Just Call Me Queen Maureen

The NUI Maynooth Marvels!

A new semester means new classes, new SMC chicks, and new adventures!  I've been so busy with everything going on over here but I'll try to catch you up a bit.  The spring semester Saint Mary's girls are here and they are fabulous!  As much as I miss my friends from last semester, I must say that it is has been a lot of fun to meet the new girls and it's really nice to have more than six of us on campus again.  I'm really excited about the courses I have this semester too!  I'm taking Irish History, English (we're reading Tennyson and Middlemarch!), Christiology (with all the seminarians again), and Logic.  So far Logic has been my favorite.  I love looking at arguments and determining their validity.  I've also been super busy with the Frisbee team.  We've had several tournaments which have been insanely fun but tiring at the same time since we usually play between four and six matches a day.  I'm still not very good but I've improved a lot since September.

With the start of the semester comes the start of Roberta trips!  We've gone back to a few places we saw last semester but it was fun to see them again.  We have also been a couple of new places too.  A few weekends ago, we loaded onto Eugene's bus and drove over to Newgrange.  Newgrange is a bit of a mystery because no one is exactly sure what it is though some speculate it has religious significance or is a grave site.  What they do know is that during the winter solstice light is able to enter through the narrow passageway and illuminate the small circular room at the center of the mound it is built inside (our guide used a light bulb to demonstrate what it would be like inside during the winter solstice).  There are also large stones all around the mound that have swirling designs carved into them.

After seeing Newgrange, we headed over to the Hill of Tara which is where the old Irish kings were crowned.  In fact, they had to "drink ale and symbolically marry the goddess Maeve to achieve high-kingship."  There is a small stone pillar there called the Lia Fáil or Stone of Destiny.  Legend has it that whoever sits on the stone and hears a roar is the king (or queen!) of Ireland.  It's quite difficult to climb but I was proud that I could do it all by myself.  I know you're wondering and the answer is yes, I did hear a roar, so just call me Queen Maureen!

On another Roberta trip we went to Mellifont Abbey.  The abbey is now in ruins but it was once the model for all Cistercian abbeys built in Ireland.  We had a blast running around and climbing where we shouldn't.  It was so sunny out that we all felt too energetic and happy to behave haha!

Afterwards, we went to Monasterboice which is home to a round tower, the ruins of a church, a cemetery, and Muiredach's High Cross.  Muiredach's High Cross was named after an abbot and is considered by some as the best high cross in Ireland.  It is covered with carvings from the Bible and has survived without much weather damage.  My favorite carving was a small one at the bottom of the cross depicting two men pulling each others' long beards.

We won't have another Roberta trip until May when we go to the Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands, so I'll have to make my own travel plans around Ireland from now on!