Normandy Weather

     The Normandy invasion was supposed to happen on June fifth but because of the weather they had to move it to June sixth. The weather that General Eisenhower wanted was low tides, no overcast, light winds and calm seas. But the weather on June fifth was cloudy, rapid seas, and high winds. June sixth was a better day. It wasn't as good as they had hoped but it was good enough. The waves were pretty high and some of the boats went off course. Most of the paratroopers didn't land where they  supposed to. But they did the best they could and their best prevailed.

The Veil Of Mary

     On Monday we flew from Edinburgh, Scotland to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. In the airport we saw heavily armed French soldiers providing security.
   
     We rented a car and mom drove through Paris during rush hour. After we got out of Paris we drove to Chartres, France and stayed there for two days.

     While we were in Chartres we visited La Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Chartres. The cathedral was about 1,000 years old. The church inside was very magnificent and also very cold. The cathedral is very popular because the church holds Le Voile de la Vierge or "The Veil of The Virgin". It has traditionally been believed to have been worn by Mary.

     According to experts the relic, made of silk from the Middle East, probably dates from the 1st century. The cathedral and the veil went perfectly together because they both have something to do with Mary and both are very ancient.

     The sun sets late here in Chartres. When it became dark we went back to the cathedral. It was lit up with multicolored lights and spectacular patterns. Choir music was playing in the background. This was an experience I will never forget.
 

Stirling Castle

Stirling Castle Cannon. Stirling, Scotland
(Photo By Maria Carroll)

     Today I am in Scotland with some family friends who have adopted five kids from Haiti. It was a nice sunny day today so we decided to go to Stirling Castle.

     Stirling Castle is a castle built on a hill in a town called Stirling. It was built between 1490 and 1600. Many kings and queens were crowned there. Mary Queen of Scots was brought to the castle for safety. The castle was built on top of Castle Hill so the people inside could see enemies. Behind the walls there are steep cliffs because they didn't want enemies to be able to climb in.

     Around the castle there is a moat. The moat was the only way to enter because the drawbridge was up and the walls around the border were too steep for ladders. But it is not an ordinary moat. This moat has no water because they have posts where soldiers could shoot the enemies.

Martello Tower

Martello Tower--Portmarnock,Ireland
(Photo by Luke Carroll)

     I was with cousins for a couple of days. They live in a town near the Irish Sea called Portmarnock just north of Dublin. A few days ago we went on a walk to the Irish Sea coast and we saw a group of towers called the Martello Towers. There are 50 towers in Ireland and 103 towers in England.

     These towers are the main towers in a group of towers that protected the coast of Ireland and England because they were afraid that Napoleon was going to invade these two countries in the early 1800s.

    If Napoleon's ships were spotted the men in the towers would light a fire on the tower roof and the other towers would see and light their own fires to communicate with each other. The towers were never used because Napoleon never came.

 

A water droplet in Ireland

Rain falling on New Ross. Behind the trees is the River Barrow.

   
       We visited a town called New Ross and in that town there is a river called the Barrow River. I am going to trace a droplet of water starting from the Barrow River and ending up into the St. George's Channel.

    

      First the water droplet evaporates from the Barrow River. Then it condenses into a cloud over New Ross. From there the cloud travels to Cork. The droplet then falls as rain into St. George's Channel. St. George's Channel links the Irish Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

The Dunbrody Famine Ship

     Yesterday I went to the Barrow River in New Ross, home of the Dunbrody famine ship. This ship was built in Canada 1845 and it was originally used to transport cargo. But during the same year the great potato famine hit Ireland. Over a million people were dying from starvation. This is so because the average man ate twelve to fourteen pounds of potatoes a day and without any potatoes people couldn't get much food.

       The Dunbrody was turned into a passenger boat. The people on the boat were called emigrates because they were leaving Ireland to come to the United States and Canada. The boat held 130 to 300 passengers each trip.

       On the boat there were two classes of passengers, first class and second class. The first class people paid a little extra to stay in a safer part of the boat and to eat better. The second class people paid hardly anything so each family had to sleep in one six foot by six foot  bed and only eat bread and rice. When the weather was safe the first class people were able to go up on the deck whenever they wanted. The second class people were only allowed on the deck for only a half an hour to cook food.The second class people often died from cholera and tuberculosis while they were in the steerage part of the boat which was cold and dark.

       It took eight weeks to sail across the ocean in these "coffin ships". The death rate was frequently twenty percent. More people died on famine ships than on slave ships. The slaves were going to be sold so they were protected more then Ireland's starving people.

       In conclusion millions of people left Ireland during the great famine to start a new life. There are an estimated 35 million Irish Americans in the United States. Many people of Irish descent have become very successful during the last 150 years.

Glendalough

Yesterday I went to an area called Glendalough where St. Kevin's monastery was.The temperature was cold and very windy but we toughed it out. My favorite building was called "The Round Tower". It was a four story building with only one window on the first three floors and four windows on the fourth floor. The door was 12 feet high and you had to use a ladder to get in. the door was so high because the monks didn't want enemies to break in.

Another one of my favorite structures was the Cathedral. It is one of the oldest churches in all of Ireland. It was built between the12th and 13th centuries.Yesterday was a fun trip to Glendalough and I can't wait to see all of the other interesting  things.