Ireland day 1273. Monday 24 March 2025- New Visitors Day 2

Today’s summary	Our friends joined us in the flat in the morning then we drove to Brú na Bóinne for a tour round the Newgrange monument. Went on to explore Fourknocks afterwards then finished off with a Guinness at at Bennett’s in Ardcath. Dinner at “Greedy Goose” in Malahide in the evening
Today’s weather	Dry with brilliant sun all day. Very light westerly wind. Appx 12c

Today’s overview location (The blue mark shows the location of our route)		Close-up location (The blue line shows where we walked) (No GPX today)

Commentary

We never get bored with visiting the Brú na Bóinne site, up the M1 to the west of Drogheda. So our friends’ visit today provided us with the perfect excuse to go again. And we were especially fortunate that today the weather was absolutely perfect.

So at about 10:30 Keith and Louise walked round to the flat from the Grand Hotel where they had spent the night (which they found very comfortable and quiet). After a quick cup of coffee, we jumped in the Trusty Yaris and headed on up the road for our 12 noon tour. It actually only takes about 35 minutes to get there from here if the traffic isn’t too bad, so we arrived in plenty of time.

The tour was, as always, absolutely fascinating. And, as you have a different guide every time you go, you always learn something new. Today I learned, for example, that the site was probably built in less than 70 years and, at the time it was finished 5000 years ago, it was possibly the largest man-made structure on earth. We had a good look round the inside (including the fake midwinter “sunrise”) and also the outer perimeter of the tomb.

After the tour, we had lunch in the café and drove down to see Mrs White to get the key for the Fourknocks tomb, which is about 20 minutes’ drive south of Brú na Bóinne. It’s always a magical spot to look round, especially so today as we had the whole site completely to ourselves. I love the way you can get so close to the Neolithic carvings, which look as fresh as if they were just made yesterday.

To celebrate our enjoyable visit, after dropping off the key again, we drove back to Ardcath and enjoyed a quick Guinness to fortify us for the journey back to Malahide. It’s a lovely bar, probably our favourite pub in Ireland, and there was a trad band playing there this evening, which made it even better.

The journey down the M1 was straightforward and despite the rush hour traffic jam getting into Malahide, we were back in the flat well before 6pm. Just time for us all to put our feet up and relax for a bit with a cup of tea before heading out again, this time for dinner at Malahide’s “Greedy Goose” for some pretty decent Irish tapas.

So, looking back it was an excellent day and very much enjoyed by all. I felt Ireland was looking its very best and Bennett’s was probably the icing on the cake. More to come tomorrow!

Today’s photos (click to enlarge)


Admiring the view of the Boyne	Shiny new electric bus to take us to from the visitor centre to the Newbridge monument itself

Entering the tomb!	Approach to the Fourknocks site. Sadly Fintan White is no longer with us, but his widow still holds the key

Val seeing the light! inside Fourknocks tomb	If you look hard enough you can convince yourself you can see a face looking back at you. If so, it’s the oldest known representation of a human face in Ireland

*Enjoying the craic* (and the Guinness!) in Bennett’s**