St. Patrick, faith and fairies, Ireland Tradition!

Under every rock and tree is a story, and a church on every corner. June 5-15th, I traveled with my husband Keith, his brother Craig and wife Debbie to the southern half of Ireland. We learned religion played a part in almost every aspect of Ireland’s history.

Jody Halstead of Ireland Family Vacations helped us plan this magical trip. Hooking us up with Irish Chauffer’s, we had a guide, John Hourigan. With his wonderful Irish brogue, he spun tails of faith, fairies, and the contention at times between religion. John explained, and we learned the power struggle between England and Ireland, and Protestants and Catholics. Even with our visit, I don’t think this can struggle can really be understood by a visitor, but only by one who has lived there.

Finding faith along the trail is something we love to do on trips. Our first find was in Dublin!

St. Patrick’s Cathedral & Rock of Cashel

St. Patrick’s Cathedral, is the National Cathedral of the Church of Ireland!  Near the church is a well where they think St. Patrick baptized Christian converts! Son of a British noble, St Patrick was captured by Irish pirates. Brought to Ireland working he was working on as a slave on a pig farm.  After six years he escaped. He made his way back to Britain. Becoming a Priest, then a Bishop he kept dreaming that he was to return and preach to the Irish. He returned as a missionary. 

The beautiful St. Patrick’s Cathedral was built in 1220 and has been expanded over the years.

The Rock of Cashel is where legend shares St. Patrick came here to convert King Aenghus to Christianity. 

St. Kevin and the Walled City

Glendalough’s Monastic City settled by St. Kevin was once a walled city!  Built in the 6^th century, we saw, the Round Castle, which is 100 feet high, and has four windows. In this area, we toured St. Mary’s Church, St. Kevin’s Church, and the Priest’s House. The house is a 12th Century building in Romanesque style.  St Kevin’s cross and a graveyard are also nearby. Before establishing the monastery, St. Kevin was a hermit at the Valley of the Two Lakes in Glendalough. After seven years he was persuaded to give up his solitary life. Then he moved to Glendalough. 

Heavenly Vestments

In Waterford, the oldest Irish City we toured the Medieval History Museum. We learned about the beautiful gold vestments dating from the 1460s. According to the website, “The Waterford cloth-of-gold vestments are made from Italian silk woven in Florence. The panels were embroidered in Bruges which was the centre of the medieval embroidery industry. Depicted on these priceless vestments are various scenes from the Bible and from the life of the Virgin Mary. They are the greatest treasures of late medieval Ireland.”

The vestments are called “the heavens’ embroidered cloth”. Once they were hidden beneath the floor of the chapel. This was during a change of regime, and they stayed hidden for years and years. There is a much deeper story that goes with this as well.

Kenmare Stone Circle and the Fairy Tree

Thinking we would only see a sight like this in England, I was amazed at the Kenmare Stone Circle. Built during the Bronze Age (2000-200 B.C.) the Kenmare Circle is the largest of over 100 circles in Ireland.  It may have been used for rituals by Druid priests. Nearby is a Fairy Tree. John said, according to Celtic mythology, fairies live under the Hawthorn trees. Visitors place their wishes on the tree in hopes of healing and good fortune.

Monk Beehive huts and the Gallarus Oratory

Some of the beauty of the religious stops is the amazing architecture of the sites. These beehive huts were built by monks. The stone huts predate the Vikings!

Near this area was the Gallarus Oratory, a stone building built by early Christians1300 years ago. The building appears like an inverted boat.

St. Bridget’s Well

On our way to the Cliffs of Mohr, we stopped at the beautiful St. Bridget’s Well. There is a statue of the Saint. We went down into the well. Inside there were tokens where the healing waters are found.

Chapel at Kylemore Abbey

The last religious site we stopped at is in the town of Connemara. Home of Kylemore Abbey, in the late 1800’’s Mitchell Henry, a wealthy British politician built a castle for his wife Margaret, a mother of nine.  She died tragically when the family went on vacation in Egypt, when she caught cholera. In her honor Mitchell built a chapel using the beautiful Connemara marble.  Then, Mitchell turned the estate over to the Benedictine nuns. They have been here since 1920.

Churches, wells, huts, walled cities, Celtic crosses and fairy trees, Ireland is a beautiful place filled with faith, music and mystery.