We left our hotel in Tralee and headed west to the beautiful fishing town of Dingle, a little town that both Mum and I enjoyed last time we were here eight years ago. The first thing to do was to grab some coffee - largely to stave off the effects of the Irish weather that saw precipitation go from a light mist to downpour and back to sunshine in the space of five minutes.
Dingle was gearing up for its annual food festival over the coming weekend - a festival that eight years ago on our previous visit we landed right in the middle of. There were plenty of people around, and that added to the whole experience.
Dingle is the kind of town that draws one to itself...and if I ever win the lottery, there may be a new resident!
One of the things we have been constantly exposed to during our trip through Ireland are the stain glass windows created by Harry Clarke. In Dingle, unsurprisingly, there are some more to see in the old Presentation Sisters Convent that is now been recreated as An Diseart, the Institute of Irish Culture and Spirituality.
An Diseart is a place where local artists are able to come, practice their craft in a spiritually conducive space, and offer their works for sale. It is also where conferences can be held, spiritual retreats can be hosted, and people are welcome to explore the building and gardens.
Regrettably we didn't have all that much time in the building, but I did ensure I was able to capture the glory of the stained glass windows in the old convent chapel.
We celebrated Mass today in St Mary's Church, Dingle, a church building that surprises me because the external view doesn't quite match the internal view, i.e., when you walk into the building what you are presented is not what was expected having looked at the building from outside.
The external looks like what it is, a church built decades ago, prior to the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council, and in need of repair - indeed, as is currently going on.
The internal look, however, is decidedly in keeping with the liturgical reforms and quite pleasantly so in my humble estimation. It is a warm and inviting space, that well serves the contemporary liturgy of the Roman Rite of the Latin Church.
As always, we were made to feel "most welcome" by the parish staff who assisted us.
After lunch in Dingle - for which Mum & I returned to the same restaurant we dined in eight years prior - we boarded the bus for the trip around Slea Head Drive, stopping at a number of places that are considered pertinent in our exploration of the Soul of Ireland.
The first stop was to see the Beehive Huts almost at the very end of the peninsula - but that was aborted when the landowner had decided to double his prices compared to what had been agreed with the tour company. We moved on, just down the way, to a different set of huts and a proprietor who was much more reasonable - thanks to the bargaining genius of our coach driver, Conor.
The beehive huts are fascinating buildings both in terms of construction and their purpose. How anyone survived living in them when facing the winds straight off the Atlantic ocean is anyone's guess. To do so while seeking the ascetic monastic existence is even more confounding.
When I first encountered the Gallarus Oratory, or the SéipéilÃn Ghallarais in the Irish, some eight years ago, I knew almost immediately that I had come across a place of special significance, a place where prayers had been said for centuries, and a place that had captured those prayers in the very fabric of itself.
And today's encountered was very much the same, and couldn't even be dampened by the rain we experienced during our visit to this site.
The building is about 1300 years old, and a perfect specimen of dry rubble masonry. It has stood before Atlantic gales and invasions by both Vikings and Normans, and still stands as a place of prayer for anyone who enters into its environs - as we discovered when the pilgrims entered into the building and sang...
I couldn't help but remember the impression I had eight years ago, and simply place my hands and head against the stones that had heard prayers spoken century after century.
Just up the road from the Gallarus Oratory is the ruins of Kilmalkedar Church, which started as a monastic community. The site contains a number of unique items - a sun dial with pre-Christian overtones, and the 'wedding stone' which according to tradition invites a potential husband and wife to insert their fingers into the same hole from different sides of the stone and thus becoming 'one'.
The site is fascinating both in terms of the architecture that still exists and its religious and spiritual history. We only had a short time at the site because of the lack of safe parking for the bus, but it was wonderful to visit the site once again.
