In the Midlands of Ireland

First the weather report!  Yesterday was mostly cloudy and blustery with occasional showers and a teasing bit of sunshine.  The showers happened when we were on an exposed hilltop "Lough Crew", another of Ireland's many Neolithic passage tombs.  We could see the shower approaching and there was no shelter.

The rain passed within about five minutes.

This was our destination--a restored passage tomb in the background.  In the foreground,
is one that has crumbled.

This is the art at the back of the passage.  The sun hits this spot at sunrise only on the
spring and fall equinoxes.

One popular local folk story involves a witch.  This is her "seat"...

I'm sitting on one of the kerb stones of the passage tomb.

We also came upon another archeology site at Bective Abbey, established by a wealthy Cistercian order of monks from Normandy in the 11th Century.  This crew is digging outside the walls of the abbey looking for evidence of the local economy--what they grew, raised and traded.  The chief archeologist says she is thankful no human bones have been found because that really slows down the work.

This is a project of University College Dublin.  They've found the original garden, barn and
cereal kiln.

Our next heritage stop was the Corlea Trackway, an Iron Age bog road which is the largest of this kind to be uncovered in Europe dating from 148 BC.   

This is the preserved section on display at the visitor's centre.

Close-up of the timbers.  

We spent the night in Athlone at The Bastian B&B and it's every bit as good as the website promises.  I was up at 6AM to have some quiet knitting time in the comfy lounge, drinking tea.  The sun is shining and the day looks promising, however the weather forecast is similar to yesterday's.  So what else is new!

And finally, another interesting utility cover...

Another attractive utility cover plate on an Athlone pavement.