Looking toward National Park in Aghadoe,

Our 2019 visit to Ireland included another trip. However, this time the roadway was closed between and a car park for over two weeks for urgent repair. This enabled us to gain another view of the area surrounding the Ring of Kerry by way of Aghadoe, Ireland. Aghadoe Heights is famous for its southern view of the lakes and island, including abutting . In addition to its view, Aghadoe is also the site of a churchyard and burial ground where over 2,000 people who had died during the Irish Famine (1845‐1852)were interred. Historical perspective of Aghadoe, according to aghadoeheights.com: "Even before Christianity, Aghadoe was viewed as a special, spiritual place. The Paps Mountains, visible from the hotel, were called ‘Dhá Chíoch Danu’ in Gaelic, which means ‘the two breasts of Danu’. This was the name of the Celtic female goddess, who was regarded as the mother of the gods. The first inhabitants of Ireland, the ‘Tuatha Dé Danann’, were named after her. The Celts didn’t see their splendid landscape as just a fine view. They were deeply religious, and these woods, mountains and lakes were loaded with magical and mysterious significance. They represented messages of life and fertility, with the Paps’ two breast‐shaped hills interpreted as symbols of female power. The first reference to Aghadoe, – or ‘Achadh dá eo’ in Gaelic, meaning ‘the field of two yew trees’ – is thought to appear in a poem ascribed to Oisín. He was the son of Finn MacCool, who led a band of warriors called the Fianna – Ireland’s protectors from foreign invasion in the years just after Christ’s birth. The first known Christian settlement was established at Aghadoe in the fifth century, probably by St Abban, a missionary of St Patrick’s. Two centuries later, St Finian is thought to have created a monastic centre at Aghadoe and on below, which were linked by a causeway. The Annals of Innisfallen, which is a written between 900 and 1300 AD, refers to Aghadoe from 938AD. A reference in the ‘Calendar of Oengus’ refers to ‘Achade deo’ as a place for expelling demons. Aghadoe overlooks Lough Lein, which was called the ‘lake of learning’ because it was a major educational centre attracting pupils from all over Europe between 900 and 1000AD. Lough Lein and the surrounding area plays a pivotal role in Irish mythology; in one of its greatest stories, Roisin and Niamh ‘went west’ from Lough Lein over the mountains to Tír na N‐og, ‘the land of eternal youth’." Churchyard and Burial Ground

Sources: https://www.aghadoeheights.com/about/our‐story, https://www.ringofkerrytourism.com/, https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2541457/aghadoe‐churchyard, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aghadoe, https://timetravelireland.blogspot.com/2013/12/aghadoe‐church‐killarney‐county‐kerry.html and https://www.google.com/maps/place/Knoppoge,+Aghadoe,+Co.+Kerry,+Ireland/@52.0738599,‐ 9.7175577,11z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x48453969f6cc5295:0x1800c7a937df4140!8m2!3d52.07382!4d‐9.57748/. acuri.com John R. Vincenti Looking toward Killarney National Park in Aghadoe, Ireland