GUR

I am at the end of the fourth week of classes and I have so much to talk about. For now I will just share with you my Wednesday experiences. As part of our Irish Ritual course, we took a field trip to the area of Lough Gur in County Limerick, where we found a stone circle from the Bronze Age, visited a megalithic tomb from the period of the same name and then on to the magical Lough Gur. My classmates and I had the pure pleasure and honor of being escorted by a very special guide,Fr. Sean ODuinn, a monk of nearby Glenstal Abbey, and a leading expert on early Irish history and legend. This most lovely white haired 80+ year old is so fasinating to listen that we all hung on his every word.

We began our tour with an hour lecture at the Abbey. The day was perfect for an outing such as this. Our first stop was a the Grange Stone Circle, unearthed by archeological escavation in about 1982 and protected by the farmer who owns the land where it sits. By protected I mean that he has built a fence around the perimeter, probably to keep his cows from grazing in the inner circle. Humans are allow free access to explore,the site and to spend as much time as they like being in this ancient and sacred place. This particular stone circle is the largest in Ireland. It was built about 2000BC by the Bronze Age peoples living around Lough Gur. The rituals of the period are unknown, but one can imagine people walking in a counter clokwise circle within the confines of the circle and as Fr. ODuinn suggested, dancing to estatic states in ceremonies to encourage a fine harvest or to mark and honor the changing seasons. It is all very mysterious.

Our next stop was to the Wedge Tomb, a communal grave built in about 2500BC. There are similar megalithic tombs throughout Ireland. This one is set into a hillside. I have to admit while I loved the energy of the stone circle, I was a bit uncomfortable around this ancient burial site, not because it was a grave, but because the energy was very different,heavy in fact.

With both sites one has to wonder how such massive stones were put into place. While the large stones are not nearly the proportion of Stonehedge,there still had to be some very specific way of manuvering such large rocks into place. The same for the tomb, where massive rocks were balanced on one another to make a wedge shape site.

On to beautiful Lough Gur,whose inhabitants date as far back as 3,000 B.C. This is a place of great beauty, of ancient and medieval history and lore of great proportion. Battles were fought on its shores and hill sides and kings resided in the castle just behind the trees on the near shore. When you listen to Fr. O Duinn tell the stories of the goddess of the lake and the marriage of the local king to the goddess of the land to ensure a full harvest, the place comes alive. Mythology is an important part of Irish culture and is reflected today in Irelands music, art, religion, and especially in the Irish people. It manifests as a great pride and joy in their heritage, and a deep and lively spirit that is uniquely Irish. It is a wonderous place, this Glocca Morra and I am so happy I am here.