6 Jul 2024, Saturday

July 06, 2024

Prioritized Daily Task

Scott Kelly's Birthday

Glendalough Abbey - Wicklow Mountains - Powerscourt estate and gardens

Glendalough and Wicklow Mountains and Gardens at Powerscourt.

I slept in this morning, had prayer, Debbie showered, I showered last night, and we went downstairs for breakfast. We gave John Joe some brochures we had, one was of the Copper Cost. Debbie wrote John Joe and Margo a thank-you note for letting us use their washer and dryer to do our clothes. We talked about hiking to base camp at Mt. Everest. He said to sent him an invitation in December and he would know better if he would be free in March 2025 to come. (email: johnjoeronayne@gmail.com).

Some of the hedges along both sides of narrow roads are as high or higher than the power poles. There are many places where the limbs on large trees beside the road grow and formal canopy. The growth beside the road has been cut back and in one place the canopy had become a square.

Glendalough is home to one of the most important monastic sites in Ireland. This early Christian monastic settlement was founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century and from this developed the “Monastic City”. Most of the buildings that survive today date from the 10th through 12th centuries. Despite attacks by Vikings over the years, Glendalough thrived as one of Ireland’s great ecclesiastical foundations and schools of learning until the Normans destroyed the monastery in 1214 A.D. and the dioceses of Glendalough and Dublin were united.

Where Powerscourt House stands today there was once a 13th-century medieval castle, owned by the Le Poer Family from which 'Powerscourt' takes its name. Powerful Irish families including the O'Tooles and the Fitzgeralds battled for possession of the castle and its lands over the succeeding centuries. Its gardens today are named the 3rd Best Garden in the world by National Geographic. The Powerscourt demesne at Enniskerry in County Wicklow remains one of the best known examples of the "Big House" of Ireland. It was an estate that gave the impression of prosperity during the hardships of the famine and the land troubles during the 1800's. The lands originally belonged to the diocese of Glendalough and some of the estate was a Royal Forest. The history of the estate dates back to the reign of King James 1st who granted Powerscourt to one of his generals, Sir Richard Wingfield, after he successfully quelled a rebellion of local Irish chiefs in the county of Wicklow in 1603. The Wingfields later became the Viscounts Powerscourt. The 1st Viscount of Powerscourt began to build on the site of a castle once lived in by a family named "de la Poer", or in anglicized form, Power. This is the origin of the name "Powerscourt". The estate is today owned and run by the Slazenger family. It is a popular tourist attraction and includes a golf course, an Avoca Handweavers restaurant, and a Ritz-Carlton hotel. The Slazenger family is a leading manufacturer of sporting equipment for golf and tennis.

We drove back to Dublin and checked in at the Clayton Hotel Cardiff Lane. The parking lot I parked the last time I stayed at the hotel. I had to drive about a mile and walk back in the rain the the Q-park. Debbie and I started our fast earlier today; we had prayer, studied scriptures, and got to bed about midnight.