Carrowkeel Megalithic Passage Tombs

Day 13

Having checked out of our hotel, the general idea was to spend most of the day with Eamon and Paula before heading toward Galway. However, sitting in the hotel lobby over tea and scones, the ladies had different plans. They wanted to go off together and do some shopping. OK. Left to our own devices, Eamon and I decided to drive out to Strandhill and do a little beach combing before getting to the Strand House Bar to watch the much anticipated soccer match between England and Germany. It was the perfect setting in which to watch the match; surrounded by well-behaved fans and old world mahogany. Sometime during the second half, the ladies showed up and by 4 o'clock the game was over and it was time to take our leave once again. After one last stroll on the beach, the four of us said our farewells and Carol and I headed off on our next adventure.

We had plotted a course for Carrowkeel, a most spectacular neolithic tomb and burial ground. Of all the ancient sites we've visited, this is easily my favorite. So much so, I even contemplated staying the night in an adjacent field so we could continue our exploration in the morning light. Meanwhile, it wasn't easy finding the place. The directions were confusing and it took some creativity on our part to even get there, which we finally did sometime after 6pm. Like many such sites, amazingly we had the place to ourselves.

The cairns and passage tombs are well preserved and nothing short of magnificent. Although they had long since been looted, their relative intactness creates a moving, contemplative experience. Climbing to the top of the burial hill offered extraordinary views. Really incredible! According to experts, the tomb complex was built between 3200 and 2400 BC. What I so liked and appreciated was that we were able to go inside the tombs and explore the area without a guide or other groups of people. We could linger as long as we liked anywhere we liked without being prodded to move along. I practically had to drag Carol forcefully out of Cairn H as she was so enthralled with the beauty of its construction. Sitting outside Cairn K, the improbability of it all was overwhelming yet there it was in all its splendor, beauty and mystery. And what would life be like without mystery?

The rapidly descending darkness reminded us that we'd better get going, as we didn't yet have a room for the night and its always harder finding a place at night. Therefore, we pointed the Peugeot in the direction of Westport and hoped to find a charming B&B along the way. In Tubbercurry, I stopped at a take-away across from a B&B. There was no answer at the B&B so I figured we'd have to push on to Westport and check into a hotel. However, as is often the case in Ireland, the woman running the Take Away knew the owner of the B&B and the next thing I knew the doors of the B&B were swinging open and the lovely proprietress was showing us to our room.