Aideen’s Grave: The Howth Castle Portal Tomb

When my husband and I arrived in Ireland last month, we opted to spend two days in Howth, a village nine miles north of Dublin. If you’ve read my previous posts, Howth Therapy and Heavenly Howth, you know that Howth is one of my favorite places, a very inspiring spot. Its dramatic cliffs and lovely harbor served as a backdrop for my young adult novel, Glancing Through the Glimmer.

During this latest visit, we stayed at the lofty Deer Park Hotel above Howth Castle and took the train into Dublin to raid the bookstores and museums.

Walking trails run through the hotel grounds and beyond. One of those trails leads to Aideen’s Grave, a portal tomb I’ve wanted to see for some time. A hearty walk through woods thick with rhododendrons brought us to the ancient stone monument, one of seven portal dolmens in the Dublin area.

The tomb dates from 2,500 BC - 2,000 BC, and the quartzite capstone, 6 feet thick, 17 feet long, and 12 feet wide, weighs more than 70 tons. Over time, the capstone has partially collapsed, though it’s still an impressive sight.

The tomb is supposedly the burial place of Aideen, daughter of Aengus of Ben Edar. Apparently, poor Aideen died of a broken heart when her warrior husband, Oscar, son of Oisín and grandson of Finn MacCumhaill, perished at the Battle of Garbha. Her father-in-law, Oisín, buried her with great ceremony on Howth Hill. Or so the story goes.

If you don’t care for that legend, you might prefer the one that says the mighty Finn MacCumhaill tossed the stones from the Bog of Allen in Kildare all the way to Howth during a game of quoits.

Heavenly Howth

View of Howth Head
from the East Pier

Ten miles north of the City of Dublin, the fishing village of Howth occupies a neck of land that juts into the Irish Sea. The rugged southern side of this peninsula overlooks Dublin Bay. On the gentler northern side, Howth Harbor provides shelter for fishing trawlers and private yachts. Beyond the small lighthouse on the East Pier, Ireland’s Eye and Lambay Island loom in the distance like sleeping sea monsters. Fancy boutiques and trendy restaurants line Howth’s main street. Splendid homes dot the rolling hillsides right to the top of Howth Head. Foremost among these grand abodes is Garrymuir, a majestic estate that had been in the Boru family for generations.*

View of Howth Harbor
from Howth Head

Okay, I made up that last sentence. Garrymuir only exists in my novels. Still, Howth is the right place for a majestic estate. I blogged about our hurried visit to this charming fishing village late last summer, but this time we stayed longer and had better weather: we did the glorious cliff walk again.

View of the Irish Sea

The Irish name for Howth is Binn Éadair, the "Hill of Edar." Edar, a chieftain of the Tuatha Dé Danaan, is supposedly buried on Howth Hill. The modern name of Howth emerged during the medieval influx of Vikings to the Dublin area. It comes from höfuth, the Norse word for headland.

Part of the Cliff Walk

As well as providing a well-set stage for my recently completed YA fantasy, Glancing Through the Glimmer, Howth has served as a venue for many events in Irish myth and history. Finn MacCool and his Fianna (the watchers of the coast, the guardians of the shore) reportedly had one of their many outposts up on the cliffs. Sixteenth century Pirate Queen Grace O’Malley paid Howth an outrageous and memorable visit in 1576 (see my previous post, Howth Therapy). And in 1914, author and Irish patriot Robert Erskine Childers smuggled rifles and ammunition for the Irish Volunteers into Howth Harbor aboard his famous yacht, the Asgard.

Heather Blooming
During a Previous Visit

Our latest visit to Howth took place on an early autumn weekday, and so we nearly had the cliff walk to ourselves. The glorious mounds of purple heather and yellow gorse we recalled from our first visit had faded by late September, though the lack of color hardly spoiled our enjoyment of the sweeping scenery. We trekked to the Bailey Lighthouse, climbed the summit to a wind-whipped stand of palm trees, and finished our hike with a stroll to the harbor to visit the seals.

*From Glancing Through the Glimmer by Pat McDermott



But So Pretty!



Enjoying the View

Guinness Beef Stew a la Pat

Cold weather brings out cravings for heartier food. The warm weather quinoa, bulghur, and veggie salads that kept us cool in July simply won't do anymore. Last autumn I found myself at the Abbey Tavern in the chilly North Dublin Village of Howth, one of my favorite places to visit, which you know if you follow my blogs. (Pictured is Howth's East Pier with Ireland's Eye and Lambay Island in the distance.)

Sitting before a roaring peat fire with a glass of wine and a bowl of Guinness Beef Stew came close to topping nearly every heavenly experience I've ever known. But the cook wouldn't share the recipe! Undaunted, I strove to recreate the succulent dish after I returned to New Hampshire. Through trial and much error, I came up with a delectable stew on a par with the one I enjoyed in Howth, and I'm happy to share the recipe with you here. Sorry I can't offer a roaring peat fire!

PAT'S GUINNESS BEEF STEW

4-5 lbs. beef stew meat, well trimmed

4 Tbs. vegetable oil

A dollop of bacon fat

4 Tbs. flour

One big vidalia onion, chopped

2 lbs. sliced mushrooms, white, wild, or mixed to your taste

A few cloves of garlic, minced

1 can of beef broth

3 cans of Guinness Stout

2 tsps. Worcestershire sauce

2 tsps. dried thyme

A few bay leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a stew pot. Add bacon fat and brown the meat, sprinkling with flour as it cooks. Remove meat and set aside. Add chopped onions and cook for a few minutes until soft, then add the mushrooms and sauté until they release their moisture and start to brown, adding minced garlic and sprinkling on any remaining flour. Return meat to the mixture, add the beef broth, Guinness, and remaining ingredients. Stir well and simmer for about two hours, or until meat is tender. Serve with mashed potatoes. Serves six to eight hungry people and leftovers are great.

Howth Therapy

"Howth is Magic" says the current tourist brochure for Ireland's maritime gem on the northern fringe of Dublin Bay. I love visiting Howth, but we almost didn't make the nine-minute train ride this trip. We've been there so often, I thought perhaps we should try someplace different. But Mike said "Let's go," and after a late breakfast at Bewley's on Grafton Street, we caught the DART at Pearse Station. The decision was a good one. There's no better cure for jet lag than a walk out on the east pier followed by a visit to the venerable Abbey Tavern for classic Irish refreshment.

Howth is a picturesque village on the peninsula of Howth Head, which juts out over the northern part of Dublin Bay. Once a small fishing village, Howth has evolved greatly over the years. The boats still bring in the freshest seafood around, yet upscale restaurants and shops lure tourists from all over the world. The grounds of Howth Castle now include a luxury hotel and the largest golf course in Ireland. A marina filled with sailboats graces the harbor. And the scenery . . . oh, the scenery.

The cliff walks have lured many hikers, including me, to view sights that haven't changed in ages. When Mike and I trekked along those heathery cliffs a few years ago, I easily pictured Viking ships hurtling in to attack as they did in the ninth century. No need to do battle nowadays, however. Howth's property prices would knock the wind out of those Viking sails in a flash. In fact, I chose Howth as Prince Peadar Boru's fictitious home in A Band of Roses. Peadar's imaginary mansion would fit right in with the elegant homes overlooking Balscadden Bay from Howth Head.

One of my favorite stories about Howth concerns Pirate Queen Grace O'Malley. According to the legend, she was cruising home from England in 1576 and stopped to lodge at Howth Castle for the night. The Earl of Howth turned her away. Infuriated by the breach of hospitality, she kidnapped the earl's grandson and heir and sailed home to Mayo. She returned the boy once the earl met her unique ransom demand: he must never rebuff unexpected guests again. To this day, the gates of Deer Park, the earl's demesne, are always open, and an extra place is set each night at the castle's dinner table.

Our Dublin adventures continued today. Stay tuned.