A Day in Northern Ireland: Part I

Today I went to another country! Yup, that’s right…one of the many reasons living in Europe is so fantastic – everything is so close together! Last weekend I became “Paddywagon Pals” with a few girls from the States and one of them is in Dublin for business so we decided to do another tour this weekend. So, this morning we hopped onboard the “Paddywagon” and headed North to Belfast. I had yet to go further north then Dublin so I was quite excited. The weather was not nearly as nice as last weekend but the rain held off so I really can’t complain!

Our first stop of the day was at St. Peter’s Church in Drogheda (in the Republic of Ireland).

Without a doubt, one of the prettiest churches I have been to in Ireland.

What the church is REALLY famous for though is that it is the resting place of Sir. Oliver Plunkett’s HEAD! That’s right, a fully preserved head! Sir. Oliver Plunkett was an Archbishop who was persecuted and killed in 1681 (which means the head is from over 300 years ago!). My picture does not do the head justice (it was hard to get a good picture because it rests behind a few layers of glass) but I could not believe how in tact (skin, teeth and all) the head was. Absolutely incredible!

The town of Drogheda was at one time completely walled (common in Ireland) and this is the only gate that remains.
After visiting Sir. Oliver Plunkett, we continued our trek North to Monasterboice, an early Christian Settlement (similar to the one I saw last week).

This is one of the largest and most ornate Celtic crosses that still exists.

So very pretty!

I am definitely loving being a tourist again. Belfast pictures coming tomorrow!