Hill of Slane and Slane Abbey

The Hill of Slane rises above the Boyne River valley to heights from you can see the Wicklow mountains south of Dublin, east to Drogheda and the Irish Sea, northward into the North of Ireland, southwest to the regal Hill of Tara and West to the motte upon which stood the ring fort of the earliest settlers. Atop the Hill of Slane are the ruins of a Franciscan Monastery built in 1512 by Christopher Fleming capped by the commanding belltower of Saint Patrick's Church. You can still climb the close, narrow spiral stone staircase to the peak of the tower and have a long look at the landscapes just described.

As a height from which the Sea could be surveyed, as well as being along an ancient and fertile waterway, the Hill of Slane was a natural choice for the earliest wanderers to settle as a holy place where one's ancestors might be buried and where religious rites could be consummated. The rise of the motte /mound to the immediate west afforded a defensive position for early tribes to establish their home and raise their families. Below, by the ancient Boyne River, the ancient tombs were constructed to honor the solar deity's return to earth and the hopes of passing Kings wishing to see the next life, and the subjects who would be led by them there. Atop the Hill of Slane one can only feel that this commanding eminence of earth must somehow be the capstone of these ancient sites.

Saint Patrick

More recent memory serves to provide the tales for which Slane is most famous. It is said that in the Fifth century A.D. Saint Patrick came to the Hill of Slane early in his attempt to convert pagan Ireland to the light of christianity. On the eve of the Christian feast of Easter, 433 A.D. which appropriately coincides with the pagan feast of Beltane and the spring equinox, St. Patrick lit a bonfire upon the Hill of Slane. The law in force at the time was no fire should lit in the in the vicinity when a great festival fire blazed at the Royal seat of power on the visibly nearby Hill of Tara.

The King rode off in a war chariot with his retinue to arrest the mystery rebel. As the kings horses thundered up the Hill Patrick calmed his few disciples and immediately set to eloquence. Patrick's gift of eloquence went to high gear and somehow--some say through an earthquake, others by holding up a shamrock--he convinced the King of his earnest intent and belief in the power of the Holy Trinity. It was a power that Patrick thought would be useful to the King who could only wish that his own soldiers could wield the kind of bravery through deep conviction that Patrick displayed. The King took Patrick and his disciples prisoner and they were marched by to the Hill of Tara, chanting prayers. By morning light, Patrick and his men were spared and allowed to preach Christianity to the pagan army.

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