The Ham Nomads

11 Jun 2014. <IE> Turlough, & Knock, Co. Mayo; Sligo, Co. Sligo —

Woke up just outside Park. Got moving, drove 200 metres to the graveyard in which the Turlough Round Tower stands. There's little publicity, but this tower is one of the few complete towers in Ireland, even to the conical roof. It dates from between 900 and 1200. On looking at it more closely, we noted that the entrances have not been locked off, but have actually been walled up. This leaves the tower as the domain of the crows, who certainly are making full use of it.

Wandered about, got some good photos, and left for the National Museum of Ireland, Country Life. This is a recent, award-winning addition to the National Museum of Ireland, specifically to document the lives of the common folk from 1850 to 1950. It is in the grounds of a magnificent country manor, but there are these superb modern galleries. There are displays about the handicrafts the people used simply to survive, and the tools they used, and displays based around various trades, and about day-to-day home life. We came away with a greater appreciation of the struggles the Irish had simply to live in often intolerable conditions.

We walked the grounds — the gardens are magnificent, and there are rather quirky "folk art" pieces scattered around in them. We had a most enjoyable time here. And from time to time we caught sight of the round tower we had visited only that morning! Then we decided to go and visit a totally different site, in the town of Knock, about 20km away.

Knock Basilica — front

Knock Basilica

Knock Basilica — interior

Knock Shrine

Apparently in 1879 a group of 15 people claimed to have seen an apparition, in the gable wall of the local Knock church, an apparition of the Virgin Mary, St Joseph, St John the Evangelist, an altar, a cross and a lamb surrounded by angels. Believe it as you will, but the Catholic Church has turned this into a huge industry. Knock has become one of the major pilgrimage sites of the Catholic Church, with over 1.5 million pilgrims each year! A huge church has been constructed there — the largest in Ireland. It covers an acre and seats 10,000! In 1979, on the centenary of the apparition, Pope John Paul II celebrated a mass there and officially proclaimed the church to be a Basilica. There are huge — HUGE — spaces, and so many religious churches, chapels, shrines, centres, bookshops — the list goes on. And on top of this, it even has its own airport — I suppose with than many visitors...! The whole village has turned its hand to religious souvenirs. It's a whole other world!

Anyway, after a couple of hours there, we decided to turn our journeyings towards Sligo, where there is an old Franciscan Friary, some megalithic tombs, a 17th century fortified manor and some more wonderful scenery! Got there in time to settle down in the carpark outside a Costa Coffee outlet, and plenty of things on the agenda for the morrow.

Distance driven — today, 70 miles ( 113 km ); to date, 2,361 miles ( 3,800 km )