Day 1 of the St. Patrick Walk from Armagh to Downpatrick. We traveled from Belfast by bus. Temporary glitch: our hotel had no reservation. We called our travel company and all was quickly resolved. We headed out to the Navan Center west of town.
Like St. James, St. Patrick started his mission converting pagans. The area around Navan was a center for Druids and pagan practices.
Richard’s ReLive for the day is here: https://www.relive.com/view/vwq1e4Wr4Lq
8.37 miles, 59 degrees, humidity 83%.
We were early for our morning bus from Belfast to Armagh. We had no interactions with the lady waiting in the nearby chair, but she was watching us..
Late in the afternoon, we stopped in for coffee and a break, not paying any attention to other patrons. When we realized St. Patrick’s Cathedral was closing in 15 minutes, we hurried out. We had scarcely gotten out the door when the bus lady ran out with Richard’s raincoat he had left on the chair. The kindness of strangers saves us again!
We’re ready to begin following the St. Patrick Way symbol.
The Navan Fort is only about two miles outside the city, but the instructions were a circuitous route to keep us off busy roads. It adds time, but provides for an interesting walk.
We were alone on this quiet road when we saw the sign for road bowling! Evidently it is a very localized sport using a metal ball—probably practiced on weekends so we were safe.
The Navan Fort is recognizable from high grassy mounds. This area is the legendary capital of the prehistoric Kingdom of Ulster. It is the headquarters and sacred place of King Conchobar and his warriors who defended his land.
This prehistoric sanctuary was 250 meters in diameter and dates to the first century BC. The oak post found in the center was dated to 95 BC. There were various tools and precious objects found in the excavations, including the skull of a Barbary Ape brought from North Africa in the second century BC.
We were told that St. Patrick strategized the locations for his two cathedrals so they could be seen from this pagan site. There is a Catholic St. Patrick’s Cathedral with two tall spires, and a Church of Ireland St. Patrick’s Cathedral for the Protestants.
We found the signboard with the embossing stamp to record our first visit site on the St. Patrick Way. There are 10 sites to see along the trail.
Unfortunately the Navan Center that might have made the stories clearer was closed on Mondays.
Fortunately we met Gillian and Matthew who work with the tourist council and were dropping some things off, they proudly shared information, including mistaken information about tomorrow’s hike. Instead of 20 kilometers as we expected, it is actually 33 kilometers, significantly longer!
These Franciscan ruins were the longest friary in Ireland, from 1263/1264. It played a major role in the city until the friary was suppressed in 1542 with the dissolution of monasteries under Henry VIII.
We are heading up to the site of St. Patrick’s Cathedral COI (Church of Ireland). St. Patrick may have healed a local chieftain, Daire, who then gave him the site on the hill in Armagh to build his church.
St. Patrick built his first church in 445 on this hill, called Sally Hill.
The church building was destroyed seventeen times between 670 and 1642, by fire, attack by Vikings, and fighting in Ireland and England.
St. Patrick is pictured near the bottom of one of the stained glass windows, holding a shamrock in his right hand and his church in his left.
Brian Boru was one of the first kings of Ireland and united the Irish Kingdoms in the monarchy. He is buried in this Cathedral after being slain at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014.
The twin spires of St. Patrick’s Cathedral dominate the skyline of Armagh. We are late today and will have to visit tomorrow.
The site of our third stamp in the walk passport. This marks the spot where a monastery was built dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul.
Note also that the sign speaks about John Wesley preaching to a large crowd on this street in 1767, and the First Methodist Church was constructed on this street in 1786.
We met Klaus from Frankfort who is also walking the St. Patrick Way.
Klaus was having trouble locating the stamp, but Nuala, an Armagh resident, stopped to help him. They were making sure we knew the location of the stamp, and directed us to the Methodist Church.
The current Methodist church building dates from 1835 (remodeled 1888).
The Armagh golden teapot hangs outside our hotel. It is one of the last Victorian shop signs that advertised stores.
We had dinner at the hotel. Richard had roast beef and Jan had fish and chips.
4 Responses
Hey! Jan!! Re: your first two photos of this day – you say although you didn’t talk with her, the lady seated in orange was watching you. Well, in the next photo at the coffee break, you weren’t interacting with other patrons, but notice that same lady is seated in a booth there? She’s still watching (and following?) you? A spy? (key Twilight Zone music)
Other than that – I am really enjoying “my” visit to Northern Ireland with you! Great photos, and history, and I love that you take pictures of the people you meet. I’m pretty sure I have some ancestors from the Armagh area, so I am especially happy to visit. Thank you.
We usually talk to folks but I don’t really know why we didn’t interact with this lady. I guess it was because we usually ignore everyone around us when we use fly. Anyway, this lady was going about her business but remembered us, or maybe she just would have returned a coat to anyone. The people are incredibly gracious and kind here, so you can be proud of your ancestry in Armagh (maybe even Methodist!)
You hit the same highlights we did when we were in Belfast, the Abbey and the Titanic Museum. You asked for a suggestion when you return to Belfast and the only other really memorable place we visited was the Queens College where we had a special tour and short lecture on the history of the college. We were traveling with Tauck tours which was one of the few high end tours we have taken. We also got a special tour of the Titanic Museum and some history of the exhibits. We stayed at the 5 star Merchant Hotel and they served us a replica dinner of the 9 course Titanic tasting menu that “honored the ship’s grand style.” A different style trip for us!
Dan
Thanks, Dan. It sounds like we won’t have a chance to do your tour places, but I’m sure we’ll find something. We’ll keep you informed!