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3 July 2016

We all ended up going to bed at roughly the same time as usual last night.  I awoke first this morning, about 5:30 AM.  I made some tea and straightened up a bit.  As I was looking out at the sea view from our dining room, I noticed a bird in the grass.  I watched for a few minutes and said out loud, “That’s a corncrake!”  As I watched him, I noticed another one in the grass as well.  After awhile, they disappeared from sight but what a greeting on my first morning!  Corncrakes have been in steady decline for years and this was my first time ever seeing one.

 

Slowly, the rest of the family began to wake/be awakened between 7:45 and 8 AM.  The kids enjoyed watching Cula nÓg until 10 as we ate and got dressed.   Once we had taken care of everything, we piled into the car.

Our first mission was to go to Tesco in Letterkenny Shopping Centre to address our phone situation.  On the way we retraced our tracks from yesterday, except this time it was dry and the sun was shining.  We couldn’t resist the iconic photo of Errigal!

 

 

 

 

 

It took a little bit of wandering, but we found Tesco pretty quickly (I had a general idea which part of the city it was in).  We entered the shopping centre, but as it was Sunday morning only the Tesco was open.  It also turns out that the phone expert only works Tuesday-Saturday, so we decided to just buy a new phone.  We picked up some groceries for a picnic as well as the cheapest Tesco phone with a €10 top-up and then headed for Gartan after we finished setting up the phone.

 

 

 

Our first stop in Gartan was St. Colmcille’s traditional birthplace, Leac na Cumha.  As we walked from the car park to the site the rain lightened and then stopped.  The children had a great time exploring the fenced in area.  The photos didn’t come out quite as well as last time, but we did get better pictures of Leac na Cumha (The Stone of Sorrows) this time.  Liam immediately (and excitedly) took some photos of the stone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The flagstone named Leac na Cumha is said to be the birthplace of St. Colmcille.  The stone itself has interesting cup-shaped markings on it (likely dating from the Bronze Age).  Once this stone was part of the pilgrimage which took place through this area where Colmcille was raised.  You will notice a rusty coloring on the flagstone.  This is due to people leaving pennies on the stone in more recent times.  Colmcille is said to have blessed this stone so that it will relieve sorrow.  In the 1800s, people often would spend their last night in Ireland before emigrating on the flagstone in hopes that it would ease their inevitable home-sickness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we were finished we headed the one kilometer up the road to Ráth Cró hoping to get a more extended look than last time.  Unfortunately, it was not meant to be!  It was raining when we arrived and moments later the car park began to fill with what I assume was people attending a funeral.  I was able to visit everything but the holy well this time though.

Ráth Cró is thought to be Colmcille’s family home (it is also a possible birthplace).  Inside the Ráth (ring fort) a monastery was built and then later a medieval church.  It was also a stop on the pilgrimage trail through Gartan which included Leac na Cumha.  There is still a Turas associated with this site which pilgrims perform barefoot between June 9th and August 15th.  My goal was to follow the entire Turas this time as I was not able to on our last visit.  It was rushed, but I did it.

Ráth Cró Stations (An Turas Ráth Cró)

Pilgrims begin by stopping at the Holy Well, removing their shoes and rinsing their feet in the outer well before proceeding to Turas 1.

Turas 1:
Inside the 16th Century Church.  The church was built in 1532 by Manus O’Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell.  He was a descendant of St. Colmcille and wrote the biography from which most of the Colmcille tradition is derived.
At this station pilgrims kneel and say the Station Prayers (5 Our Fathers, 5 Hail Marys, 5 Glory Be and one Creed).

Turas 2:
On the side of the church building (the right-hand side as seen from the car park) there is a mound of stones.  Pilgrims circle the mound three times while saying the Rosary, placing a stone on the mound each time.  They then kneel and say the Station Prayers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turas 3:
At the top of the graveyard is a stone cross marking the western boundary of the monastic site (The northern boundary cross is inaccessible because the farmer has blocked it off.  Might this also have been part of the original Turas?).  Pilgrims circle the cross three times rubbing their back against the cross and kissing it each time around while saying the Rosary.  They then kneel and say the Station Prayers.

Turas 4: The 10th Century Abbey foundation
Pilgrims circle the graveyard saying the Rosary, then enter the graveyard gate and circle the 10th Century Abbey three times.  Then they kneel at the Abbey foundation by the Turas 4 marker (next to a cross) and say the Station Prayers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turas 5: The southern boundary cross by the church (next to the car park)

Pilgrims circle the cross three times while saying the Rosary.  They rub their back and kiss the cross each time, then kneel and say the Station Prayers.

Turas 6: Outside of the Holy Well
(along the road that leads to the car park)

Pilgrims circle the outside of the well three times while saying the Rosary.  Then they kneel outside the railing and say the Station Prayers.

Turas 7: Inside the Holy Well

After this, Pilgrims go inside the enclosure, lift water from the well and say the Station Prayers.
After this they return to the church, enter it and lift the stone which held the cross on the gable end of the abbey.  They then turn around to the right three times resting the stone on the altar  each time.  Once finished, Pilgrims return to the well and put their shoes back on.

Since we were obviously in the way we headed back to the house.  First though, we stopped at Gallagher’s (Síopa Mhicí) in Doirí Beaga for some groceries.  The highlight of the shop perhaps was that each child selected a book in Irish.  Liam chose Dialann Dúradáin (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) and Fionnuala chose Cáitín sa Chistin.  The girl at the checkout began waiting on us in English, but when she heard me speaking to the children in Irish ended with “Go raibh maith agat.”  Then we returned to the house for a brief break before heading out again.

 

We decided to head north as none of us had ever been on the north coast.  We were planning on stopping at the first beach and that turned out to be Machaire Rabhartaigh.  It had turned into a lovely sunny evening.  The drive along the Wild Atlantic Way was stunning and the kids were really excited to pile out of the car and get to the beach.

They immediately started playing in the sand but after not very long it began to rain!  The beach is long and sandy with a large car park and benches.  The ferry to Tory Island leaves from here as well so there is a pier with a cafe and restroom.  Once the rain began we got back into the car and returned home to eat, bathe and end our day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gaeilge Experience:  Both Tesco and Síopa Mhicí have bilingual signage, the girl at Síopa Mhicí switched to Irish at the end, TV, Radio

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