Not all who wander are lost

Spirituality is at the ancient heart of Ireland – a spirituality at once chimeral and tangible, a profound blend of pagan beliefs and traditions that have survived  scores of millennia, coupled with a Catholic narrative deeply imbedded in the country’s psyche. This is syncretism at its most elemental, in which the mysterious is as likely manifested in the sidhe, the fairy folk, as in the patron saint. Indeed, these are not necessarily mutually exclusive concepts, but are easily entwined. That the early, polytheistic system comes down through the ages at all and is not lost to the mists of time, is in large part due … Continue Reading

It is 1 a.m. Wednesday morning here in Ireland. I have a bowl of popcorn on the coffee table, Barry’s Irish Breakfast Tea in my mug. My television is blaring CNN. I compulsively scan the Facebook feed on my cell phone. And I sit here, wrapped in a throw on a blustery early morning, totally awake and writing to you – who are all likely living in a much more civilized time zone. It is US election time in Ireland. It has been a somewhat surreal election season for me here on the other side of the pond.  I have been spared the worst of … Continue Reading

In genealogical lingo, the family tree is depicted as spreading upward, the branches holding the knowledge of past and present generations. As a metaphor, though, I prefer to look not to the branches but to the unseen roots for the strength of the tree above. Roots provide the nurturing foundation and even – if I may borrow the concept of Peter Wohlleben in his book “The Hidden Life of Trees” – communicate with one another for protection and safety. It’s intriguing to think of all those tangled family roots that make up each of us today supporting one another generation to generation and country to … Continue Reading

It happened again just the other day. I was off on one of my local adventures, bound and determined to find the ruins of a castle I’d seen peeking through the trees, across a field, up just ahead if only I could find it. As I walked, I heard the loud rumble of an engine unbound by the muffle of a hood. Not long thereafter, the most unusual sight greeted me. A middle-aged man on a four-wheeler – half fire-engine red, half spray-paint gold – drove my way, a laughing three-month-old baby sitting on his lap. We waved and he stopped the engine, certainly to … Continue Reading

Hi, readers. I have settled in a bit here in Corofin, and while life is never boring it has taken on a tinge of predictability. So I have decided to turn my attention in upcoming blogs less to memoir and more to some of the fascinating tidbits I’ve learned from my, admittedly, limited travel in Ireland. The journalist and student in me never tires of undertaking research, digging deeper, to gain a richer understanding of the places where I’ve visited. And I’d like to share some of these thoughts with you, in hopes that if you do come, or come back, to Ireland you may … Continue Reading

Dia dhuit from Corofin, Ireland, “the gateway to the Burren.” When last I wrote, I was ending my two-week quarantine and heading to Ennis, the County Clare seat and a thriving small city of around 30,000. The center of Ennis is a delightful place, narrow streets streaming seemingly pell-mell from the center square where stands an imposing monument to the great 19th century Irish political leader Daniel O’Connell, The Liberator. He also has a street named after him, as does Charles Stewart Parnell, revered for advocating Home Rule for Ireland. Of the many truths about Ireland that I am absorbing on almost an hourly basis, … Continue Reading