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!

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.