales, an English Baron, Strongbow, agreed to assist in return for marriage to Murchada’s daughter and to become king when Murchada died.  Strongbow’s forces were highly successful in Ireland, he married the daughter and became king when Murchada died in 1171.

This alarmed the other Irish kings and Henry II, who came to Ireland with his forces.  Several Irish kings declared for Henry II, thinking he would protect them from the English barons.  However, Henry took Dublin, Wexford and Waterford for himself and gave nearby lands to his own barons and a large tract of land in Meath, to a close friend.

Henry wanted Ireland as a separate kingdom for his son, John, who he sent to Ireland in 1185.  John alienated both the English and the Irish and returned to England.  In 1210, John went back to Ireland and the English barons and Irish kings submitted to him.  He managed to establish English common law for both the English and the Irish.

When the Normans conquered England in 1066, it only took a couple of generations before the Normans considered themselves to be English.  However, the English would never describe themselves as Irish, even though thousands of English and Welsh settlers came to Ireland.

Historically, the Irish were a warring people involved in cattle raiding and slave-trading.  The English criticized everything Irish and basically denounced the Irish.  They viewed the Irish as primitive, inferior, outlandish, deprived and pagan.  Irish clothing, style of horse-riding and even the Irish hairdo came under fire from the English settlers.  The Irish wore long mustaches and the hair at the back of the head was shaven, while the hair on top of the head was combed forward over the eyes.

The problem for the first English settlers was that the Irish considered them to be English and the English considered them to be Irish, they were hated by both.  Very few English kings even visited Ireland, although they wouldn’t leave the Scots or the Welch alone, they just did not care about Ireland.

The medieval conquest of Ireland by the English was never completed, there was no bond formed between the settlers and the native Irish, when the Tudors finally completed the conquest, it was too late for integration, the course taken by the English was that of repression.