December 0-June 5, 2009
From Enda’s Island to Kevin’s Glen—the birthplace of Irish Christianity: A Pilgrimage to Ireland
Join Herb O’Driscoll on a pilgrimage to Ireland and explore the birthplace of Irish Christianity.
Message from Herbert O’Driscoll:
Growing up in Ireland was to grow up in a very small world. But to a child it did not seem small. Some places were near, some far. My grandfather’s farm in Kilkenny was a mind blowing hundred miles away, a journey on three busses from 9:30 in the morning to 7 pm when my uncle would meet us in the horse and trap.
Far away in those days was what we called “the West”; Ireland across the Shannon, stretching to the Atlantic coast. Mountainous, tiny winding roads, thatched cottages, a place of romance.
Later in my life I realized there were other “Wests.” There was the West that began across the Mississippi. In Canada there was the west that began at the edge of the prairies, both of these Wests taking you eventually to the mountains and on to the Pacific. Like the west of my childhood, both were distant, mysterious, romantic, even in early days dangerous.
All of this is why I wanted us to have a look at both West and East on this pilgrimage. Aranmore, the largest of the Aran islands off the west coast, is the cradle of Irish Christianity in the 5th century. From there we travel through Connemara to see the West of Irish poetry and story. In Clonmacnoise we see the flowering of early Irish monasticism. South to Cashel to see what was once called the “Acropolis of the West.” On to Kildare and the Brigid tradition. From there to the Neolithic splendour of Newgrange, a thousand years older than Stonehenge. From there to Dublin and south to the beauty and peace of Glendalough’s green valley.
This is really your invitation. I hope you can say yes!
The Rev. Dr. Herbert O’ Driscoll, a popular writer on spirituality, pilgrimage leader, and preacher, is a former Cathedral dean in Vancouver, B.C., and former warden of the Cathedral College of Washington National Cathedral. He is the celebrated author of 30 books, including A Doorway in Time, a reflection of his own Celtic spirituality, and Emmanuel, written while in the Holy Land. In great demand as a speaker and conference leader, O’Driscoll is at once a brilliant scholar and mesmerizing Irish storyteller. He is a native of Ireland.
The $3,995 trip package includes shared accommodations, breakfast and dinner daily, all entrance fees to sites, transportation during the trip and airport pick up and departure. Airfare and travel insurance is additional.
Online registration is not available for this program. Contact Joan Roberts at jroberts@cathedral.org or (202) 537-6381 for details.