A castle, a monastery, and the River Shannon

It was a busy day! First we drove to Birr Castle, where we were surprised and delighted by the science centre and the grounds. The castle has been in the Parsons family for 400 years, and the Seventh Earl of Rosse and his family still live there.

In the science centre, we learned about the Third Earl of Rosse, who built what was for 70 years the biggest telescope on Earth. With it, he discovered the spiral nature of some of the galaxies. People came in the hundreds to observe the stars with Lord Rosse. We were surprised to learn that Ireland in the 1800s was a world leader in astronomy, with several major observatories.

Later, the Third Earl's son, Charles Parsons, would invent the steam turbine that changed the face of seafaring and led to the invention of the jet engine! The engines of the Titanic were based on his design.

Those are just highlights -- the whole family seemed to be talented and inventive. Lord Rosse's wife Mary was an amateur astronomer and pioneering photographer. His cousin Mary Ward studied nature with her microscope, did illustrations for scientific publications, and wrote educational books. Examples of the family's achievements just went on and on!

The grounds are wonderful, and included a lake, a formal garden, the River Camcor, a waterfall, a Victorian fernery, 300-year-old box hedges that hold the Guinness record as the tallest in the world, garden terraces, a children's adventure area that includes Ireland's largest tree house, and of course the Great Telescope.

It was an amazing place, and we spent a few hours there. Next, we went to the monastery of Clonmacnoise (Cluain Mhic Nóis, meaning "meadow of the sons of Nós), on the River Shannon.

The monastery was founded in 544 by St. Ciarán, who built the first wooden church there. The site grew from an original population of 10 men to some 2,000 in the 11th century. It endured plague, fires, English attacks (at least 40), Viking raids (at least seven), and Norman attacks (at least six).

In the 12th century, The Book of the Dun Cow (Lebor na hUidre) was written there — it is the oldest existing manuscript in Irish. Now the site has the ruins of a cathedral, seven churches, two round towers, three high crosses, and a large collection of early Christian grave slabs.

The three original high crosses are housed indoors now, to protect them against the elements. The four-metre high Cross of the Scriptures is one of the most skilfully carved of Ireland's remaining high crosses. It was carved from Clare sandstone in 900.

After Clonmacnoise, we drove to Athlone (Baile Átha Luain, meaning town of Luan's ford) on the River Shannon. It is the largest town in the Midlands Region. The town is near the geographical centre of Ireland. We walked around a bit, and stopped in a little tea room for coffee and some homemade pastry. Fred had lemon meringue pie, and I had an almond cake, which was served warm with thick whipped cream. Oh so delicious!