Dalkey: The Goat Castle and the Syrian Cross

Before the Liffey was dredged and walled, goods came into Dalkey. Protected within 7 Castles, imports muled up to Dublin. This hilly town with two harbors sleeps gently just south of Dun Laoghrie. 500 years earlier when awake, she breathed with money and strangers. Ergo, Dalkey attracted a who's who list of authors and poets:

[JM Synge, Brian O'Nolan, LAG Strong, Denis Johnston, Frank McGuinness, Gordon Snell, Lennox Robinson, Joseph O'Connor, Bernard Farrell, Maeve Binchy, Hugh Leonard, Samuel Beckett, and James Joyce]

At the Goat Castle, a local theater company treated us to life in medieval times during the tour. The English bowman and gate keeper asked for a song of my country. I sang "One skin, two skin." They had no retort.

Outside the castle rested a 10th Century church with 3 curiosities. One, the ground had swelled a good 2 meters above the street, from the repeated burials. Ew. Two, a tau cross made of petrified Cedar from the Middle East marks a grave. Above it, carved in the Stone Wall, is a Syrian Cross. Considering the Catholic, Anglican, and Church of Ireland history of the Church of St. Begnet, no one knows the origins of the marker or cross. Could it be that someone from the East was given a traditional burial from their home country?

Literary Inspiration, coupled with an openness for strangers, is the definition of Irish Hospitality.

Slainte'.