Royals, Ruins and Rain

Well we got in late last night from Letterkenny and didn't realize we had a house guest of sorts. Just down the road in our home village, the Queen of England spent the night at the Hillsborough Castle.

I went to drop off my laundry today. Normally we have to drive by, go up the hill and do a u-turn to get to a place where we can park. The spot where we do the u-turn was blocked off by members of the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland). When I got to Jeeves, the dry cleaners and laundry service for Hillsborough, I asked who was in town. The woman behind the counter said, "The Queen." My great reply was "THE Queen?"

Well I found out the Queen would be leaving in about 30-minutes. So we walked to the top of the hill, watched the policemen and military personnel get into position and following a trumpet fanfare and military salute, the motorcade departed. I didn't get the best picture (see the Queen waving at us above), but I got something.

Why was the Queen in Northern Ireland you ask? She cut the ribbon and toured a Coca-Cola bottling plant near Maze. Click here to read the story.

After our royal blessing, John and I went in search of the series of ruins near Drogheda, Ireland. We stopped at the Monasterboice Ruins first. Built in the late fifth century, the site now is protected and is surrounded by a cemetery. (See picture of the Celtic cross and the Round Tower that's more than 100 feet high.)





From Monasterboice, we went in search of the Mellifont Abbey. Compared to Monasterboice, the abbey is relatively new having been started in 1125. The place was huge. The visitor center was closed for the season so we just walked the grounds. More and more was added to the site over the centuries. The abbey closed in 1539 after King Henry VIII decided to close all the monasteries and abbeys (a nice way of saying it) after the reformation of the Church of England. (See picture at left)

After a quick trip to see the spot of Ireland's largest military campaign, the Battle of the Boyne, our luck with the weather finally ended just before out final shoot of the trip. It rained and rained hard as we made our way to interview Seamus Carr.

Seamus was great, as always. The other night, he took us dinner at the Monasterboice Inn near the ruins we toured today. Tonight he took us to the Bronte Steakhouse near the Bronte Homeland area of County Down. Seamus loves to tell stories of his trips to places like Moscow, Australia, Europe and of course Missoula, Montana.

Tomorrow, we put away our camera, lights and gear and become tourists for John's last day in Ireland. We'll take the bus down to Dublin and visit the capitol city of the Republic of Ireland. Then it's back to pack and get ready for John to go home.