So this is where you are, Arthur Multi-cache
So this is where you are, Arthur
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Uachtar Árd (Oughterard or Oughter Ard in the English language) is an ecclesiastical site and graveyard, burial place in 1803 of Arthur Guinness, and a townland and formerly a parish, borough and royal manor in County Kildare, nowadays part of the community of Ardclough close to the Dublin border.
The round tower and ancient monastery are associated with a nunnery established circa 600 AD by foundress Saint Brigid (feast day 21st January), and is associated also with Saint Tarcairteann (feast day 18th December). This monastery was under the patronage of a local branch of the Uí Dúnlainge dynasty which rotated the kingship of Leinster between 750-1050. In that period, ten Uí Dúnchada Kings of Leinster (later the FitzDesmonds) established their base at nearby Lyons Hill. Their cousins patronised the monastery of Kildare and Glendalough.
Recent research has established that the ruined church on the site dates to c. 1350. The church is now entered through one of the windows, as both original doorways serve as mausoleums. The 8th century round tower is one of five in County Kildare. It is composed of uncoursed, spalled limestone, though it is dressed to the curve. The doorway and arched window are of granite. The tower rises 9.6 meters from lowest ground to highest point. There is no offset visible. Circumference at ground level is approximately 14.4 metres. The east-facing doorway has a three-stone arch devoid of decoration. It sits 2.65 metres above the present ground level, though it is likely that the ground level has been raised since the time the tower was built. The single window at the second storey level faces south and echoes the design of the doorway.
A small ruined castle tower stands about 300 metres south-east of the graveyard.
The hilltop monastery and round tower were burned by the Dublin Vikings under Sigtrygg Silkbeard in 995. During the Norman conquest of Ireland in 1169-71 the parish was a part of the large estates given as a dowry by Dermot McMurrough on the marriage of his daughter Aoife to Strongbow in 1170. Next it was owned by Adam de Hereford who willed all his lands to St Thomas monastery in Thomas Street, Dublin, and died in 1210. For several centuries the monastery rented the land to tenant farmers until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536-41. The 1303 Papal taxation listed it as ‘Outherard’ and it was also spelled as ‘Wochtred’ before 1500. The parish of Oughterard was eventually united with Lyons in 1541. The calendar rolls reference which in 1609 (which led to its mistakenly being cited as a foundation date by Walter Fitzgerald in 1898) was followed by another which described the church as being “in ruins” by 1620. It is not clear when it fell into disuse.
Until the construction of the turnpike road in the adjoining valley in 1729, Oughterard was situated on the main road from Dublin to Limerick and Cork. According to “Arthur’s Round” Arthur Guinness’s grandfather William Read, a local farmer, started selling home-brewed ale from a roadside stall to troops en route to the battles in the Jacobite wars. Arthur Guinness was taken back to Oughterard to be buried in the Read family plot in January 1803. Later that year Arthur Wolfe, Lord Kilwarden who lived at Newlands, Co Dublin (the most famous victim of Robert Emmet’s 1803 rebellion) was buried here in the Wolfe mausoleum, a grave that dates to 1650. James Phipps, “A Captain of Insurgents” who took part in the Battle of Ovidstown in 1798, and then moved to America where he died in 1826, is commemorated. William Kennedy from nearby Bishopscourt, who was posthumously decorated for bravery, having lost his life in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II.
Daniel O’Connell (1775-1847) fought a duel with John D’Esterre on 1st February 1815 in an adjoining field. O’Connell had described a Dublin Corporation provision for the poor as “beggarly” on 24th Jan and was issued the challenge from John D’Esterre, a champion of the conservative and Protestant cause at the time. D’Esterre died as a result of his wounds. A detachment of cavalry sent out from Dublin arrived too late to prevent the duel taking place. A boulder commemorating the event was removed – but its exact site was re-established in 2007.
Oughterard is the burial place of Arthur Guinness, the founder of the GUINNESS brewing company. Arthur died on 23rd January 1803 and was taken back here to be buried in the Read family (his mother’s family) plot. During his life, Arthur must have been a regular visitor here – at his mother’s funeral (when he was just 17) and also at the funerals of 10 of his children who died young.
The cache is a 400 ml klip-lock container, shaped vaguely like a pint glass and covered with black plastic. It is suitable for geocoins and small items only. I think it’s the first cache in Ireland to be set up using a Garmin 12XL.
To find the cache, go to N 53° 16.596 W 006° 33.870. There is no parking there, but parking is possible along the other side of the road. Park carefully.
Stage 1: Go to the burial place of Arthur Guinness (N 53° 16.666 W 006° 33.937). On the stone almost facing it, note the numerals on the bottom line: ABCD aged EF
Then enter the roofed part of the church and find the ‘table’ headstone. On the bottom (last) line there are two sets of dates: GHJK and LMNP
While there, climb the nearby stone, circular staircase to the ‘roof’ (take your camera with you and enjoy the view). It’s perfectly safe.
Stage 2: Find the Kennedy plot (N 53° 16.678 W 006° 33.941). On the bottom line of the stone commemorating the one who was awarded the Military Cross, count the words = Q and count all the letters = RS
Final co-ordinates: N 53° 16.C H F W 006° 33.(Q+P–R) (M-N) (J-C)
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Yvxr Neguhe, gur pnpur ercbfrf va fgvyr