Thanksgiving

An Irish Mystery

I recently came across this story, and I thought I'd share it.

Ireland has always been a place of mysteries. Sir John Pentland once said: "In Ireland the inevitable never happens and the unexpected constantly occurs."

This happened in Rostrevor in County Down. For many generations people claimed to hear the ringing of an invisible bell near a graveyard that was associated with the ancient church of St. Bronagh. The church no longer existed but the ruins from a 15th century church remained. Now, you might think this was odd, but in Ireland supernatural events are expected. People thought it was the fairies, don't ye know!

That is, until 1888 when a storm knocked down a massive oak tree in Kilbroney churchyard. When the tree was cut up for firewood, an ancient bell was found deep within it, perhaps concealed for hundreds of years by ivy that had grown over it. It's an excellent example of the kinds of bells used in ancient monasteries. How did it get there? It might have been hung there when the tree was young or hidden there to protect it from raids. It is now kept in the local church and can be seen today.

Where but in Ireland are people surprised when something is proven NOT to caused by fairy folk?

You can read about an Irishwoman's visit where she saw the bell, and rang it even, on this blog.

More on Fermanagh

Fermanagh. en Yahoo! Video

Monastery Ruins on Lough Erne

This picture is of the ruined monastery on Lough Erne in County Fermangh. One of the characters in a novel I'm currently working on lives in this area in about 477AD. While the location may have contained a monastery in the 5th century, these ruins are mostly, if not all, from a later time period, maybe the 12th century.

Have you visited the area? If you have, I'd love to hear from you. Email me: cindy at cindyswriting dot com

Win Free Stuff!

How to get something for nothing:

I give away something every month in a trivia contest for my newsletter subscribers. In the past I've given away lots of books, t-shirts, Christmas ornaments, bookmarks...all kinds of stuff. Don't miss out! Sign up for my newsletter at www.cindyswriting.com

Celtic Wisdom--official US release

Hi!
Celtic Wisdom is now officially released in the US. Any bookstore should be able to order it.

Here is an interview I did recently online. Be sure to vote for it (look for the link on the right hand side of the page.)

I'm still in need of some Amazon reviews. If you've read it and enjoyed it, please let others know.

Thanks.
By the way, I've been posting some Irish proverbs over on twitter: http://twitter.com/cindyswriting

Milwaukee Irish Fest 2009

What a great time we had at Irish Fest. I had the pleasure of letting book lovers know that my new book, Celtic Wisdom, Treasures From Ireland, is just about to be released. I had copies of Brigid of Ireland with me at the Fest as well.

I had book signings and a talk at the Hedge School with my friend Patti Lacy, author of An Irishwoman's Tale--an amazing book based on a true story.
















It was a pleasure to meet new friends like Alister McReynolds, historian and author. He is an expert on the Scots-Irish. I picked up a copy of his book. In addition I reconnected with Dr. Tim Campbell, Director of the Saint Patrick Centre in Northern Ireland. He had advised me on my St. Patrick chapter in Celtic Wisdom and I presented him a copy of the book at the Fest.

I met many other really cool people, including the organizers of a couple of other Irish festivals. We heard a lot of cool bands, including Master Fiddler Natalie McMaster and her husband Donnell Leahy; and the legendary Tommy Sands (who also happened to sit next to me on the shuttle ride back to the hotel.)

Finally, I have to mention an amazingly funny and educational play put on by the Bangor Drama Club (that's Bangor, Northern Ireland). It was 10,000 years of County Down history in 30 minutes. So fun! Earlier we met Galvin on the shuttle who told us about some of the challenges the group had, including one member who was temporarily left in London due to a passport irregularity, and another who fell on the sidewalk in Milwaukee and broke her wrist. But the show went on and it was great!

It was so much fun to meet readers, including one who told me she had bought Brigid of Ireland at the Dublin Irish Festival. Now, if I just didn't have to WRITE, I could spend my time visiting the many Irish festivals all over the country. But Tom says we should save our money to visit Ireland, and after all we heard about Northern Ireland, the land of both of our ancestors, I think he's right!