This brings tears to my eyes. So eloquent as so true. About beautiful Ireland and my own country too. I am so sad to see the moral bubonic plague that swept across America in The last 50+ years invade Ireland. I too await the chastisement as just and necessary but I have to continually surrender to Our Lady my fear for my loved ones who are heedless and hard of heart.
I agree Carol. Americans have celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in bars, not churches for as long as I remember. Friends of mine started a family rosary get together on that day for our families. It is the perfect celebration. Rosary complete with families, food, green colored lemonade, and deserts . The kids love these family rosary get togethers. One marriage actually resulted from these. And thanks for the reminder that valentines day should be noted as St. Valentines Day. I too have left out the St.! I guess if we want catholic feast days to be celebrated in a catholic tradition, it’s up to us.
Omg...this makes me so sad for you and Ireland’s descendants. Your description of what Ireland once was, was the Ireland I had always wanted to not just visit, I wanted to live there. As my close Irish friends and I lamented how the USA has fallen in the same way, we talked about how wonderful it would be to move to the beautiful, catholic countryside of Ireland....but no more. I guess it’s now the way of the world. All we can do now is live the best we can where we are. This is a cross. We are not the majority any longer. We just need to keep reminding each other that this is temporary...we are not living for this world....we are living for the next. All we can do in the here and now is offer this up, pray, hope and don’t worry. It’s in Gods hands.
Well if I ever visit the homeland of my fathers, it would be Donegal! God bless them! May God reward them!
I remember reading a couple years ago about the muslims who formed a circle holding handz to protect the one Catholic Church from Isis who were destroying Churches at the time. That truly helped me look differently at it.
Whenever I think of Ireland, the beautiful song Galway Bay comes to mind. Like many, Ireland has been on my bucket list for many years. We've been tossing the idea around of a big family trip next year, but not sure how we'll ever pull it off. I am saddened to hear that this darkness has spread to your beautiful country. May the good people of Ireland be blessed will the graces to keep the light of God's truth burning. ...And if there is going to be a life hereafter, And somehow I am sure there's going to be; I will ask my God to let me make my heaven, In that dear land across the Irish sea.
May I ask your opinion on County Kerry, the Listowel area? What is it like? Farming? Is the south western coast very populated? My ancestors farmed in that area and came to America because of the famine. Although Roman Catholic, they had to pay tithes to the Church of Ireland to be able to farm their small plots of land. Thanks for any input you may give.
I am remebr when I was young and old priest, laughing referring to this song. He said when the song came out there was ahwole big fuss about the words, 'If there is a God hereafter..'' a sign of how innocent we all were back then.
I'm not quite sure if this is permitted on the site.. But I just finished a conversion job on a fairly large schoolhouse we have in donegal with the most amazing views. I would consider renting it or a house swap with 'normal' people from anywhere during summer time... I can post photos if anyone's interested...
It's been years since I've been to Kerry so can't tell you what it's like to visit there now. I can tell you that the Kerry coastline is beautiful - not a whole lot different than Donegal. Listowel is in north Kerry and seems to be about a half hour's drive from the main beaches in that part of the county: Ballybunion, Banna and Ballyheigue. The more spectacular scenery would be further south on the peninsulas. Dingle peninsula is very popular, the coastline there is rugged with picture postcard scenery. They're mostly small towns in Kerry especially along the coast but they get busy during the summer months with tourists and city dwellers visiting their holiday homes. Tralee is probably the biggest town in Co. Kerry. Killarney is fairly big too and is something of a hub for tourism. There wouldn't be a whole lot to do in Listowel so maybe a day or two would be enough time to spend there. Unless you plan on hiring a car, if you're based in one town for the duration of your holiday, it would be advisable to check out what bus tours are available from that town. There are lots of videos of most towns in Kerry (including Listowel) uploaded to youtube. Weather in Ireland is very unpredictable and, other than pubs, there isn't much by way of leisure activities in bad weather. Some towns have annual festivals which means that the hotel prices will be higher and the town will be very noisy with people packed into the pubs. Listowel's festival is a writer's week. Whatever time you visit there, you'll hear mention of playwright John B. Keane.
Thank you so much, Dolours! I do not think I will be able to visit, as we are a big family (9) and we do not have passports, the cost, etc... I just wondered what it is like. The only thing I could maybe compare what the coast may be like is the California coast highway 1 from San Simeon to Big Sur. The ancestry.com website made the Irish records free for a few days before Saint Patrick's day and so I was able to find a few new sacramental records for my ancestors through the St. Mary's church in Listowel (they lived in Garryantanvalla). I am so fascinated by it. God bless you!
I've seen videos of the California coast. The scenery is absolutely beautiful. The weather there would be a zillion times better than in Kerry, and the sea water would be a lot warmer. The roads looked better too. Ireland will always be special to me and parts of it are beautiful but it isn't the most beautiful country in the world.
