Revelations Blog: Revelations in Ireland
March 14th, 2022
Like many Americans, I’ve had an infatuation with the Irish and Ireland. Perhaps it’s because I remember as a child a man told me I looked Irish. Perhaps it’s because when I studied Ethnicity and Community in college, while doing a paper on my own roots, I discovered my great grandmother was Irish. Perhaps it’s because Irish music makes me happy when I play it on my fiddle and my dulcimers. Perhaps it’s because I’ve discovered Celtic spirituality in my later years and appreciatethe way this tradition connects to the Earth and listens to the Spirit. Because of all this, going to Ireland topped my bucket list.
And I did it in 2015. For our 30th anniversary trip, my husband and I booked a flight to Dublin. We rented a car and circled the island for a wonderful visit. We started with a tour of Dublin, taking in the Writer’s Museum and Trinity College and the Book of Kells. We then headed north for Newgrange, and west to the Clonmacnoise Monastery and then on to the west coast, where we stayed in a delightful cottage overlooking Kinvarra harbor and a castle. From there we headed to the Cliffs of Moher and then south to the Dingle Peninsula, which felt like a beach town, Key West. I played my fiddle there with an open circle of musicians in a local pub. We toured the peninsula and headed east to a park and then kissed the Blarney Stone and really enjoyed the castle grounds where fairies dance and shamrocks grow and the magic of Ireland seems to shine. We found the Celtic spirit alive with the sisters of St. Brigid at their Solas Bhride Retreat center west of Dublin and finished up with an American Mennonite family raising three children in an interesting country.
What a wonderful trip, and I wanted to write about it. So, I decided to include that in a new novel. One thing led to another, and as I wrote,Revelation in the Roots: Emerald Isle, I wanted to go back. I had a premonition that I would return to Ireland to finish the book. It seemed implausible and too expensive. But I kept an open mind, looking for possibilities.
A friend of mine, an expert in Celtic spirituality, Carl McColman, offered an online class in Celtic spirituality and I signed up. During the class, I learned about a contemplative retreat center in Northern Ireland, Corrymeela. I checked it out. Since 1965, this Christian center has been devoted to working and praying for peace. I decided my book should end there, as the theme of my next book is the division in our country these days. Yes, I wanted my characters to pray for peace and discover possibilities at Corrymeela.
As I explored the Corrymeela website, I discovered they were offering a winter school in “Heritage and Reconciliation” in January. The price seemed reasonable, the flights weren’t too bad. I talked it over with my husband, and he encouraged me to go for it.
So in 2018, I returned to the Emerald Isle, landing in Dublin by myself this time. I enjoyed some music on a Pub tour, visited the Leprechaun Museum, took a tour of Northern Ireland, including a Black Cab tour in Belfast learning about the Troubles and the Giants Causeway on the northeastern coast, then I spend a wonderful week learning at Corrymeela. This trip provided much helpful inspiration for my book.
As St. Patrick’s Day approaches this year, I’m celebrating my Irish roots, the Emerald Isle and my book Revelation in the Roots: Emerald Isle that was published by All Things That Matter Press in January this year. When you read it, you’ll experience many of my Irish experiences. Enjoy! You can get my book on Amazon or from me. And if you’d like to see a few pictures I took in Ireland, click here: Nancy’s Ireland Photos