Ireland

After Iona I spent five days in and around Dublin, Ireland. I stayed with my dad's friend and former colleague, Mary. Mary, her husband Martin and their two children, Dermot and Maeve, took me everywhere - from the Wicklow Mountains and Glendalough to Newgrange (a Stone Age passage-tomb older than the pyramids) and the Hill of Tara. We also went to Glencree, a former British military barracks which is now a centre for peace and reconciliation. At Trinity College Dublin I was able to see the Book of Kells , which is an elaborately decorated book containing the four gospels. The interesting connection here is that the Book of Kells was possibly begun on Iona, by the celtic monks who lived in the Abbey that I stayed in just the week before. There is so much history to be discovered, and it is amazing to see how the bits and pieces all connect in some way or another.