Day 9: Road Tripping
Yesterday was a LONG DAY. I ended up driving over three hundred miles as we went from our BnB in Westport down the “Wild Atlantic Way” south to Galway, over to Ennis, down to Cashel, over to Holycross, before finally the long drive to Dublin and our new temporary residence. We left Westport at 7 am, so not even time for coffee (nothing was open that early including the kitchen of the BnB. Coffee would have to wait for the hour drive to Galway.
To be honest, we didn’t have to take the “Wild Atlantic Way,” as it added a little bit of time to the drive. On the other hand, according to our host (and she was correct, the coastal route is much more scenic. It did mean, especially since Nico, the navigator slept through one turn, that we took some rather small roads. That didn’t bother me, as 1) it helped keep me awake, and 2) they weren’t as small or covered by cows as early in this trip. We did end up having to slow down for some sheep a couple of times and grip the steering wheel as locals flew by us in the opposite direction. I was glad that I had already much practice on the left side of the car and of the road.
Galway is the center of Irish/Gaelic speaking with native speakers still concentrated there, while most of the rest of the country learn it in school. We weren’t headed there for that, but rather because of the cathedral there. It wasn’t an ancient cathedral, not being built until beginning in the late 1950s. Because of the time, one would think that it is totally modern with none of the trappings and beauty of more ancient construction. But one would be mistaken. This cathedral is one of the largest stone buildings in all of Europe and has maintained the look and majesty of our the more ancient cathedrals. It was built intentionally that way by the Cardinal, who insisted on how it be built. It literally took our breath away as we entered, not to mention what we thought as we drove up. It was truly amazing to reflect on other church construction from anywhere near the same time period. And for Maria, there was a relic of St Therese. (Carmelites continue to follow us around Ireland as they have been here since about 1270.). The photos below are my attempt to capture the cathedral, but they fall far short. It is one of those places that you have to see in person.
Next, we drove another hour to Ennis, which has an ancient Franciscan friary that dates back to the 13th century. Now, if you think about the fact that St. Francis died in early the early 1220s, having a friary from the same century is OLD. The friary, like most of the Orders in England and Ireland were suppressed in the 16th century, but they began making somewhat of a return at the end of the 19th century.
Near the ancient friary, which is still the center of the small town, there is a parish run by Franciscans. Ennis didn’t have a lot of people, but at least it is still a Catholic parish and they had a recruitment flier for Franciscan vocations. That is the beautiful thing here in Ireland, everywhere there is something Catholic. Even in the middle of parks. There are some exceptions, but statues of Our Lady in public, shrines, names of streets, etc. all seem to have a big Catholic influence.
Near the ancient friary, which is still the center of the small town, there is a parish run by Franciscans. Ennis didn’t have a lot of people, but at least it is still a Catholic parish and they had a recruitment flier for Franciscan vocations. That is the beautiful thing here in Ireland, everywhere there is something Catholic. Even in the middle of parks. There are some exceptions, but statues of Our Lady in public, shrines, names of streets, etc. all seem to have a big Catholic influence.
Our next stop was the Rock of Cashel. Cashel actually means castle, and ironically enough, right as Maria commented, “We haven’t seen any castles,” we turned the corner and arrived at our destination. The rock is a small mountain with a former cathedral built on the top. It has buildings going back to the 11th century, and it is known that St. Patrick visited the site, because of its importance to the Irish Kings who ruled the area. The site is run by the state now, so lots of explanation about ceremonies, instead of masses. It is mostly in ruins, like Ennis Friary, but some of it is in better shape.
Next stop was the Holycross Abbey. Don’t worry, I spelled it correctly. The town is named Holycross, because relics of the Holy Cross were brought there. The church itself was empty, but we did have time to venerate the relics before hitting the road again.
Finally, we began the long drive back to Dublin. Nico tried to find a place to eat, since he was hungry, like always, and was getting closer to hangry. He spent what seemed like forever on the phone using Google and Google maps trying to find a place along the way that wasn’t a bar and wasn’t “too expensive.” Finally, he found one in Dublin that had the “highest rated” shepherd’s pie (something he was looking forward to in Ireland). It meant going into the hectic City Centre of Dublin, but ended up being worth it. It was more like a hofbrau in my head, but his pie and the stew that Maria and I had (she had Beef and Guiness Stew, while I had an Irish stew with lamb). It was quite good, but that could have been because we were so hungry and tired from the long day.