We Have Arrived

By Ron Ivey

Kathryn and I are entering day 6 in our journey across Ireland. We've
met some friendly people, seen breathaking scenery and learned much
about the history of this magical island.

In these past 6 days, we've seen over 10 rainbows, walked along
beaches with the most amazing waves, seen landscaps with colors so
bright and stark that it doesn't seem real. The weather has been a
mix of rain and sun, seemingly more sun on the days we have been
sightseeing.



We first stayed in a bed and breakfast outside Kilkenny, a cozy
village a couple hours south of Dublin. We toured the town, the local
castle and enjoyed our first genuine Irish Guiness (tastes much better
here in country). Our hosts the Nolans, were a kind, Irish couple in
their fifties. There house was a bit cold, but the fireplace and the
electric blanket helped warm us up after a blustery day. We enjoyed
our first Irish breakfast (which typically consists of a fried egg,
boiled tomatoes, sausage, bacon, toast, and soda bread along with tea
and/or coffee) looking out on a rainbow and rolling green
pastures...seriously!



The next day we visited the impressive Rock of Cashel where the
ancient Irish Kings of Muenster held court. In the 5th century St
Patrick baptized the King of Muenster, but during the ceremony he
accidently stabed the King in the foot with his scepter. The King
thought it was part of the ceremony and he bit his tongue. The wind
was so strong at the top of the castle that boards and scaffolding
were coming off. Kat about blew away!! :)





For the next two days we stayed on the Dingle Peninsula on the west
coast of Ireland. Our hosts were a young couple, Ian and Rachel Smith,
and their young daughter Katlyn.
Their home, an old Irish cottage, was so welcoming and warm, with a
huge fireplace and comfortable living room. We felt like part of their
family and wished we could have stayed longer than a few days. Ian
was a great host and guide to the area. Plus we had breakfast from
their garden (fresh mushrooms and tomatoes) and fresh eggs from their
ducks. We felt like we were in the shire!



This part of Ireland is very wild, rugged and beautiful. The people
here speak Gaelic and love traditional Irish music. We took a drive
around the peninsula and saw some of the most beautiful and
overwhelmingly expansive views of bright green fields tumbling into
the rocky, green blue sea. Also on this drive were ancient ruins
from celtic warrior people and the ruins of the Irish monastaries.
The Gallurus oratory is a simple and impressive reminder of the time
of St. Brendan and his disciples studying and copying the Gospels and
whatever literature they could get their hands on. We also saw the
rocky crag rising out of the ocean where many of the great works of
western civilization were kept safe from the illiterate vikings and
barbarians. The people here were very proud of their heritage and the
landscapes.



Our next stop was the town of Galway, an old fishing port where the
Spanish would land for trade. Its now a booming university town and
tourist mecca. As with our other stops, we are some of the few
tourists, so most of the people in town were likely students or
related to the university. Last night we hopped around to different
pubs to listen to local tradtional irish bands play music. In one of
the pubs, Tig Coule, there were a band of 7 musicians sitting around a
big table. It looked like they all came seperately each bringing
their own instruments (fiddles, mandolin, guitar, gaelic drums, flute)
This was one of our favorite experiences!

Well, we are getting back on the road again and heading to Sligo, home
of WB Yeates. We are staying at a monastary there, Holy Hill
Hermatige where they are committed to helping people like us step into
the beauty of nature and listen to the Lord. We will be there for
three days and will write soon. Next week we will visit the Treacys
in Belfast and the Grahams and Robert Short in Dublin, all friends of
our friends back in the US. We miss you all and are so thankful for
the encouragment to go on this trip. We are learning much about each
other and ourselves in this journey.

Much love,
Ron and Kathryn