Jan22

A trip into legend – The Cave of the Cats in Rathcrogan, and the origin of Samhain (Halloween)

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Thursday, 24-October-2024

It’s pronounced “Sell-Win”, by the way. Not “Sam-Hay-ne”.

I learned that pretty quickly, as we drove out into the Irish countryside, on our mission to find the roots of Halloween, buried beneath the earth of the Emerald Isle. I was on the road with my friends Brian and Megan, heading West toward the midlands of Ireland, enjoying the quiet and good conversation as the highway passed beneath the wheels of our rental car.

Megan had invited us out to explore the Cave of the Cats, or Oweynagat Cave in its native Irish, in the town of Rathcrogan. She’d first heard about it years back, when she was first getting interested in Ireland, as the origin of Halloween – according to myth, this cave was where the spirits of the otherworld would enter ours one evening per year. That evening, people would stay indoors, or dress up to avoid being taken captive and dragged back underground to the otherworld… an evening that evolved over time into what we call Halloween.

It was an excellent adventure – I can’t say that we passed into the otherworld, or that we did battle with any ancient spirits… but we did get an excellent tour of the land, heard stories about its history, and even had the chance to step foot into the cave itself. We didn’t go particularly deep, of course, as who knows how long it could have taken us to get out…

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On the way out, we stopped in for lunch, and a bit of exploration, in a town called Roscommon. We grabbed a bite to eat, explored Roscommon castle, and I even flew the drone around a bit!

Nothing of major note, but definitely one of the fun parts of Ireland – being able to stop into small towns, tour a castle, and then get back on the road. Good times!

Rathcrogan itself found us stopped at the visitor’s center, meeting our tour guide, and then descending into history and myth of Samhain. Our guide was absolutely amazing – as the guy who literally wrote the book on the area (we definitively got copies), he regaled us with myth and story from all across Ireland, focused on those tied in with the cave that we were exploring. We listened, absorbed, learned, and let ourselves be transported back in time… to the days of Celtic heroes and monsters.



Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathcroghan#Oweynagat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rathcroghan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain

Jan14

A second walking tour of the Liberties

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Saturday, 19-Oct-2024


I’d done a lovely walking tour of my neighborhood with a local guide, back when I’d first moved into my apartment here in the Liberties. I hadn’t planned on taking another tour… but my friend Brian was visiting, so when I saw the open invitation I’d floated the idea by him. Unsurprisingly, he was quite excited for the chance to learn a bit of the more personal history of the area, so we roused ourselves vaguely early one morning, and made our way onward for the tour!

As before, it was simply lovely. Anthony was (and likely still is) an amazing guide – we walked, he shared stories of the neighborhood, and we got the opportunity to learn more about the personal history of this small portion of Dublin. Stories about the local personalities, about the industries that had shaped the area, and even about some small turns of phrase that were born here.

I can’t recall if I mentioned it in my post about the first tour I took, but my favorite phrase from Dublin is “Beyond the Pale”. In short, back many years ago, Dublin itself was known as “the pale”. Or, more accurately, the fence around Dublin was a “Pale”… and so anything outside the city was “Beyond the Pale”, or a place that good folk wouldn’t go.

It was a fun tour, and a great opportunity to take a lovely walk while connecting a bit more with this new place that I call home.



Link to a cool article about the phrase “Beyond the Pale” – https://www.cntraveler.com/story/what-beyond-the-pale-actually-means

Jan12

A spirited adventure to the Gin Palace

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Tuesday, 08-Oct-2024


Out across the river in Dublin, there’s a spot called the Gin Palace. I’d heard of it a few times, but hadn’t had an opportunity to go… until now, that is!

All of my classmates are impressive, and I’m having an absolute blast getting to know them all – either working together in teams, grabbing lunches before or after lectures, or heading out to dinner / drinks after we’ve made our escape from the business school. Gin Palace had been up on my list, and so made for a rather lovely opportunity to chat with our class representative, get some feedback from her, and pick her brain for a bit of insight into her leadership journey.

It was absolutely lovely – they had solid food, and teapots full of gin drinks for us to try. We sampled a flight of various uniquely named offerings, realized that the teapot was made a bit stronger than I’d expected, and shared some excellent stories and memories.

Another small step forward in the whole MBA process – building lovely connections, strengthening the social battery, and having a good time while doing all the above.