Our first field trip was last Saturday, and we went to three different historical sites. We had a lovely day for it, and even though we had to leave early in the morning, it was well worth it.
Our first stop was Castledermot, an old Protestant church in the middle of a farming town. It was neat to see the history there, with the cemetery around it and the round tower on the side. We also learned about the high crosses, and how they are carved with picture scenes from the Bible. It was a beautiful site, and our professor had a lot to say on it. To be honest, I don't remember most of it, but it was still pretty cool to see.
Now, this isn't just any ordinary pile of rocks. This is a megalithic tomb, literally in the middle of nothing. All that surrounds it is a large field, which may or may not still be used as farmland, I couldn't tell. But this was one of my favorite sites, because I learned so much. It's estimated to be around 5500 years old, and no one's really sure how it got there, since the stone on top is guessed to weigh 30,000 tons. But what we do know is that at this time, the people in the town around it would cremate their dead and put their ashes in the middle of the pit under the large rock. It was a sort of "sanctuary" for life and for death, and I felt the spirituality when I was standing next to it.
Our final stop was Ballymoon Castle. It doesn't look like much, and that's because it was never finished. It was completely abandoned, and my professor has been doing research on this site for practically his entire graduate career, and according to him it went like this. The people building it were under an English Earl (or something) and when the Irish attacked them at this castle during building, they left everything and fled. Then the Earl died, and the funding stopped, and it was just abandoned. It was much more interesting when he was telling about it, but the castle was still cool to see. We could tell where the window wells were, where toilets were supposed to be, and where fireplace shafts were put in, which helped us figure out where different rooms were going to be. We also learned that the castle itself was probably going to be about two or three times the height it is at now.
It was absolutely grand to visit this site, and all the others as well. It was a long day, but I saw and learned some Irish history, which, let's face it, is indeed what I came here to do. :)
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