Meascan Mheadhbha

In English, Queen Maeve's Cairn which sits atop the hill of Knocknarea in the background of my blip.  Queen Maeve was one strong woman.  She ruled an army of men, had five husbands and at least twelve children.  Whether she existed or is part of Irish mythology is debatable, but the cairn is real, standing 10 metres high and 60 metres in diameter.  It sits in a landscape rich in megolithic tombs.

The first part of the day we walked on Knocknarea, up to the tomb and continued down and around the hill back to Strandhill where we had parked the car at the Sligo Rugby Club.  It was an enjoyable trail with much variety of terrain and long distance, beautiful views all the way, just a shame the skies weren't blue.

From Knocknarea we drove the few miles/kilometres to the Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery. Carrowmore is one of four large Megalithic Cemeteries in Ireland which have passage tombs.  On this site there are currently thirty passage tombs, about twenty five have been destroyed in more recent times as attitudes to such sites have changed.  A typical passage tomb consists of a circle of large boulders with a roofed chamber at the centre.  Findings in these tombs have included cremated human bones, pins made of antler or bone, small stone or chalk balls, stone tools and pottery.  It's quite amazing to see evidence of so many in one place.

So my blip shows both halves of our enjoyable day.  Instead of cooking this evening, we booked into The Beach Bar which has been recommended to us by several folks.  The food was good, the helpings ridiculously large and it's the first time we've had apple pie with custard, cream and ice-cream.  Need to loosen my pants!