Part Wicklow Mountains and Brownshill

After seeing the monastery, we stopped to take some pictures of the Wicklow Mountains. Just like Glendalough, these mountains offered a great view! It reminded me of the mountains back home. The mountains have been used for centuries by people in Ireland. The first recorded activity on the mountains was in 4,300 B.C. There has been evidence of passage tombs around the mountains. These are ancient burial tombs in Ireland.

Not only have the mountains served as a burial place, but also has been critical in military struggles from the Norman invasion until the English taking control of Ireland.

Today, the mountains serve as a great escape from the city life of Dublin.

Wicklow Mountains

Love fog! Really can't beat it :)

Ireland is known for being green. Here is a patch of trees. Ireland has many trees today, but the country had many, many forests during Medieval times. When the English took over, they cut down many trees for their use. In recent times, there has been an effort to plant more trees. Still, the tree population is no where near what it was like before the English destroyed it.

One of my friends from work invited me to do a similar tour with her, but I decided not to. Why? Well, because her tour was not going to Brownshill, which is an ancient burial site. I'm sorry. Ancient burial sites will always win. Who can pass up a good burial site?

As mentioned before, around the Wicklow area there are passage tombs and Brownshill is an example of a passage tomb. Brownshill was built between 4,000 and 3,000 BC. Like other passage tombs, it is built with large granite slabs. Though the granite is expose today, when it was first built the stone would have been covered and look like a mound. People for most of Irish history did not know what these mounds were. Soon , stories surrounded these structures. The many Irish started to believe that these were fairy mounds and should not be disturbed. Because of these stories, the burial sites laid untouched for thousands of years!

Other tombs in the area have been examined, but Brownshill has remained untouched.

Brownhills passage tomb.

Area in which the body would have been buried.

Surrounding fields. From the bus, you can see fields and in the center of the fields you will see these burial sites. It is really a treat to see random ancient sites on the side of the road!

This in an informational sign about the site. You might be able to tell that it is written in both English and Irish. Our tour guide gave us a little lesson about Irish. He read the sign in Irish out loud and it was really cool! I really think Irish sounds like German. He then went on to explain that the letters you see in the Irish do no match the sound you make when saying it. He told us that this is because in the 1960's, the government decided to switch the Irish alphabet into the Roman one that English uses.

As the group headed back to the van, I asked him if a majority of Irish know the language. He said that only around 40% of the population would be able to communicate in Irish. He then went on to explain that it is because of the educational system that the students are not really learning the language.

When the group got to the van we headed over to Kilkenny, the medieval capital of Ireland.....