Aug 6 The young and the old

I was up reasonably early, but didn't get out of the house until about 10:30, after the girls had got up and I had confirmed with them that they would rather stay home for a bit rather than go for another walk into town. So I went by myself and I got about 10 minutes out of the house before I realized I had forgot to put the battery back in my camera after charging. So 20 minutes later I was back exactly to the same place and started taking pictures on my walk. This time I walked down to the river on a more easterly route, coming down on the other side of the viaduct where I got some good pictures.

After walking right up to the viaduct I went back up a street and down through St. Laurence Gate and back to St. Peters Roman Catholic Church where I went inside this time to see the head of St. Oliver Plunkett. It was very dark in that area of the church, and the head itself was not illuminated specifically, and there were people praying and in confession and such so I decided not to use my flash on the camera. So the picture isn't great, but I can tell you my impression is that his teeth were pretty good, although he had a bit of a crooked smile, and his head seemed a little small. The church itself was very impressive inside, as have been just about every church I've been in on this trip.

I had a quick and not-so-good lunch at Moorland Cafe beside St. Peters Church. It was very busy so I was surprised the food was off.On the way back from town I stopped back in at St. Peters Protestant Church graveyard, which Kevin had mentioned had some pretty old tombstones. Just wandering around I found a strange sculpture on the back wall which I later found out came from the 15^th century. The tombstones themselves were decaying so much it was impossible to read if they were much older than about 200 years.

I walked back from town in the pouring rain. Good thing I had my umbrella. I wasn't back at the house too long before Annette called. After she got off work she came by and picked us up and took us to Mellifont Abbey which is the ruins of an old monastery from the 11^th century. By about the 16^th century it had been abandoned and was significantly dismantled for it's stone building material. As kids the Roden's of Drogheda used to go out and run around and play on the ruins. Now it has been fixed up as a heritage site with an interpretive centre and tours.

We went to Annette's for pizza and I met Uncle John for the first time. He was expecting someone a little shorter. He and Annette went through some old photos with me. He is very hard of hearing so a long conversation is quite impossible, especially with horse racing on the TV.

After dinner Annette took us out to Jim and Caroline's to visit with them and the baby. The first time I've met Jim and of course Caroline and the baby too. Eoghan was very cute, less than 3 weeks old and a healthy set of lungs.

On the way back from Jim's, Annette took us to Monasterboice, which is a monastery founded in the 5^th century. The oldest structure is
The Cross of Muiredach, which dates to 932. Also from the 10th century is a 95 ft round tower hich the monks used to take refuge from the marauding viking hoards of the 10th and 11th century.
After Annette dropped us back at the house and after some chatting and computer/facebooking that was the end of another good day on vacation.