Alone with none but Thee, my God,I journey on my way;What need I fear when Thou art near,Oh King of night and day?More safe am I within Thy handThan if a host did round me stand.~Attributed to St. Columba
St. Patrick heard the voice of the Irish calling to him, saying, "Come holy boy and walk amongst us again." May we also hear Celtic voices both past and present—the ancient lives, the immigrant ancestors, the modern day wayfarers—and learn from their stories.
Dec 29, 2010
Journeying
Dec 20, 2010
Tomorrow's Winter Solstice
Tomorrow morning (where I live) a unique occurrence in the heavens will take place. It's the first time in 372 years that a lunar eclipse will coincide with the winter solstice. The moon is supposed to be high in the sky because of where it is located at the solstice, making viewing the eerily glowing moon easier--if, that is, there are no clouds to block it.
Dec 17, 2010
Immigrant Eyes
Dec 15, 2010
The Stuff Legends Are Made Of
We know that the rock at the Giant's Causeway was the result of cooling lava compressed together millions of years ago (at least most people think it was millions of years ago.) This black rock is basalt and it's a natural wonder.
Dec 13, 2010
St. Fingar and St. Piala
Nov 29, 2010
What Do You See? Part Two
Nov 26, 2010
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?
Nov 25, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving!
Glad you stopped by!
Nov 22, 2010
Two Surprises in Ireland
Palm trees???
Nov 19, 2010
The Magpie
Driving around Ireland we noticed large black and white birds that seemed to be everywhere. Once while a friend was driving us, Tom asked what it was. "Oh, those magpies!" the friend replied, and he counted them whenever they flew by. He explained that there is a poem that tells you that seeing one by itself was bad luck. Of course, after that we started counting them, and wouldn't you know it. Half the time we saw a lone bird. But no worries, as soon as we saw another one we added it to the total, never admitting we saw one by itself. ;-)
One for sorrow, two for joy;
Three for a girl, four for a boy;
Five for silver, six for gold;
Seven for a secret, never to be told;
Eight for a wish, nine for a kiss;
Ten for a bird that's best to miss.
"Large blackbirds, like crows and ravens, are viewed as evil in British folklore and white birds are viewed as good," he says. "Magpies have a dubious reputation because they are a bit of both. Over the years they have been lumped in with blackbirds."
The negative connotations attached to magpies can be traced as far back as Shakespeare's time, when their "chattering" was complained about.
In the late 19th Century, superstitions circulated locally, says Mr Roud. So, in Durham in the 1880s, it was believed they were the only bird not to go on the ark with Noah, preferring to sit outside "jabbering over the drowning world".
Nov 18, 2010
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.
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.
Nov 17, 2010
Glenstal Abbey
Nov 12, 2010
Clough Castle
Nov 10, 2010
Saul
Nov 5, 2010
Why I Went North
Tom and I spent most of our trip to Ireland in the north. That sounded odd both to people here and to the people in Northern Ireland. But I don't regret the decision. Many of the sites I've written about are in Northern Ireland, as were some of the friends I had met over here. We didn't often run into other Americans while we were there. Wherever we went, after we spoke to someone, they looked surprised and said, "You're Americans!" They would always ask us where we were from. When we said Ohio, they said, "Oh" and nodded their heads. We told them it was okay if they didn't know where Ohio was. Many of them had been to New York,Boston, California, or Florida. "We're in the middle," we told them.
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Nov 4, 2010
Baa, Baa, Orange Sheep?
Nov 1, 2010
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.)
Oct 29, 2010
Scenes From Ireland
Oct 23, 2010
Tribute to My Father
My father passed away while we were in Ireland. We just had the funeral yesterday. This is the tribute I wrote that the pastor read.
I’m proud to say that my dad was a member of the greatest generation—raised during the Depression, lived through WWII, and worked 65 years until he was forced by health problems to retire at age 80. Although he was a tough old Army sergeant, he had four daughters who called him Daddy.
He had a huge heart. He observed family gatherings from his recliner and we will never forget some of what he said:
Shut the door. Were you born in a barn?
When’s dinner? My stomach thinks my throat’s cut.
Where did [insert name] go? Is [insert name] with you?
(He was always keeping track of everyone.)
Did you get something to eat? Have some more!
Watch those kids. They’ll run out the door and into the street.
Take my car. It’s full of gas.
Thinking about those things now makes me realize the important role of guardian he played for our family.
My dad was a war hero.
He enlisted in the Navy on May 6, 1942 at age 17. He once answered some questions from me in an email. Here are his own words: “I enlisted because our country had been attacked and in such a cruddy way that I thought that we needed to do those people in. Two thousand of our sailors were entombed in the Arizona and that was too much for me to swallow.”
You’ve probably heard his war stories. Early on the stories were about the places he’d been, the people he encountered, and the men he worked with. In later years he began to have flashback type dreams. He remembered something from early in the war.
He worked on an LCI (Landing Craft Infantry) a type of ship that delivered the infantry to a beachhead. The ramps were at that time operated manually. Again in his own words: “I was the guy who went down the Starboard ramp and removed the cable. Another guy went down the Port side.) He remembered a particular time when the troops were under heavy fire. Men were shot and fell into the water. He thought if he could just pull them to the beach, a medic could get to them and at least they’d have a chance. His job was to remove the cable and run back up the ramp so it could be closed. But this time he was delayed because he started pulling the injured men onto the beach. He got in trouble for that. But he was trying to save lives at the risk of his own. That illustrated to me what a hero he was.
He saw 26 months of straight combat. That is so hard to imagine today. He stayed in the military, choosing to enlist in the Army after the war. He was a 20-year veteran, spent the first two years of my life in Korea while we stayed state side. We lived through a devastating earthquake when he was stationed at Fort Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, and he was involved in search and rescue there. He was honorably discharged on January 1, 1965, at Fort Richardson.
But I, of course, already thought of my dad as a hero. He encouraged me my whole life. He thought I could do anything so long as I just tried. I’ve been blessed to have had a father like that.
The last time I talked to him he said he was glad I was going on my trip. He passed away at an hour when I was in Ireland photographing a full rainbow. A rainbow is God’s promise that there is more to come. I’m happy for him that he has no pain now, that he’s safe in the arms of his Savior.
Now it’s up to us to make sure our cars are full of gas and that we shut our doors to keep in the heat. We will have to make sure the children don’t run into the street. We will have to keep track of everyone and make sure everyone has eaten.
We may never be faced with pulling someone onto a beach while under attack. But we can reach out to someone who is drowning in life’s troubles so that they will at least have a chance. If we do this, he has taught us well.
In 1996 my dad wrote down his memories, mostly of WWII. He wrote a farewell near the end that I feel is appropriate to read now.
“To those who carry on I will say one thing. If you have God on your side you can—and you will— survive anything. Goodbye my dears—please pass the torch on to our succeeding generations—your story will be precious to them.”
Oct 4, 2010
Off To Ireland
Oct 1, 2010
Prayer as Dance
Sep 27, 2010
Searching for God
From Celtic Wisdom:
St. Columban expressed the belief that in order for God to answer prayer, one has to search God out. He said, "He must yet be besought by us, often besought; ever must we cling to God, to the deep, vast, hidden, lofty, and almighty God." The following prayer illustrates the searching, the longing to find the path to God:Jesu, from to-dayGuide us on our way.So shall we, no moment wasting,Follow Thee with holy hasting,Led by Thy dear HandTo the Blessed land.From the Celtic Psaltery by Alfred Perceval GravesThe ancient Irish Christians were searching for a closer relationship with God, to find out who He really was and what He desired for them. Do we have any different motives today?
Sep 24, 2010
Summer is Gone
Summer is GoneAncient Irish poem translated by Kuno MeyerMy tidings for you: the stag bells,Winter snows, summer is gone.Wind high and cold, low the sun,Short his course, sea running high.Deep-red the bracken, its shape all gone--The wild-goose has raised his wonted cry.Cold has caught the wings of birds;Season of ice--these are my tidings.
Sep 20, 2010
The Owl
Continuing on with the theme of birds and Celtic symbolism, it will surprise no one to know that the owl represents wisdom. This bird was a guide in the underworld and could help one discern whether or not someone was being honest.
Romans 1:22-23, "Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles."