Tour of Inishowen, Ireland 4/4

At the  west coast of Inishowen, we spotted on the map an old monument at the hill top and a modern looking similar round structure at the bottom.

Turned out the round stone fort Grianan of Ailigh at the top was built in the 8th century by the local tribe. It is the first time I see a local monument in decent condition, the wooden roof is gone but the curved huge round wall structure is so beautiful, with a spectacular view to match.

At the bottom in the village is a similar round wall structure with a glass spire at the side. It is Aengus Church built in the 60s’ with an award winning design inspired by the fort. The light coming through the spire shines at the altar, a serene atmosphere.

This is the end of the Inishowen Peninsula tour, impressive landscape, monuments and so lucky with sunny weather.

2025年8月27日新舊圓形建築

一向喜歡曲線、弧形，覺得自然順眼些，走在山路上遠遠看到山頂這個巨大石建築，圓筒形，牆身亦是微曲的，即時眼睛發光。

建於八世紀，本地族人的山上城堡，是少數維修良好、非宗教的古建築。

在其他地方也見過圓形石頭地基，以前的民居都如此，牆壁石頭在歲月中被拆卸用在其他建築上，這是唯一見到有完整的石牆，一般是以木材乾草作屋頂，已經消失。

行石級到牆頂走一圈，四方山水風光廣闊，在北部地區，風亦強勁，吹得頭痛。

要到九世紀以後，Norman和 Viking 人到來，才開始建造四方形的高大城堡。

山腳下的小鎮，竟然又有座現代圓形教堂，有同樣線條的牆壁。看資料是七十作代得獎設計，參考山上古蹟作基礎，配飛簷屋頂和不在中央在後側的玻璃尖塔頂，把自然光投放在祭台上。

排椅亦用原木砌作弧形，當真不惜工本，也是首次在愛爾蘭見到悅目又有特別色的現代建築。