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Leaving Corrymeela
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| After services at Armagh Cathedral |
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Hiking up to Navan
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| Pilgrims at Navan |
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Pilgrims listening to living history in an ancient Celtic round house
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| Youth hostel in County Wicklow |
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Today we did lots of traveling but also had fun experiences. We woke up and left Corrymeela at 8:30 a.m. After that, we left Northern Ireland on a bus for the Republic of Ireland, to Armagh, the spiritual and historic capital of the Episcopal church, where we attended Sunday service at St. Patrick's Church of Ireland cathedral.
We then visited the
Navan Centre, where we were steeped in pre-Christian Celtic life, including a living-history visit to a particular clan's round-house hut (see above). We learned about Celtic mythology, especially the Ulster cycle of stories, and visited the site (now just a mound) of an ancient sacred site, called
Emain Macha, dating from the 1st century BCE (see "
Hiking up to Navan" above).
Then Rev. Grace Clunie gave a presentation on Celtic Christianity and spirituality, which was intellectually and spiritually stimulating for some of us and soporific for others. For example, she shared many pearls of wisdom including a bit of advice for the traveler/pilgrim, from John O’Donohue's poem,
For the Traveler: "And if you listen, / You will hear / What your heart would / Love to say."
We then took another long and circuitous bus ride through rural Ireland to a hostel in
Enniskerry, County Wicklow. The views are really pretty and when we got here there was a rainbow. Everyone was excited because how often do you see a rainbow in Ireland? Tomorrow should be fun too. Everyone's excited!
- James and other pilgrims
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