A Fabulous Weekend

Several months ago the Mother of myself said she wanted to go to Cashel and see a show that she had seen before on previous trips. It was decided that that weekend would be a mutual birthday gift from each of us, to each of us (The Daughter, the Mother and I all have our birthdays within 6 days of each other). The Mother got the show and dinner arranged, the husband arranged a lovely hotel, I made the car reservations…and researched what to see along the way. I scored this time!

Saturday morning, bright and early (although not as early as some Saturday bright and earlys have been), we all headed to Limerick to get the rental car. A stunningly…ordinary…Opel Insignia. Think Honda Accord without any style. Later, we were to realize that the a/c was ineffectual too. Anyway, we set out on the road to Cashel, intending to make a stop out in the boonies, at the holy well of St Berrihert’s and the location of one of the ancient High Crosses. The roads got smaller and smaller, the Husband and I were having flashbacks of the Galway weekend and wondering just how bad this was going to get. We thought we had arrived at the right spot, fortunately for us a local asked if we were looking for the well, and kindly told us we weren’t quite at the right spot. We needed to go back to the crossroad and take a left. We went back to the crossroad, turned left and said “this can’t be right”. It was.

I have to confess that we overshot where we needed to stop (uh, because it looked like just a field). The 88 point turn to get out was an…adventure.

When we decided that the field must be where we needed to be (had to be divine intervention, because no way did that look like where we needed to be), we took a stab in the dark and headed across the field. It looked like there might kind of be a path.

Sort of looks like people have walked through here.

We kept walking through the field. And walking.

Well, now there is a gap in the trees — a good sign?

Then, we got to a bog. At least it had some boards. That were mostly not rotten.

More bog. But we could see something up ahead!

When we finally came out of the bog we were met by a beautiful site.

It is likely the location of an ancient monastery. The stones of the enclosure may or may not be stones from the monastery. Sometime in the 1940s the enclosure was built because there were many carved stones from the ancient building still there. Whoever built this created something that somehow still feels ancient.

The remains of the High Cross are in the center (the large one). This is likely 8th century, as are most of the smaller carvings.

This has been a pilgrimage site for hundreds, if not a thousand, years. Mind boggling. I will go back here again one day. I was so overwhelmed by the place that I didn’t pay attention to enough of it – I couldn’t quite take it all in. We all felt that way.

Gifts and offerings left. Many of them were very old. My first High Cross and it was special indeed.

After not spending nearly enough time here, we moved on further as there was said to be a holy well near by, St. Berrihert’s Well. St. Berrihert is believed to have lived in the 7th or 8th century. He must have been a special person, because his well is magical.

This is looking back at the cross enclosure, but shows the rickety bridge we had to cross-

Then we had to go through the gate and across the field. Fortunately, we shortly ran into someone coming from the well who assured us that there was something indeed up ahead!

This is what we saw. A pond so crystal clear you could see all the way down. There was plant life growing in it, but no sense of the water being unclean. The water is spring fed and it burbles up here and there, creating ripples.

The trees all around were tied with bits of cloth and small gifts. It is this amazingly secluded place that is filled with peace. I could have sat there for hours. We each had a drink of the waters (I prefer to go natural and use my hands, rather than the provided cups) and felt ready to tackle the hike back to the car! While the rest of the weekend was absolutely enjoyable, this place was the most special. Truly, truly beautiful.

And on to Cashel! I will be kind and make that a separate post😋