Belmullet was a bust! We woke up to heavy rain. The forecast for the next two days promised more of the same, so we decided to move on without hiking the cliffs we’ve heard so much about. Bummer.
Ballintubber Abbey. What a wonderful place. So much history! Crough Patrick Pilgrimage, pagan sun worship, St. Patrick and baptisms, destruction and fire during the Reformation, 800-year history of unbroken Eucharistic celebration, the drying up of the lake and river that served the area, a murderous priest hunter, and beautiful craftmanship and art in and on the grounds of the Abbey
It was difficult to get pictures of both the interior of the church and the stained glass in the same image. Either you capture the stained glass, making the image darker, making the walls appear darker, or you capture the brightness of the interior walls and ceiling diminishing the brilliance of the stained glass. I guess this has been an underlying problem with all the incredible scenes and images we’ve tried to capture for the last two months! The light coming in through the stained and cut glass reflects off the white walls making everything so bright and beautiful. The truth is not either/or, but both/and. St. Paul would be proud!
The ceiling over the nave (“ship” in Latin) was impressive. A common theme that points to the role of the church as an Ark of Salvation, this church was a remarkable example of craftmanship. Building of the church began in 1216 and it also served as the beginning of the Crough Patrick pilgrimage route – the mountain on which St Patrick spent 40 days praying and fasting. The route to the mountain top was also used for more than two thousand years before that for pagan sun worshiping.
^^^^ A small thing that we’ve appreciated in many of the churches here in Ireland are the heaters placed throughout the church. In this church, if you look closely, you can see them in front of the kneelers. Often the heaters run down the side aisles, and I can imagine folks positioning themselves to sit at the end of the pews! Since, in August, we’ve been pulling on extra layers in many of the churches we’ve visited, I can imagine what it feels like it January! The outside walls are often one to two feet thick and definitely hold in the coolness.
Ballintubber Abbey is recognized for uninterrupted celebration of the Eucharist for over eight hundred years. Above is a pic of the congregation celebrating Mass in the burned-out nave with grass growing under their knees. Striking to see under the current picture of the same sanctuary!
The tree marks the grave of Sean na Sagart (John of the priest). Sean became a priest hunter after being caught stealing a horse. In exchange for the death penalty for this crime, John agreed to the Sheriff of Mayo’s bargain. John could keep his freedom if he paid an annual “rent” of a priest’s head. For many years, during the Penal Times, teachers, priests, and bishops had a price on their heads. Sean, with the protection of soldiers, was credited with the capture of a good number of priests.
At Ballingtuber, Sean tricked a parishioner into revealing the identity of one of the two priests, Fr. Kilger, whom he killed while Fr. Kilger was hearing a confession. At Fr. Kilger’s burial, Sean identified the other priest and a full-day chase ensued that ended with the death of Sean, his burial, being exhumed and his body being thrown in the river, and the priest insisting his body be retrieved from the river. There’s more. It’s worth the read! https://ballintuberabbey.ie/history
Another national landmark is here that draws thousands every year. It is said that St. Patrick baptized so many people, his knee left an imprint on the rock.
And, below that, are two of the fourteen outdoor Stations of the Cross utilizing river rock from the land after the river dried up following English control of the area and improvement work to deepen and widen navigation channels that ultimately led to the river being absorbed into the limestone base that had been unearthed. The active water transport route in front of the church for thousands of years became pasture land.
Somewhere in between Ballintubber and Kylemore
Barbara made us break in and out of a cemetery.
I have never been able to figure out why they put walls or fences around cemeteries?
A good boy!
He gave us some much appreciated puppy-therapy this afternoon.
Kylemore Abbey (and Notre Dame)
Kylemore Castle was built in 1868 as a private home for the family of Mitchell Henry, a wealthy doctor from London. He moved to Ireland when he and his wife Margaret purchased the land around the Abbey, after having travelled there on their honeymoon in the mid-1840s. Ireland was still struggling coming out of the Famine. Hundreds of people showed up to help build the castle when word got out that Henry was paying fair wages. It took one hundred men over four years to complete the castle. The Henry’s raised nine children there. It has been maintained and it was neat to walk through it. When Margaret died, Mitchell built a chapel for the family in her honor. Instead of gargoyles, he opted for angels and other more feminine touches Margaret would have enjoyed. I’m pretty sure she would have loved praying there! You’ll have to look for it, but the steeple is visible in the trees to the left of the castle. And, above the castle, we spied Jesus. No trails, though, so whoever pulled that off earned their keep!
Benedictine nuns bought the castle and made it their abbey after their home in Belgium was destroyed in WWI. They immediately opened a school for children. Since 2015, the Abbey has a partnership with The University of Notre Dame. The abbey hosts academic programs for Notre Dame students, and the university renovated spaces in the abbey. We learned about Kylemore from our friend, Fr Kevin, who taught a course there earlier this summer. It is located in the prettiest part of Ireland we have been in.
Tori
The stations here are so unique and beautiful. The beauty is unmatched!