“When
anyone asks me about the Irish character, I say look at the trees. Maimed, stark and misshapen, but ferociously
tenacious.” Edna O’Brien
Carol writes: As we
continued our drive around the perimeter of Ireland, it seemed like every day
we were reminded of the fact that Irish history stretches back thousands of
years. So it was at Newgrange, a fully restored passage
tomb at the archeological site called Brú na Bóinne.
Newgrange is
a single mound measuring 340 feet in diameter.
It was constructed 5000 years ago and was used as a sacred burial
chamber where ceremonies were conducted with the bones and ashes of the
dead. In addition, Newgrange was
undoubtedly associated with some sort of Sun God ritual. As the sun rises on the winter solstice
(December 21), it shines through a small window above the entrance door. As the sun continues to rise, the beam of its
light travels down the 60-foot long passageway into the tomb and lights up the
small central chamber for 17 minutes.
At Newgrange
we were able to enter the tomb by navigating down the narrow 60-foot-long
passageway to the sacred central area where our guide turned out the lights and
demonstrated by means of a small electric light what it is like on the day of
the winter solstice. The moment was
almost spiritual…
As archeologists
discover more and more ancient structures that have been found to have some
sort of astrological alignment, I find it extremely thought-provoking to get those
tantalizing peaks inside the mind of ancient civilizations.
For a little
more of Ireland’s more recent history, we visited the
Rock of Cashel, one of Ireland’s most historic and noteworthy sights. Fighting clans fought over this rocky
fortification for centuries until a clever clansman decided to donate the site
to the Church as a way of keeping it away from a rival clan while at the same
time courting favor with powerful religious interests. Subsequently, Cashel evolved into an
ecclesiastical center where majestic stone church buildings were
constructed.
Cashel is dear to Irish hearts because it was the seat of
the ancient kings of Munster, one of the five ancient provincial kingdoms of
Ireland. In addition, it was also the place
where Ireland’s beloved St. Patrick baptized King Aengus in 450 A.D. The historic site at Rock of Cashel was a
compilation of the ruins of an ancient castle,
Ireland’s first and finest Romanesque chapel,
and the remains of a 13th century Gothic
cathedral.
The nearby
graveyard was loaded with many Irish high crosses. Centuries ago, the ring around the head of
the cross was added to symbolize the sun in an effort to appeal to the sun-worshipping
Celts.
As a nod of
respect for the esteem that the Irish hold for the Rock of Cashel, Queen
Elizabeth II made a visit to the Rock during her history-making visit to
Ireland in 2011. The Queen and Prince
Philip signed their names to some official documents during that visit. I found the signatures of the Queen and her
husband oddly interesting in their simplicity.
As we
continued on our drive along the southern coast of Ireland, one of my bucket
list items was a visit to the Waterford crystal factory. Yes, the town is named Waterford too, and apparently
the residents of Waterford want it made clear that the town came first and that
is where the crystal got its name…not the other way around. Unfortunately,
due to recent bad economic times, most of the high-volume Waterford crystal is
now produced by cheap labor in Eastern Europe, and only the special-order one-of-a-kind
prestige pieces are manufactured in Waterford.
As a young
bride in 1978, I had flown to Hong Kong to meet up with my husband while he was
on a 6-month deployment to the Western Pacific, courtesy of the U.S. Navy. We had only been married a few months and
between the two of us we had very little in the way of household possessions,
so we took full advantage of the wonderful bargain shopping available in Hong
Kong in those days. One of our most
memorable (and lasting) purchases was 8 precious Waterford crystal goblets,
which have always taken center place in our rack of wine glasses. To this day, I have always admired all things
Waterford, so when we heard that their factory tour was first-rate, we made it
a point to head to the town of Waterford.
Did the
factory live up to expectations? I
cannot speak more highly of the factory tour!
We had excellent vantage points at every stage during the process of
producing a Waterford “gem.” The
four-man team doing stemware work was particularly impressive—a marvel of
timing and teamwork.
The mold
exhibit displayed wooden molds that had been used in the production of dozens
of famous sports trophies. Think college
basketball…
This pic is
for my Louisville cousin.
I had a turn
at holding a Waterford football…
It was
fascinating to see how the intricate design patterns were applied to the final
shape with simple black marking pens, and then skillfully ground into the glass
with diamond cutting wheels.
At various
points along the tour, each of us was offered our own “special-moment photo op”
while holding a priceless piece of eye-popping Waterford.
The gift
shop at the end of the tour was a wonder to behold with Waterford crystal items
of all types for all budgets.
I loved the
large mirror framed with Waterford crystal which was for sale for a price in
the neighborhood of $30,000! Clearly, that
wasn’t going home with us, so I took my picture instead.
One of the
more interesting facts presented at the very end of the tour was the discussion
about the Waterford trademark that is on the edge of the base of their
goblets. The word “Waterford” is engraved
in letters about 1/8 inch high, certainly not terribly eye catching, but
impossible to miss. My thoughts did a
big “hmmm” when this was mentioned because I was certain (and Al agreed) that
my treasured Waterford wine glasses back home in Colorado have no such
trademark. After all, I’ve been washing
them by hand for over 35 years, so surely I would have noticed! I was told I could email a picture of one of
my goblets to the Waterford factory and they would tell me if mine are great fake
copies or authentic Waterford goblets that were perhaps manufactured before the
days of using a trademark. They were
purchased in Hong Kong…could they possibly be fakes?
“I
was born on a storm-swept rock and hate the soft growth of sun-baked lands
where there is no frost in men's bones.”
Liam O'Flaherty
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