We woke this morning to rain, the first day of such since our arrival in Ireland. We'd had overcast days, we'd had humid days, but this was the first day on which it rained, and rained quite consistently and heavily.
All of which was perfectly fine, since most of the day was going to spent on the bus heading away from Glendalough towards Waterford, and ultimately Cork via Ardmore.
We were heading to Waterford primarily to attend Mass at Sacred Heart Church in Waterford, which was originally going to be a 'private' Mass for us at 1pm, but we adjusted the pilgrimage itinerary to leave a little earlier and participate in the parish Mass at 11.30am.
The church itself, as you can see, was quite beautiful, shaped in the round, with such great potential for the celebration of the contemporary liturgical form. The font was of an interesting shape and design and situated between chair, ambo and altar - a particularly interesting choice.
As always, we were made to feel "most welcome" and we joined in the parish's celebration of the Sunday Mass.
After Mass we headed back into the centre of Waterford City for the opportunity for lunch and a little exploration.
The last activity planned for today was a visit to Ardmore, to the site of the monastery founded by St Declan in the 400s, which makes it older that Glendalough, and in a time before St Patrick.
The name, Ardmore, means 'Great Height' in Irish, and was 'chosen' by Declan simply because it 'seemed right', even though some of his monks were not happy with the chosen location. And yet, the monastery flourished and became a place of 'great height' in learning and spiritual practice.
The site itself is very small and compact, located on a headland overlooking a beach and small bay. While the local area is now well populated with people, farms, and other activities, it would have been a 'wild place' when Declan and his monks arrived - a wonderful place to commune with God.
And after Ardmore, it was on to Cork where we will be based for two nights.
