First stop was Kilmogue portal tomb en route to Kilkenny and a date with a pub for the 6 nations match between Ireland and France.

There are a number of these portal tombs in this area, relics from the early farmers in Ireland about 3000BC. They are characterised by "portal stones" that mark the entranceway, often aligned north-south, such that the opening faces east for the rising sun! These stones are then capped by a megalith...an enormous stone of many tonnes that we have no idea how it was raised into place. Most of them have undergone little/no excavation such is their number and the likelihood that people have repurposed them over time so that their original layout is only guessed at. What is clear is that the surrounding farms have the best.highest amount of stonework in barns, fences etc and there is evidence of loads of earthworks closeby. I think they were probably quite large structures and would bet they were often stone cairns/rings around etc etc. The proximity of this one to a creek, I am wondering if it formed something of a centrepiece of a village or fort. Will remain a mystery. Thankfully no great muddy escapades this time :)

Next stop was another of these burial sites, but with a slightly different flavour. The portal stones for two close by tombs aligned also north south with the entrance way being east facing. Surrounding these two tombs was a large circle/fort with stone marking the perimeter. Large stones made up the majority of the ones remaining, with again, nearby stoneworks in fences and paths being suspiciously generous. I guess we'll never be sure. However, the misty rain and wind saw us undeterred and what a treat to be able to see the spiral carvings, stone pitting and wave like patterns on many of the stones. The people who were here were certainly interested in decoration the stones. Whether they were accompanied by colourful motifs, hard to say, but they were beautiful carvings from 5000 years ago. I can't help but think that maybe they had some reverance for the cycles...whether that be of life, reincarnation, spirit world, or simply seasons and the movement of the sun, we can't be sure. What it does confirm for me is the superstitious nature of humans. When things are going well, we can't help but look for "reasons" so as to preserve things in that way. As Ireland became increasingly hospitable for farming/agriculture after the last ice age ended followed by warming, fertile soils, reliable rains...it is no surprise that to be no longer reliant on simple subsistence, that "culture, religion and art" emerged. The idea that humans are "a god" as opposed to living in the land aka Australian early humans, was no doubt central to this as domestic livestock in sheep, cattle and goats, plus abundant grain crops...producing more than you need for just you, promotes trade technologies and fast forwards = today. Weird.

Enough theorising. Next up was Kilkenny. A tricky place to find a park, and we first visited a craft design area that was set up in the grounds of the old stables opposite the Kilkenny castle. A series of really nice shops, including a silversmith where Bronnie got a great new bangle from the craftsman who has worked there non stop since 1967...great little old fella. He showed us the Oghim's alphabet (20 letters only) that was used to mark out farm boundaries etc in old Celtic ireland. It is read from bottom to top, and has become very fashionable on rings and also in tattoos. Cool!

We parted ways for a couple of hours. I ended up in a pretty rough sort of pub, having avoided the young outside vapers at the trendy Old Bank pub...but had a great time watching the rugby and enjoying the generosity of some "day drinkers" including one who was killing time waiting for a drug hit at 3:30pm, and another guy who's brother had been in the pub since 9:30am and had had a win of 5000 euro on a 50 euro multi bet. Apparently he does it every week, and this time it had come through. The same fella was telling me how on Friday he had given evidence against a teacher at his local primary school who was now in jail for sexual abuse for another 5 years but since his was the first year to give evidence, the police are now interviewing each subsequent yeargroup through and he thinks the guy will be in jail for a long time. What is sobering is that the guy I was chatting to was 57, the teacher in question is 72 so must have been a young teacher at the time...that's a lot of years of children being assaulted...someone must have known. Yuck.

Anyway, a few complimentary pints of black gold later, Bronnie and I rendezvoused at said Golden Harp pub, in time to see Ireland go down to France...they were very very good.

A final half pint chaser of Kilkenny en route to our accommodation for a nice simple tea again. Still slim pickings on telly, but a nice fire made up for it somewhat. The weather at the moment is also much milder with temps above 10C all day. Spring is coming, although looking at Iceland temps, we're not quite done with the winter gear yet.