hill of Sláine

"I could kind of care less about seeing more churchy/castley sites, knowing what they represent here in Ireland". So said I. But Peter wanted to so....sigh.....FINE - first stop of the day is the Hill of Sláine.

Wow! You know what happens when you assume....? We ended up spending well over an hour exploring the ruins.

The Hill of Sláine is a prominent feature rising 158m (520ish feet) above the surrounding landscape. Had we known it, we could have seen it from the Hill of Tara on the previous day. A tower dating back to 1512 still exists on the site along with a cemetery with graves dating from way back to fairly recent times. As always with very old cemeteries, a sense of peace settles over you and the world slows down.

Also on the site are the remains of a Franciscan Abbey, built by the Barons of Slane somewhere in the same neighborhood of time. King Henry the VIII (the one of many wives) dissolved the monastery and distributed its lands in one of his attempts to rid his empire of Catholicism. It didn't work for long. It was restored in 1631, operating for another 20 years before Cromwell had a go and drove out the monks in 1651.

There are several stories associated with the site: (courtesy of the story boards and the Mythical Ireland website – a very interesting site. Check it out!). 

• The best known story is that St Patrick lit the first Paschal Fire here in defiance of the Pagan King Laoghaire's tradition that no fire be lit before the great fire at the spring equinox at the Hill of Tara. King Laoghaire was enraged but apparently old Paddy kissed the blarney stone and managed to talk yon King Laoghaire around so the king allowed him to continue his missionary work in Ireland.  Archeology at the site does not support this theory and the fire was probably lit in Knowth or Meath.
• Sláine also is believed to have a mythical healing well, where the Tuatha Dé Danann went to heal battle wounds.
• There is also a story of a Merovingian heir, exiled to Ireland in the 7th century, reaching manhood at the monastery, then marrying a Celtic princess and returning to his country and claiming the throne.
• Due to the prominence of the Christian ruins, it is often overlooked that the site is much more ancient, also containing what is thought to be a Neolithic mound at the peak of the hill, hidden from view by all the trees - most likely King Sláine’s burial mound.

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The Abbey is quite amazing. It was at least a 2-storey structure and the remaining features include post holes that would have had beams to support the 2nd floor, identifiable fireplaces and living spaces. A large room with what appears to be benches of some kind - maybe this was a study hall? An absolute maze of stone staircases from one floor to the next and all the way to the top where you have a breathtaking view of Ireland. Even the Hill of Tara  is visible from there. We crawled all over this for a good long while, taking - guess what - LOADS of pictures! Well worth the stop!