Celtic CHRISTIANITY PILGRIMAGE JULY 8 THROUGH 18, 2017
W E L C O M E L E T T E R from O U R L E A D E R Jill and I took our first trip to Ireland in 2011. We went because Les Fairfield had fired our imaginations with stories of the Celtic Monastic saints. Some of the saints I already knew; people like St. Patrick and St. Columba. But there were others with as much impact on the spread of Christianity that I have come to know and love. They are saints like St. Aidan of Lindisfarne, St. Kevin of Glendalough and St. Ceran of Clonmacnoise. The names sound quaint, and the places are beautiful. But more importantly, these people represent monastic communities that literally preserved the Gospel flame through the Dark Ages. After the fall of Rome the faith flourished in Ireland and, stirred by Celtic passions, these monastics carried the message throughout England. These Celtic saints have certainly shaped our Anglican roots. Please join the Rev. Dr. Les Fairfield, Jill and me in July of 2017 for a pilgrimage to these holy places. We will explore Celtic Christianity s journey from the arrival of St. Patrick to the sending off of missionaries to the world. Along the way we will experience dramatic coastlines, magnificent gardens, ancient castles and thin places of prayer and contemplation. This will be a spiritual pilgrimage as we stop along the way to worship and soak in the awe of God s creation. We hope you will join us! Clay I T I N E R A R Y Day 1 July 8 Saturday Travelers depart for Dublin, Ireland. Airfare is additional to the cost of the land tour. Connoisseurs Tours will assist travelers with airline reservations. Connoisseurs Tours includes a 24 hour emergency on call agent while participant are traveling to assist with any flight delays or cancellations. Day 2 July 9 Sunday, Dublin. This morning we arrive at Dublin Airport where after clearing customs we are met by our Irish Guide and Driver. All passengers are met and transferred to the hotel, by a private meet and greet transportation service. After we get settled in our hotel rooms, we have the option to visit St. Patrick s Cathedral, a cathedral completed in 1213 and considered the largest cathedral in Ireland. The gothic interior contains funerary monuments to such distinguished Anglicans as Jonathan Swift (Dean 1713-1745). This evening we enjoy a welcome reception and dinner at our hotel. Day 3 July 10 Monday, Dublin-Boyne Valley- Monasterboice-Tara-Dublin. Traveling north to the Boyne Valley, we make our way to Bru na Boinne, to understand the archaeological heritage of the Boyne Valley, which includes the megalithic passage tombs of Newgrange and Knowth. We then travel to Knowth, where we explore the passage tombs there, representative of late Stone Age religion, a thousand years before Stonehenge in England. After lunch, we visit haunting Monasterboice, a medieval monastery and a surrounding cemetery that contains some of the finest high crosses in Ireland. From there, we are bound for the Hill of Tara, which contains ruins of the pre-christian high kings of Ireland,
Day 5 July 12 Wednesday Dublin-Kildare- Cashel-Adare-Killarney. This morning, we depart Dublin and travel to Kildare with a visit to St Brigid s Church. St. Brigid founded a community of men and women at Kildare in the early 6th century AD. The site now contains a 10th century round tower and the 13th century Anglican cathedral. The house is set amongst beautiful 18th century parklands of Celbridge, County Kildare. Then we travel onward to from which one can see the Hill of Slane across the Boyne Valley, where St. Patrick is said to have lit an Easter fire that successfully challenged the pagan kings role in religious leadership. That night we return to our hotel in Dublin to enjoy a relaxing dinner. Day 4 July 11 Tuesday, Dublin and Wicklow. This morning we enjoy a visit to Trinity College including admission to see The Book of Kells. Trinity College was founded by Elizabeth I in 1592, and its library contains the famous Book of Kells as well as many other early Christian manuscripts. Then we travel to County Wicklow, The Garden of Ireland for a special lunch at Hunter s Hotel, the oldest coaching lodge in Ireland with a stunningly beautiful garden. After lunch we will tour Glendalough, the monastic settlement of St. Kevin in the 6th century, with the most perfect round bell tower in Ireland. Return to Dublin where we enjoy dinner on our own. Cashel with its imposing Rock, a fortified cathedral perched on a rocky mount amidst a fertile valley, one of the most beautiful ecclesiastical monuments in Europe. Legend has it that this is the site where St. Patrick crowned the High Kings of Ireland in the 6th century. Adare, is famous for its picturesque thatched roof cottages. That night we ll enjoy dinner in Killarney at our hotel. Day 6 July 13 Thursday, Dingle Peninsula Day. Today, we ll have a full tour of the Dingle Peninsula via Slea Head. With sights of Dingle Bay, Mount Eagle, Skellig Michael and the Blasket Islands, this promontory has breathtaking views. After first visiting Dingle town and as we travel the drive, we will pass superb beaches and archeological remains from Kerry s ancient past. There is no other landscape in western Europe with the den sity and variety of archaeological monuments. This finger of land has supported human habitation for almost 6,000 years. Because of the peninsula s remote location and lack of specialized agriculture, it remarkably preserves over 2,000 significant sites. First we come upon Ventry where the san dy white beach was the scene of the mythical battle of Fionn MacCumhaill and the King of the World. Further on Dunbeg Fort, which dates from the Iron Age, clings precariously to the cliffs. Heading farther west, we pass through Dunquin with its many ruined cottages abandoned during the famine of
Annals of Innisfallen (an important source for early Irish history, now in the Bodleian Library in Oxford). This evening we will depart for beautiful Tralee for a delicious dinner and a chance to visit Tralee s famous rose garden. Afterwards, we enjoy a spectacular performance at the National Folk Theatre to experience traditional Irish song and dance. We return to Killarney that evening to relax and rest at our hotel. the 1840s. Look above and you ll see Mount Eagle, the first bit of land that Charles Lind bergh saw after crossing the Atlantic on his way to Paris in 1927. Villagers here were as excited as he was they had never seen anything so big in the air. From Dunquin there are great views of the Blasket Islands. The Great Blasket, largest of the islands, rises like an enchanted distant castle. Further south you see the pinnacle of Skellig Michael. We travel on to the Gallarus Oratory. This 8th-century church, shaped like an upturned boat, represents the height of the architectural technique known as corbelling. The oratory has remained watertight for more than a thousand years. Tonight we enjoy dinner on our own in Killarney. Day 7 July 14 Friday, Killarney/ Muckross and National Folk Theater Performance. We have included a visit to the magnificent Muckross House, gardens and traditional farm houses. After our visit to Muckross House, those who would like to continue touring will carry on to Ross Castle on Loch Leane, some twenty minutes away. After a visit to the Castle, we will offer an optional boat trip out to the island of Innisfallen. A monastery was founded on the island in the 600s, where monks later composed the Day 8 July 15 Saturday Killarney/Killarney- Craggaunowen-Burren-Galway. In the morning, we leave from Killarney to visit Craggaunowen where we will explore the roots of the people, homesteads, animals and artifacts of our Celtic ancestors of over 1,000 years ago which have touched and shaped how we live today. We then continue to Kilfenora in the County Clare which has a collection of the finest high crosses in Ireland. We ll meander and learn about Ireland s stony place - the Burren (Bhoireann), home to rare alpine plants, delicate wonders that grow in the thin soil and crevices - gentians, orchids and maidenhair ferns amongst others. We head then to Burren Museum and Cathedral which contains dozens of megalithic tombs, Celtic crosses and ruined medieval abbeys. You can find villages abandoned since famine times and green roads on which you can walk for miles without ever seeing a car. From there, it s on to Galway, where we enjoy dinner and relaxation at our hotel. Day 9 July 16 Sunday Aran Islands St. Enda s Monastery and Dun Aengus Fort Today, we enjoy a voyage to the Aran Islands, a fabulous full-day trek. On the island of Inishmore, the way of life is as it would have been in days gone by. First we visit the site of St. Enda s monastery, which was the earliest and most important of the 6th century Irish schools that attracted hundreds from all over
coast of Galway. Here, under the tutelage of the strict disciplinarian Enda, he learned Sacred Studies, Prayer and labor. Tonight, we have included a dinner show in a small intimate setting with Celtic music and dancers from the famed River Dance company. Day 11 July 18 Tuesday, Dublin-USA. Private Transfers to Dublin Airport. Western Europe and helped save Christian civilization. Then we visit the most impressive of all the ancient fortresses in Ireland, Dun Aengus. Built to maximize defense, it is surrounded by high walls on three sides; the other is a sheer drop of 500 feet to the ocean. Tonight, enjoy a free dinner on your own. Day 10 July 17 Monday, Galway-Dublin After a hearty breakfast, we travel via the Irish midlands to Clonmacnoise. The ancient monastic site of Clonmacnoise is situated at the crossroads of Ireland in County Offaly and dates back almost 1,500 years. St. Ciaran, the son of an Ulsterman who had settled in Connaught, chose the site in 545 AD because of its ideal location at the junction of river and road travel in Celtic Ireland. The location borders the three provinces of Connaught, Munster and Leinster. The monastery is on the east side of the River Shannon, in what was then the Kingdom of Meath, but occupying a position so central it was the burial-place of many of the kings of Connaught as well as those of Tara. Saint Ciaran was educated by St. Diarmuid of Clonard and St. Finian - tutor of the ancient Saints of Ireland. His last place of formal learning before establishing his own monastery in Clonmacnoise was with St. Enda on the island of Iníshmore off the
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