FACeTS of Madeira: Day 6 – May 15 – Thursday Destination: Dublin

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This is the day our tour became international: we crossed the border into the Republic of Ireland. In reality, the crossing went almost unnoticed, as there is no border control or even an official sign marking the exact location of the border. An indication we had crossed the border was the fact that all the place names on road signs were in Irish Gaelic and in English…Dublin, for example, was Baile Atha Cliath.The highway in the ROI was noticeably better than the one we were using in Northern Ireland, due in large part to money from the European Union. Madeira has undergone a similar quantum leap in transportation and communications because of the European Union money. At some point (i.e., the invisible border) the distances on the road signs and the speed limits changed from miles (used in NI) to km (used in ROI). The other noticeable change was the change: the English pound sterling we were using in the North was no longer the local currency (although many places would accept pounds…at an advantageous rate to the shop owner, of course). Here, we (Abbie and I) could use our good, old familiar euro, the very same money we spend at home. The common currency did bring advantages to travellers between the 12 or so countries who adopted it. No more worrying about exchange rates and getting stuck with strange money on the trip home.

Parenthetical Note: A wee word about language

1)Everything (especially up in the Belfast area) is “wee”—“if you’ll wait a wee minute…”, “would you like a wee bag to put that in?”, “a wee top-up” (of coffee or tea), or the children’s “wee, short arms.” And there would be wee socks, of course, for their wee feet.

2)In the Republic everything is bi-lingual: Irish and English. In the north, Gaelic is used in some places and not in others, according to the political leanings of the specific area, I would guess. I noticed at the St. Patrick’s Centre, the signs were in three languages. It’s common to see toilets designated as “Male” or “Female”.

But at Downpatrick there were two other languages beneath the English.

The second line would have been Gaelic (Irish), but I had to ask about the third line. “Weeminfolk” is Ulster-Scots, I was informed, which left me pondering whether that meant that the ladies could take their “wee menfolk” (i.e., little boys) in with them, or whether they forgot to run the spellcheck before they printed the sign.

On the way to Dublin, we stopped at Monasterboice. A stone cottage sits near the entrance to the site, and it was zealously guarded by a dog that stood in the window sill and excitedly barked at anyone who dared look at the house. Every time I tried to take a picture of the house with him in the window, he would jump down and run to the other window. I persevered and got his picture…sort of.

A sign on the rock wall in front of the house explained what we were about to visit. There is a round tower here, too, with the doorway one story up. We knocked, but nobody was home.

Basically, the site is a cemetery, but as the sign explains, the principal attraction here are the high crosses, with the Bible stories of the Old and New Testaments carved on the front and back faces.

None of these crosses represent a crucifix; their purpose is not to present a dead Christ. In fact, I believe you could find a risen Christ coming in glory on some of them. Other crosses are plain or have a geometric pattern inscribed on them.

Various views of the crosses. The way they dwarf the people next to them gives you an idea of their size.

Set in the countryside, the site is surrounded by verdant farmlands.

Dublin

We got to Dublin in time to spend some time wandering through the downtown area. We were again struck by the bright colors used by the Irish in painting their houses. This establishment is a case in point. There’ll be a separate blog on that later.