Celtic Spirituality Pilgrimage, Day 5: Rock of Cashel and the Dunbrody

St. David's Episcopal Church

Celtic Spirituality Pilgrimage

led by

Ken and Darlene Swanson

Day 5, April 8th: Rock of Cashel and the Dunbrody

It was cold and rained all day (thus the Internet photo below). Fortunately this was a day spent mostly inside.  We drove west from Killarney with a first stop at the Rock of Cashel (below), the traditional seat of the King of Munster and later a major fortress castle and cathedral on a high outcropping dominating the surrounding countryside.

It was here St. Patrick converted the pagan King of Munster to Christian faith in the 5th century.  It was a steep walk up to the castle/cathedral grounds.

Cashel Cathedral was destroyed by Oliver Cromwell's troops in the 17th century as the local guide explained below.     

In its heyday the cathedral had a resident choir, and our organist/choirmaster Sue Mitchell Wallace was very pleased to see that an ancient organist was honored with a medallion hung on the wall of the choir refectory.

The 360 degree view from outside the cathedral was spectacular, even in the rain.

Our next stop was to see a replica of the famine ship Dunbrodie in New Ross.

During the potato famine in the 1840's over a million people died and over million and a half people fled Ireland on ships like this.  The crossing to North America was horrific, as up to 300 people were crammed into the steerage.  As many as eight people were forced to share a single bunk, and many died during the crossing.  It still scars the Irish national memory.

As this was our last day in Ireland, we were sorry to say farewell to our driver Ben Lawless.  Ken told the group that he has led over forty pilgrimages and mission trips, all with drivers.  Ben Lawless was the finest and most courteous he had ever known.

After we arrived at our hotel in Wexford, Ken gave a teaching on St. Patrick.  Through Patrick's tenacious commitment and humility, he transformed the Celtic ideal of loyalty, courage and generosity into Christian virtues of faith, hope and love.  He convinced a people with an unconscious fear that life had no real stability and the self had no true identity, that all creation can be called upon to protect and save through the power of the good Three Person God.  At the very heart of Patrick's vision was the sacrifice of Jesus Christ which forever put an end to the need for human sacrifice.  Now every Christian is to be a sacrifice for God, but the Three Person God wants our will, not our blood.  The order has been reversed: no longer do we sacrifice humans to be right with the gods, for God sacrificed himself so that we might become his children.  That is how Patrick led Ireland to become Christian.

Early tomorrow we will take a ferry across the Irish Sea to Wales, and spend the day at St. David's Cathedral, where more blessings await.