Dublin is a quick drive from Cabra Castle but I decided to take the long way and swing through Swords so I could visit another castle. My route got even longer when I saw a sign in Slain that pointed to the Hill of Slain. I stopped for gas and quickly googled it and found out it was a “very important site”. Not sure what that meant so I decided to double back and check it out.

At the top of the hill in the middle of town, the Hill of Slain was totally deserted. Its a good thing too because I was so busy taking a picture of my car by the warning sign I might have forgotten to lock the door!

The weather seemed like more of a threat. It was very gloomy an there was nobody around!

I walked to the top of the hill to check it out.

Looked like castle ruins from a distance.

This is the site where St. Patrick lit a fire on Easter and convinced some guy to support the church. Or something.

St Patrick about to burn it down

I didn’t spend a lot of time reading the signs because the view was magnificent!

Part of the abbey ruins on the Hill of Slain

I walked around the cemetery and the views were stunning. Then I walked through the ruins in the middle of the graveyard.

Creepy!

I walked back down the hill and got to the car just as the rain began again. On my way out of town I passed Slain Castle which was closed and crossed a bridge over a river that looked really high and angry, like it was going to be crossing its banks any second.

My next stop was Swords. I wanted to check out the castle. I found some street parking on the block outside the castle and when I got out to try to figure out where and how to pay for parking, an extremely nice Irish couple returned to their car, gave me their parking stub, and saved me the trouble. I walked to the castle and discovered it was closed. Also, it was raining and it was lunchtime. I walked back to the car and resumed my journey to Dublin. Along the way, I pulled into an Applegreen to pick up some lunch.

How am I going to live without the cheese and onion crisps when I get home? Why do I have to? Come on, American chip companies!

After my gas station picnic I pulled back out and drove into Dublin.

Driving in Dublin less fun than driving anywhere else in Ireland, but still pretty exciting!