Ireland -- Glendalough Monastery

 

One of the spookiest places I've ever visited is the old and very secluded grounds of the monastery at Glendalough--one of the most important in Ireland. This scene of the graveyard looks like something out of a horror movie. And yet, this place also felt very spiritual.

And no wonder. Glendalough has been a place of pilgrimage since the 6^th century when St. Kevin lived here as a hermit and ascetic who attracted followers and established a monastery there.  Little is known for certain about Kevin, but there are many stories and myths that continue to fascinate and offer inspiration about him today. One is that he lived in a man-made cave, now known as Kevin's Bed. He lived in Nature and made friends with the birds and animals there. He wore animal skins, walked barefoot, and ate very little. Of course, he spent most of his time in prayer. He eventually became known as a great teacher and people from all around visited him seeking help and guidance. In his later years he presided over Glendalough and lived through prayer, fasting, and teaching. St. Kevin is one of the patron saints in the Diocese of Dublin. Eventually, Glendalough, with its seven churches, became one of the chief pilgrimage destinations in Ireland. 

One of the stories of Kevin is his relationship with a blackbird where he held out his hand with trance-like stillness while the bird built a nest in it and layed her eggs. He then watched the eggs hatch and the chicks fledge. Kevin became a saint on December 9, 1903.   

 

Round Tower

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Because this area is so secluded, it is believed that the round tower was a marker to help direct pilgrims and other visitors to the monastery. It is quite remarkable that this tower still stands since the base underground is only a yard thick.

 

 

Gateway to the Sacred Grounds

Evidence of human activity in the valley possibly goes as far back as the Neolithic Period. Recent excavations have uncovered industrial activity that may be contemporary with St. Kevin’s reputed foundation of a ‘monastery’ around 600 AD. Glendalough is one of the most important medieval ecclesiastical landscapes in Ireland. Since the nineteenth century it has been one of Ireland’s premier tourist attractions.

 

Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral

 

The entrance to the cathedral (above) and the altar and sanctuary of the ancient Romanesque cathedral. Below is the nave with ancient gravestones implanted into the floor, a common practice in the UK churches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Priests' House or Sacristy

 

 

Some people regard this building as the priests house as well as the sacristy of the Cathedral. Some people come here to touch the stones because they claim they have some healing power. I tried it and prayed for the health of my family and friends as well as my own health.

Church

One of the seven churches left in the Glendalough region with its roof still fully in tact. The interior shows some environmental wear.

 Celtic Cross

The Celtic Cross illustrates the union of the pagan Nature religions with Christianity. The round part represents the sun, while the cross represents Christianity.

Peter, our Irish guide from Dublin, explains the various sections of Glendalough. He said he finds this place one of the most inspiring in all of Ireland.

 Graves

Some of the graves are hundreds of years old, so they "move" with the earth with all its lumps and depressions. Many graves are recent, however. The white substance on the stones are a type of moss that indicates that the area is free of pollution.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Holy Ground

Glendalough is also known as Gleann-Dá-Locha (the valley of the two lakes).

 

As it did St. Kevin, Glendalough has attracted pilgrims and visitors for almost 1500 years where they can experience the natural beauty of the landscape, walk the mountains and hills, explore the archaeological and historical monuments, and  respond to the sacred energy of this holy ground. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resources

Glendalough Hermitage Centre -- https://glendaloughhermitage.ie/glendalough/

Monastic Ireland: Glendalough -- http://monastic.ie/history/glendalough/

 

 

Ireland -- On the Road

My first wish in going to the Emerald Isle was to see how green it really was. Traveling in our bus from Belfast to Dublin provided us a good look at the very green landscape. The reason it is so green is that it rains--at different times and in different amounts--but it rains every day. And compared to England, it is also a little bit warmer in the winter and a little bit cooler in the summer due to the Gulf Stream. There are also fewer flowering plants, which augments the intensity of the green.

These photos were taken in a moving bus, and so they are a bit blurred. Nevertheless, they capture the rich green of the many pastures and landscapes of eastern Ireland. And like England and Scotland, the pastures are neatly and beautifully separated with rock walls or hedges and trees.

 

 

Ireland was a much-anticipated visit by most of the people in our group. Probably because it is so familiar through its stories, its music, its wit. Many Americans know about the Potato Famine in 1845-52 that prompted thousands of Irish people to flee their lands because the poverty was too much to bear. A lot of Americans are familiar with Frank McCourt's 1996 memoir about his very poor childhood in Angela's Ashes. And most Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day--March 17--a day where everybody is Irish and the beer and Chicago River turn green. 

But Ireland is so much more. It has a rich history of the struggle for independence and freedom as well as a pride of country that is lived out in its culture, its spirit, and in various people's characterizations of what it means to look and be Irish. Our time spent in Ireland was quick, but it was fun. And I think it lived up to many of its stereotypes. 

Black Irish

Many Irish are red-haired and light-skinned, but there are also people with jet-black hair and creamy, white skin. These are known as black Irish. It's not about race, but rather, the color of their hair and eyes. Many times their eyes are a radiant blue. I couldn't take my eyes off of these people when I encountered, but couldn't stop and ask for a photo. So here are some famous black Irish people who have the look.

                                                                                       

                 

        

Famous Irish People

 

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays as well as his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.

James Joyce (1882-1941) was an novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of the 20th century. Joyce's novel Ulysses (1922) is a landmark work in which the episodes of Homer's Odyssey are paralleled in a variety of literary styles, particularly stream of consciousness. Other well-known works are the short-story collection Dubliners (1914), and the novels A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) and Finnegans Wake (1939).

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish literary establishment who helped to found the Abbey Theatre.

Samuel Beckett (1906-89) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic experiences of life, often coupled with black comedy and nonsense. It became increasingly minimalist as his career progressed, involving more aesthetic and linguistic experimentation, with techniques of repetition and self-reference. He is considered one of the last modernist writers, and one of the key figures in the Theatre of the Absurd. 

 

 

Resources

Andrew Speed, guide of CostSaver Travel Company

Black Irish --  https://ireland-calling.com/black-irish/

 

Northern Ireland -- Belfast

 

We didn't spend much time in Belfast, N. Ireland, except to see the docks of the Titanic, its museum, and a wee bit of the downtown. Our tour went there because Belfast was the most direct route from Glasgow to Dublin across the Irish Sea.

We did have time to stop for a pint of "the black stuff", Guiness that is. Our guide suggested that we go to The Crown, a famous pub on the main street. This pub was a great choice because it was dark and had lots of varnished and sculpted wood, mosaic tiled floors, and stained glass. Cozy, little compartments (called snugs) were available for small groups with a bell for service and a formerly much-used metal bar tacked to the wall to strike matches.The snugs were for more reserved customers during the more repressed Victorian era.

The Crown was originally opened as a Victorian gin palace in 1826. In the 1880s, a Catholic husband and a Protestant wife bought it and refurbished it. The husband saw it as a way to both placate his wife who wanted to own it and to have his customers step on a mosaic crown at the front door.

In 1978 the National Trust, a UK heritage conservation group, purchased the property to restore it to its original Victorian state. A recognizable landmark, The Crown has been featured in several film and TV productions.

The Crown offers its chief brew, Guiness, which has a different taste from other cities. It is all about the water. Guiness is produced here but doesn't travel well as a beer, thus the difference in taste. A pint costs 5.5 pounds and a half pint is 2.8 pounds.

The pub's Victorian ambience is attractive and pleasing to its patrons as a relaxing place to be, as members of our group illustrate.

This pub also offered us a little taste of Northern Ireland's sordid history during "The Troubles" when Catholics and Protestants were at war with each other.  A plaque on the wall says:  "This mirror was installed in c. 1898. It was damaged in a bomb explosion in 1993, subsequently restored, and reinstated in 1999." 

Even a short visit to Belfast allowed us to see a little of its difficult past. 

"The Troubles" began in the late 1960s and ended with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. During that time some 3600 people were killed and 30,000 were injured.

 

A Little History

Belfast is really an ancient city that has been occupied since the Bronze Age (3300-1200 BCE). It remained a small settlement in the Middle Ages and the Normans may have built a castle there in the late 12th century. Belfast was established as a town in 1613 and predominantly Catholic. A few English settled there, but it was the Scottish Presbyterians who grew the town into a major port--and became the majority population. Together with the French Huguenot refugees Belfast became a linen-producing city that stretched to the Americas. The industrial revolution then drew landless Irish peasants to Belfast to work in the factories, especially the shipyards. It was at this time that the Protestants began to take control over the city, and tensions arose. However, although it appears that religion separated people, it was really their origins.

The Troubles

The Troubles date back to centuries warfare between Ireland (mostly Catholic) and England (mostly Protestant). In 1921, the Republic of Ireland broke free as an independent state, however, Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom of England. Catholics in Belfast and Derry complained of police discrimination and unfair government treatment in housing, jobs, gerrymandering of political districts. Most of the farms and businesses were owned by the Protestants and Catholics were unable to penetrate them. The country held a siege mentality and suspicion and mistrust reigned. Then, in the 1960s, young Catholic nationalists attempted to right this situation by modeling their movement on the U.S. Civil Rights movement.

On October 5, 1968, a protest march against discrimination took place in Derry and police put it down with violence. On January 1, 1969, nationalist activists organized a march (similar to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s march on Selma) from Belfast to Derry. Police escorted the marchers until they reached Burntollet Bridge outside of Derry. Then police put on their riot gear in anticipation of a problem. A loyalst mob of Protestants started throwing rocks and then wielded iron bars and clubs on the protesters. 

On August 13, 1969, another riot broke out in Derry during a loyalst parade to commemorate Protestant military victories of the 17th century. The parade passed through a Catholic section known as the Bogside. This provoked what is now called "The Battle of Bogside", which lasted three days. The British government sent in troops to quell the disorder. 

On January 30, 1972, Catholic nationalists organized a protest march against British internment policies. Troops were called in to disperse the crowds, first with rubber bullets and then with live ammunition. Thirteen protesters were killed and 17 were wounded. This incident was called "Bloody Sunday". 

For the next 30 years, skirmishes provoked by one side or the other persisted until the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. The agreement created a framework for political power-sharing and an end to the violence.

Today, Belfast is a thriving city. Peace and unity have allowed the economy to explode. The BBC opened new studios here and the film industry and other businesses have been started. Today, Belfast is a cultural mecca with art galleries, theatre, and sports contests. 

 

 

Belfast was and still is a shipbuilding city. Harland & Wolff, established in 1861, dominates the industry, as can be seen with its numerous yellow cranes--the largest in the world. The company built the majority of ships for the White Star Line including the Titanic, Olympic, and Britannic.

 

 

 

 

Titanic was built here in Belfast before it launched its ill-fated maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. This museum, reputedly one of the best, is located near the shipyards with a dramatic form reminiscent of the great ship's size and dominance. It is just another reason to return to Belfast!

A quick run-through the downtown provided some interesting sights of this thriving and busy town. 

 

 

The Art House

 

 

St. Patrick's Catholic Church

 

 

 

The Europa Hotel provides accommodations for the world's diplomats. American presidents stayed here, too. During The Troubles, it had the reputation of being the most bombed hotel in the world.

 

The Titantic Hotel, yet another reminder of the city's past.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resources

 Andrew Speed, guide for Costsaver Company

 How the Troubles Began in Northern Ireland -- https://www.history.com/news/the-troubles-northern-ireland 

The Crown Liquor Saloon -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_Liquor_Saloon

Belfast -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belfast#Early_settlements