What Do You See? Part Two

Following up on my last post. I did not see everything you saw. How interesting! That cute, blue shop did not really look like an outdoor store, did it? And yes, the cow is fake, but it is standing outside a "butchery" so I guess it's advertisement.

It's true that the cars park all directions. One of my Irish friends told me he was surprised that in America you are supposed to park in the same direction on the side of the street.

I did see lots of CCTV signs. Maybe this is a Northern Ireland thing because of the troubles. I don't know. Someone should enlighten me. But it didn't bother me. We certainly have them all over in America.

Here's what I noticed that I thought was a bit out of character: the mini van. Not that the Irish don't drive them, but larger vehicles are rare. The streets lack the multitude of SUVs and large pickups that we have here. The reason is likely due in part to the narrow roads and in part to the high prices for fuel. Economy cars are the way to go.

I enjoyed hearing all your observations. How about another go at it? (And yes, there is another minivan, but trust me, there were not many. I just happened to take two photos of them!)

What Do You See?

Let's have fun here. Here's a shot I took in a town in Ireland. Sorry, I can't remember where. Could have been Bushmills, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I noticed a few unique things in this picture. What do you see? If you've been to Ireland before, is there anything you notice here that is a bit unusual?

Not everything is unique in this picture. What do you see here that is typical of Ireland?

Anything surprise you? I hope you'll all play along. I'll add my observations later. But I bet someone will notice something that I didn't!

Downpatrick Cathedral

Downpatrick Cathedral in County Down, Northern Ireland, sits elevated above the city streets and is a beautiful place. During the 7-8th century a Christian monastery occupied the hill where the cathedral now sits. This monastery, like so many others, was victim to frequent Viking attacks and in the 11th century a round tower was built beside a stone church, apparently better to withstand attack. The round tower was taken down in 1790, sadly. (Personally it's interesting to me to note that my ancestors would have seen it because they left the area around 1770. It would have been in ruins then.) The remains of the round tower was then used to restore the stone church.

But most interesting (for us today and for pilgrims for centuries) is that the area was said to hold the earthly remains of St. Patrick. In 1900 a granite slab was placed over his grave (to discourage grave robbers.)

The grave was also supposed to hold the remains of the other patron saints of Ireland, St. Brigid and St. Columcille (Columba.)

Below is a picture of St. Patrick's grave apparently before 1900.

From downcathedral.org

It is generally accepted that the main walls of the Cathedral date from the years after 1220. Then the monks, in a petition to Henry III, King of England, referred to the fact that the House of Saint Patrick, which had often been destroyed and burned, was being rebuilt again. Further destruction took place during the wars with Edward Bruce in 1316 and finally, on the suppression of the monasteries in 1541, the Cathedral was laid waste. Notwithstanding its ruinous state which lasted until 1790, King James I granted a Charter to the Cathedral in 1609, providing for a Dean and Chapter. The Charter also decreed that the Cathedral should be dedicated to the Holy Trinity, as the former Celtic church had been before the arrival of de Courcy. Rather than lose the connection with Patrick, the name began to be used for the growing town, which assumed the name Downpatrick.

Although successive deans continued to be installed within the ruined walls, there were no funds to rebuild the Cathedral until 1790 when Wills Hill, the Earl of Hillsborough (and afterwards first Marquess of Downshire), along with the then Dean, the Honourable and Reverend William Annesley, provided the impetus to commence the restoration.

Read more here.

The interior of the cathedral is much newer than the exterior but still old by American standards.

Glenstal Abbey

My friend from Dublin, Patrick Comerford, gave me The Glenstal Book of Prayer when I visited him. I did not go to the Glenstal Abbey, which is in County Limerick, but I'm enjoying the book and finding it very meaningful. It's a Benedictine abbey. I found this lovely version of the Beatitudes on YouTube and wanted to share it with you.

Saul

When Saint Patrick first came to Ireland as a missionary, he landed at Saul where he converted the chieftain Dichu. Dichu then gave him a barn to hold services (in Gaelic, Sabhail, which became Saul). In 1933 the church above was built to commemorate Saint Patrick's first church. It is a Church of Ireland (Episcopal) and service is held there still on Sunday mornings.

Saul is also supposed to be the site of Saint Patrick's death on March 17 in the year 461 AD.

These pictures are from inside the church.

Below I'm signing the guestbook.

The feeling I experienced when I walked inside the church is hard to explain--peaceful, calming. It was almost as though I could sense the centuries of worshippers who came to that place.

Saul is near the ruins of Saint Tassach's church at Raholp. Tassach was a disciple of Saint Patrick, and was supposedly the one who was with Patrick when he died at Saul. This is supposed to be one of Ireland's earliest Christian buildings, although I haven't yet discovered just old it is supposed to be. The earliest churches were probably built of wood and thus did not survive.

The church at Saul, like so many of the holy sites, is built atop a wind swept hill with a magnificent view. The picture below takes in part of that view. In the distance you can see the gigantic statue of Saint Patrick. (It's the stick like thing sticking up on the hill far in the distance.) You can read more about that statue here. We did not visit this time, but it's on our list for next time.

If you get to Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland, be sure to visit the church at Saul.

Baa, Baa, Orange Sheep?

I took this picture in Ballycastle on the Antrim coast. The farmers in Ireland mark their sheep (many are free range) with spots of paint to identify them, but this was different. They are all orange! No one at our B&B could explain this, so I Google it. Still couldn't find much of an explanation, but others have seen them too in various places on the British Isles. I found this YouTube video.

Don't worry. There are still plenty of woolly white sheep in Ireland, tons in fact. Hopefully this trend won't catch on. Know anything about this? Let me know.

All Hallow Mass

For several days now I planned to blog on Samhain and the evolution of Halloween. But Halloween came and went and I never got to it. But truly, there are many good posts you could have read about the Celtic festival of Samhain, like this one or this one. (The last one is thanks to Lillian who posted the link on the Celtic Christian Spirituality forum, and there is more of the discussion there you might want to check out.)

In short, Samhain, pronounced sow-en, is the Celtic recognition of the dark half of the year and is considered to be the most important Celtic festival. It's a time when it was believed that those departed could walk among those living. It's a recognition of the thinness of the spiritual separation, and a time when mysterious and magical things can happen.

When Christianity emerged, this celebration easily merged into All Hallow Mass or All Saints Day, a time to recognize those saints who have gone on to heaven. (The night before became All Hallow Eve, and then Halloween.)

Many Christians want to ignore Halloween and celebrate a fall harvest. I'm all for forgoing the horror and all. But I think Halloween and Christianity are connected, and to ignore Halloween is to ignore this wondrous conversion of a pagan tradition into a Christian one--not a compromise, but rather focusing on what the people always knew was true about God--that the spiritual world is near.

So as my thoughts turn to All Saints Day, I think about those who have gone to heaven ahead of me and realize that they are not far away. God is with them; God is with me.