Upheld In Discovery/Awareness

Antiquity Awareness

Distant voices swirled in my head. Long ago events did not seem so obscure as we toured around Ireland a couple weeks ago. I could nearly see and hear the shepherds, lords and ladies as well as strains of minstral music. Monuments abound all over the land. And I could almost hear the battles as we visited castles.

How do I describe the ethereal past that still colors the present? The people are kind, generous and loving. The castles and cottage ruins still stand with the legacy of rich history that covers the land with a fragrance of continuity. Sheep and cattle roam the hedgerow paddocks as they have done for centuries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Irish have a wonderful sense of respect for those who have gone before. They don’t pull down their ruins. You see beautiful, modern homes alongside crumbling edifices. It’s charming.

 

 

 

 

 

The people have not lost the sense of the otherworldliness. I understood better the struggles I have heard about. Reverance for God is deep and abiding. It is refreshing.

Irish and Western History

I learned something amazing. If not for the monasteries of the past and the monks that painstakingly copied out western classic literature, we may still be tossing lances around with no idea or memories of who we are or where we’ve come from.

Plenty of movies have been made on location in Ireland—more than I thought.

We visited the site of building the Titanic in Belfast. It was an experience. We even rode a car down a shaft and heard hammering as we viewed “workers” fitting in those famous steel panels that would make this ship unsinkable. Only, as we know, an iceberg conquered the manmade floating edifice.

President John F. Kennedy’s ancestors came from Ireland and there is a monument to him. We saw the Eternal Flame, which was lit from his grave in Arlington. So, there are two eternal flames to honor President Kennedy. He is much revered in Ireland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, now the travelogue is noted. My Mom, sister Betsy, brother in law Craig and other friends from Corbin Senior Center joined with others from the south USA to visit Ireland. We saw a lot, but there is so much more! I think another trip must be on a future calendar! 

I missed a couple weeks on my blog because of my trip. But I have stories to tell, so stay tuned.

Demonstration of sheep herding by dog. He took them all the way around the paddocks.